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    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American"
    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American"
    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American"
    Ebook48 pages34 minutes

    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American"

    By Gale and Cengage

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    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Novels for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Novels for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateJun 27, 2016
    ISBN9781535835046
    A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American"

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      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Henry James's "The American" - Gale

      13

      The American

      Henry James

      1876–1877

      Introduction

      The American is one of the early novels of prolific novelist, short-story writer, and literary critic Henry James. An American-born author who was educated abroad and who later became a British citizen, James often used his fiction to explore the cultural differences between American and European society. The action of The American takes place almost exclusively in Europe. In the novel, James contrasts American ideas of wealth, success, and class with those of the French.

      James's protagonist is the wealthy American businessman Christopher Newman, who is traveling in Europe. In Paris, Newman becomes acquainted with an aristocratic French widow whom he hopes to marry. Throughout the course of the novel, Newman's attempts to win over the countess Claire de Cintréand her scornful family, the Bellegardes, are incorporated with James's observations on French society and French perceptions regarding Americans. Although Claire initially accepts Newman's proposal, she and her family ultimately reject him. Newman subsequently learns that Claire's mother and brother are implicated in the death of her father. After Claire enters a convent, having succumbed to her mother's wish that she renounce Newman, Newman considers using his knowledge of the family secret to seek revenge. He decides, however, to not pursue this course of action, and his destruction of the evidence of the murder comprises the novel's conclusion.

      The American was initially published in serial form, in 1876 and 1877, in the Atlantic Monthly. It was first published in novel from in 1877. James later revised the novel when it was published by Charles Scribner's Sons in 1907. This final version of the novel is available in a modern edition published in 1999 by Oxford University Press.

      Author Biography

      James was born on April 15, 1843, in New York City. He was the second child of parents Henry James Sr. and Mary Walsh James. The family traveled to Paris and London during the first year of James's life and then returned to New York. James grew up in Albany and New York City. From 1855 through 1858, James attended various schools in Geneva, Switzerland; London, England; and Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. He also received private tutoring.

      In 1858, his family, which by now included James and four siblings, settled in Newport, Rhode Island. James continued to travel between the United States and Europe, studying in Geneva and in Bonn, Germany, before he returned to Newport in 1860. While serving as a volunteer fireman, James injured his back and was consequently unable to serve in the Union Army during the Civil War (1861–1865). After studying at Harvard briefly, James once again traveled to Europe and wrote unsigned fiction and reviews.

      James published his first novel, Watch and Ward, in 1870. For the next several years, James continued to write and travel abroad. He settled in Paris and later in London.

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