The Sentence Structure of Henry James Author(s): R. W. Short Source: American Literature, Vol. 18, No.

2 (May, 1946), pp. 71-78+79-88 Published by: Duke University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2920871 . Accessed: 07/04/2013 16:14
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THE SENTENCE STRUCTURE OF HENRY JAMES

R. W. SHORT
Holstra College

so richa fieldto critics thattheyhave hurried past the word, the phrase,and the sentence, thoughby so doing theyhave left almostunexploredthe characteristic obtrudes of Jamesthat first upon the noticeof the reader. In The Method of Henry James Beach explainedthat he would have littleoccasion"to Professor in detailthe vocabulary, the discussthe styleof James, to consider turnof thephrase, thestructure of the sentence" (p. 6 n.). He did minimizethe importance not,however, of the narrower aspects of the Jamesian prose; like most of the good critics, Beach realized thatJames's style(in the narrowsense), far frombeing a surface eccentricity, exactly embodiedhis intentions.In the footnote from whichI havequoted,Beach goeson to say: "But thewordsof James are the suitable dressof his subjectmatter. And his styleis pretty well keptin order, in all his narratives, by the jealous discipline of the story itself." In thispaperI shallmakesomeobservations upon sentence strucin ture thenovelsof James's from The SacredFount greatest period, to relateall charof i9oi to The GoldenBowl of I904, attempting acteristics mentioned of the story to the "jealous discipline itself," thatis, to the artistic intentions of James, fromconsideraomitting tionthosehe maysharewiththe writing at large.' Tle profession in his prose thatare simpleand direct(some do exist) sentences need no specialmention;but the rangy, convoluted that sentences bearso unmistakably the hallmark of James to be require carefully for. analyzedand accounted
T subject revisions is not dealt withhere,forthe reasonthatthissubject ne of James's be treated exceptat length. The tradiis at present polemicaland cannotwith impunity still persists;it vitiates tional notion,that Jamesmarredhis-early versionsby revision, of RoderickHudson, PMLA, XXXIX, 203-227 Helene Harvitt'sstudyof the revisions prior to F. 0. Matthiessen's (March, 1924), the only extendedstudyof James'srevisions the Major Phase (New York, investigation of The Portrait of a Lady, in Henry James, '944).

THE

STYLE of Henry James, in thebroader sense, hasoffered

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is the length noticein the styleof HenryJames What we first on this pointwe may begin our of his sentences; and complexity should be set investigation.First,some standardof comparison will serveas well as another. It has been estiup, and Dr. Johnson average5I.4 words in the earlyRamblers matedthatthe sentences when countedup to the period,and 36.7 wordswhen countedup breaks(whereperiodsmighthave been used to actualgrammatical show that these in place of lesserpunctuation). Other estimates are not undulylong as comparedwith variousstandard sentences the in mindwe mayappiroach With thesefacts Englishwritings.2 have been made on calculations of James. The following sentences a splenof Book Second of The Ambassadors, the secondchapter The i96 and reflection. passageof mixed narration didlywritten Of35.3wordswhen in thischapter have an averagelength sentences in trueof Johnson countedup to the period. As was apparently a punctuation loose with together strung also James the Ramblers, as separate, numberof word groupsthatmighthave been treated there were33 such groupsin thechapter. But sentences; complete than this,my countingrevealedan even larger more significant loose use of by an extremely numberof word groupsconnected it a little, in theimmeconjunctions.For example:"He prolonged he had quittedhis chair; and the upshot after diate neighborhood, forhim was thathis campaignhad begun" of the whole morning (Amb.,I, 82).' It will be seenthattheuse of "and" in thissentence followsit: that immediately is much looser than in the sentence and he would be hanged in relation, "He had wantedto puthimself even though if he were not in relation." In the second instance, the parallel in meaningor structure, the clauses are not strictly that theyare part of a single "and" mustbe taken as indicating the "and" acts as a vague markof punctuathought. In the first, only a desireon the partof the authorto avoid a tion,indicating mightseem better hiatus betweentwo thoughts that,for clarity, word separately. There are 44 such looselyconnected expressed groupsin the chapter. If we add themto the word groupscon2 Quoted by W. K. Wimsatt, (New Haven, 1941), The Prose Styleof Samuel Johnson p. 63 and n. ' Throughout, will be used: Amb. for The Ambassadors; abbreviations the following W. D. for The Wingsof the Dove; G. B. forThe GoldenBowl; and S. F. forThe Sacred are to theMacmillaneditionof 1923. Fount. All page references

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of Henry lames The SentenceStructure

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alone,we have 77 additionalgrammatically nectedby punctuation in the chapter. or 273 insteadof I96 "sentences" groups, complete is 25.3 words. The senThe averagelengthof these"sentences" than those of shorter it seems,are considerably tencesof James, well down in the scale of Englishprose. and hencerather Johnson betweenaverageword lengthin James The mere comparison of littlebeyondthe gratification accomplishes and in Dr. Johnson to emerge. begin however, curiosity.More valuable observations, into their If we were to divide the regularcompoundsentences we shouldagain considerably calculation, clausesand make another then,althoughthe sentences reducethe word average. Obviously, theyare,in one sense, long and complex, of James seemformidably senby the Johnsonian possessed not so. The kind of.complexity tence,that violentdischargeof a mindfulof ideas, the Jamesian ideas are expressible James's sentence does not possess. By contrast, word groups small numbers of words,and the smaller in relatively and parentheses, withmanyinterjections linkedtogether, are loosely between a complexity thatis notof idea, butof relationship to form an in a idea sentence expresses Johnson whereas a by long ideas; throws by James, a long sentence structure, complexgrammatical a number of ideas,each ofwhichmayhave,within intorelationship predistructure.James's grammatical its own finite the sentence, thereare not abovehalfa dozen was fortheloose sentence; lection amongthe I96 we have been disperiodicsentences grammatically constructhereare surprisingly fewsubordinate cussing. Similarly, we might therefore, sentences, tions. In spiteof the long,difficult by patchcomposedin small units, habitually concludethatJames linesof investiideas. Further a succession of "brief" ing together what we way of describing suggesta preferable gation,however, he habitually and that for reasonsto be discussed, find-namely, into his smaller meanings brokedown complex deliberately units, breaksdown therayof light. as thespectrum of the The violenceJameswreakedupon the normalstructure to be tabutoo various in form sentences produced Englishsentence seem to have been dictated by a lated,but mostof his distortions comwith a generalartistic in conformity single,broad principle, the are of a kind thatevade or obliterate pulsion. The distortions unhe has When and cohesion. connection of normal elements

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grammatically -float untethered, his meanings donetheusual ties, the suspension. The finality, in colloidal speaking, like particles defining reorder and signs thatordinary sentence crystallization, foregone in favor uponprose has beenskilfully lationship bestow values. In these remain tentative, sentences, facts ofother peculiar evanescent. Sincetheyare to a intentions and conclusions fluid, laws, their variety ofgrammatical freed from thelimitations degree itbe Joyce or Gerunless wasever lessguilty, is endless.No writer whatwe maymisstructure; trude of monotonous sentence Stein, of a notfrom too muchrepetition mustarise, takeformonotony prose in which effort ofreading butfrom themere chosen pattern, havebeencircumvented. to comprehension many oftheusualhelps of James's peculiarities therefore, thatthe stylistic It follows, in the are to be found whichthispaperwill consider, sentences, he used in contriving his almost sentences. devices agrammatical The devices havealand loosepunctuation of weak conjunctions and an estimation beenmentioned withan example, above, ready characteristic apparent Perhaps thenextmost of their prevalence. order. sentence ofJames's is hisconsistent disregard ofnormal style hadever heard Sentence wonder ifJames Order.A purist might doeshe vioof thenormal sentence order, so consistently English to his artistic infortheviolations are related lateit. His reasons are notapthey tentions, bothin detailand in gross. Sometimes when in thesentences themselves; or onlypartly apparent, parent, be can easily thatfollow, they theyare,as in the two examples appreciated: adore than elsehowthey more "How canI notfeel together anything I, 274) my boy?" (G.B., in herlifethatthishad happened; time It was thefirst somebody, at every instant ofit,where tohave known before, everybody appeared that abletoputit toherself that shewas;so that shewasnowsuddenly a life. hadn't been (W.D., I, 221) In thefirst of"together" theawkward gives it an position example, to herfather has relation almost and his wife's emphasis, painful thispainful forthePrince, emphasis.It exactly who is speaking, sanction enables himto find moral for his which is this relationship the Stant. In second Charlotte with ownrelationship the example, reflects thecogitations of Milly sentence awkward, groping equally

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The SentenceStructure of Henry lames

Thealeand suggests thegroping outof which herrevelation "suddenly" comes. Other writers depart, perhaps frequently, from normal order to secure butnotquiteas James emphasis, hasdone. Usually emphasis secured in thismanner is simple emphasis, thepeculiar nature of which-andthereasons forit-mustbe inferred from thecontext. As we see,James often so misordered his sentence thatthenew alignment ofelements created notonly theemphasis butsome definition of it; thisis an achievement morecommon in poetry than in prose. One must, thatemphasis however, at once concede so of thecommoner refined often lackstheexplosive force kind;pernotto think hapsit is better of it as emphasis so muchas greatly extended plasticity of structure. in search Another example maysendus further afield of reasons:"He pulledhimself then at lasttogether hisownprogress for thathe had takenhis walk in vain" back; not withthe feeling (Amb.,I, 82). Here three "at elements are out of place:"then," andthephrase, as a clause, the last," "notwith curiously punctuated feeling thathe had taken his walkin vain." Out of context, this thedeparture thenormal for from seems sentence to pleads revision; havelittle Strether's effort justification. at Perhaps to someextent and himself is suggested of "then" pulling together bytheposition "at last," it is certainly overdone butif thisis thepurpose, bythe in litotes with which the sentence trails defiance dangling off of thepositive noteof theactualsense. Nor doesthecontext of the us to an intuition sentence ofsuchextreme encourage negativeness in Strether as thisline of interpreting wouldlead to. We must artistic lookinstead ourdisto thegross purpose.Let us continue under thenext device cussion ofthis to be considered. point alliedto sentence sincetheir interParenthcscs. Closely order, with often ruptions destroy it, are the parenthetical expressions breaks ofmany downthecontinuity which ofhisstatements. James on every instances One finds page. none for thehour, this theless, with Mr.Verver; We share the world, as he would have for fact ofhisstriking, thefact very said, solitude, of on tiptoe, tortuous almost hisquietflight, through corridors, investing ourattention-tender makes an interest that himwith indeed almost to
isolation. his achieved (GB., I, iii) compassion-qualify

6 Vol. 18

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part, already, on Strether's Mixedwith everything was theapprehension, provethenoteof Europein quitea at best, throughout, thatit would, degree. (Amb.,I, 3) sufficient spoken to no one-has, as yousay,you've that-if, "Andwho is it then as I maycall it,talked youunder?"(S.F., 208)

reservafortheinterpolated a reason In thefirst ofthese examples, hissense James is expressing itself. tions within thesentence appears is qualified notonlyby itstime thatMr.Verver's hourof liberty of consciousness butbyhis and ourvery limits and quasi secrecy, partly this information he expresses thepresence ofsuch restrictions; and the statements structure in whichthenarrative by a sentence themare hedgedaboutand broken between crisprelationships reservations. downbythequalifying of simple We may,moreover, conclude thatthe destruction in theother conconnotes theinner functionally examples clarity and the embassage, fusion ofStrether, on theeveofhismomentous in The Sacred Fount. These monomania ofthenarrator analytical of truth. If we stophere, the are only part however, explanations, the fallacy, we shallbe guilty ofwhathasbeencalledtheimitative confusof supposing must(or may) write thatan author fallacy did The truth is thatJames confusion. to describe ingly in order us that to convince floating sentence primarily hisloose, notdesign any morethan states, his characters mental werein equivalent a metaphor in thebeginning of"To be ornottobe" Hamlet mixed to convince the audience thathe was agitated.Had thatbeen fortheapprosucheffects he should havereserved James's purpose, conbutthishe did notdo; his narrow-minded, priate characters, and so do themore speakthesamelooselanguage, vinced persons attain their evenas they illuminating, finally persons, interesting certainties. ''magnificent" like the sentencesThe innumerable interpolations, parenthetic a larger to achieve aim. James ofabnormal plunges attempt order, situations likeStrether andtheVervers, into ofhischaracters, many established frames ofreference no longer possess wherein previously a fresh forced to make environare to and they adaptation validity, environment. Theirvery to moral epistemology ment, particularly thatthereader be bornanew. This,and thedemand must fully aimof in thereorientation, share general maybe calledthemajor,

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The SentenceStructure of Henry James

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is a fixative-andthe subjectof James's his art. A tightsentence the of it in orderto recombine or a dissolution talesis lack of fixity, in a larger, expandingreorganization.In thispurfixedelements, pose he byno meansstandsalone; whatis uniquein him as a craftsworktowardthe man is his methodof makingthe prosesentence desiredend. orunusualsentence of weak conjunctions, theeffect If we grant we in unsettling the sentences, interruptions der,and parenthetical for recombining should next requiresome evidenceof machinery we shouldlook fortheoperaelements.And, of course, their freed as well as in the larger structure, in sentence tionof thismachinery matters of character, plot,and theme. assures Expressions.ManytimesJames Emphasisupon Relating than objectsor even rather relationships us thathis novelspresent does not Strether of The Ambassadors, people. In the beginning "early of his errand;therewere,instead, about the difficulty worry provenone might to his actualerrand signsin him thathisrelations of the simplest." (Italics mine.) In the Prefaceto The Wingsof theDove, James wrote: withforce has beento suggest taskat theoutset accepted The author's introfirst persons thetwoyoung between thenature of thetie formed yet and baffled, worried ofitspeculiar duced-togivethefullimpression (P. xxi) and confident, ardour. clinging rather ardor, and its complicated It is the "tie" thathe will discuss, than the ardorof the youngpersonsthemselves.Finally,the two from maydiffer treatment butone author's are notseparable, things of emphasis. degrees in many respect by another's this being constantly of relationship orders three We maydistinguish of James. The first-a the laterwritings emphasizedthroughout of relationstatements in explicit order-consists rhetorical simple, of statement ship. As examplesof thisorder,we have the above howto his errand. We mustagreeat once that, Strether's relation ever remarkable the relationis as the subjectof a novel,thereis it. at all remarkable aboutthismeansof expressing nothing sincethey The secondand third orders maybe called structural, fallmoredirectly means,and thereby are expressed by grammatical thescopeof thisdiscussion.The secondorder thanthe first within betweenthe partsof the the of relationship is simply expression

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sentence.It is true, of course, thatwithout relationship, no sentence buthereagain it is a matter exists, of emphasis. James secures great emphasisfor these relatingelementsby two favorite devices: by the relating italicizing wordsand by the alreadydiscussedunconventional organization of his sentences.The first of thesedevices is frequently employed, as a casual inspection of any of the later will reveal. The occurrences writings are not all of equal interestfor Chad" (Amb., I, 78). To distinguish the second preposition fromthe first, any readerwould allow it some emphasis, and any writer if he wrotebeforeemphatic mightitalicizeit, particularly italics went out of fashion. Few writers, however,would have italicizedthe words chosenby Jamesfor special emphasisin the to say thatanother following sentences; it might not be too extreme writer would have regarded thesewordsas almostthe last ones in the sentences to emphasize. is he to us?" (W.D., I, 37) "Whatin theworld "I won'tbe left." (GB., I, 26) 'off' fear ofbeing without "Of myrealhonest someday, ofbeing wrong, it." (G.B., I, 28) knowing "For anytiing in theway of a surprise. But onlyfrom you." (S.F.,
p. 2I8)

". . . he should have been therewith, and as it might have been said,

Even morefrequent thanthisemployment of italicsis theuse of abnormalsentence orderto secureemphasisupon wordsdenoting relationship.The sentences oftenseem to have been unthreaded and restrung forthe sole purposeof removing emphasisfromthe verbs nounsand active and throwing it instead words uponhumbler "There'snothing forme possible but to feelthatI'm of connection: not a fool" (W.D., II, i8i). This arrangement stresses obviously "for"more than a conventional would do: "Nothing arrangement is possible forme butto feelthatI'm not a fool." The thirdorderof relating commonin James expressions conH sistsin expressions withina sentence which relatethatsentence to exand what will come after. Transitional what has gone before of thiskind are employed but not ordipressions by mostwriters, in the form as by James. His are morenumerous, of parennarily the sentences thesesor interjections theymorefrequently interrupt

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Structure of Henry iames The Sentetnce

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to theunusualtexheavily in whichtheyoccur,and they contribute ture of his writing. They seem to accomplishin a largerrange by the secondorderwe have just described. what is accomplished is considerable."The reasonwas-into whichhe had Their variety of an hour-that just by theend of a quarter livedquiteintimately reoffered it now a kind of unexampled of theirsafety this truth ceptacle . . ." (G.B., I, 266). It will be noticedthatthe transitional qualityof the linkingphrasesin the above example or connective is not a word,phrase,or is grammatically vague; the antecedent has been goingon forsometime what but moregenerally sentence, past. was sentence In the discussion of sentence orderthe following violationof what we regardas quoted as an instanceof James's the normalorderof the English sentence:"'How can I not feel myboy?"' The morethananything else how theyadore together felt. In is immediately emphasisupon "together" extraordinary where our attention directs James forcibly withhis purpose, keeping natureof this he wants it to go, to the fact that the significant of the adorers. But he goes in the relationship consists adoration is not the only of "together" further than that. The misplacing "more than of the sentence. The adverbialexpression peculiarity locatedin else" seemsremarkably long and emphatically anything as it does of four consisting to the restof the meaning, proportion thefinal a position thatunnaturally postpones wordsand occupying notofpersons this of relationship, clause. This,too,is an expression to time,but of meanings:it relatesthe meaningof the sentence thatformthe complexof and subsequent meanings manyprevious the Prince'sconsciousness of his situation. in thenextexamplewill not The significance of the interjection be lost upon anyonewho recallsthe partplayedby Kate Croy in nothing worse The WingsoftheDove. "Theythemselves suggested a pair of the children of a super-always by Kate's system-than (W.D., II, i8i). civilised age makingthe bestof an awkwardness" A brief thanthesepluckedexampleshow passagewill show better the expressions of which we are talkingoperatein a typical"conreviews the greatsubtilizer, versation piece." Fanny Assingham, therelating withherhusband. I have italicized matters expressions. it all did from thefirst.I've thought "He has behaved beautifully-he

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ofhim;andI've morethanonce whenI've had a chance along wonderful therefore-!" Butit diedawayas shemused. toldhimso. Therefore, fora change,to kickup hisheels?" he hasa right, "Therefore on,"of went sheundivertedly however," of couirse "It isn'ta question

of their doingas they apart. It's a question beautifully behaving their matter." is another whentogether-which should "that askedwithinterest, then,"theColonel "Andhow do youthink do, one wouldsay,the should do? The less they they when together yousee so muchin it." (GB., I, 248) better-if all then A finalexampleof thisdevicemustbe given: "'You after butmost now don't?"' (S.F., p. 248). Here,notonlytheemphasis, expresis connective.The relating of the sentence, of the material thechemilike the armsconnecting direction, sionsextendin every as in mostof the of molecules. In these, in diagrams cal elements the referare indistinct; quoted above,the antecedents expressions of a character entstendto includeall of the complexconsciousness moment. Yet theexpressions up to thepresent achieved or situation are truly connectivesrather than summaries; what has been referred to,not epitomized. achievedis merely a chainof links, resembles Good conventional prosestructurally each tiedto theprecedsentences, in whichthe linksmayrepresent one. each likewisetied to the preceding ing one, or paragraphs, unit one of therelationship we discover With numerous exceptions, chain back,link by link,theorderly unitby tracing withan earlier New muchlesssimply. progresses of argument.The proseof James with a greatdeal, if of orientation unitstend to containelements of not all, thathas gone before;the meaningexpandsin a process atomjoins theringof fluid, accretion.With each new unita fresh organic,suspendedmeaning. To this also thereare some excepdiffers in the proseof James so radically tions; not everysentence of sentences. structure fromwhat we regardas the conventional of him,and along withother are characteristic But such sentences to his prose the peculiar qualities (especiallydiction) contribute revealed in a gradually joinssentence texture.As sentence Jamesian in thecarpet, thefigure of talkspreada little," whole,as "thewaters the terms, visible.Using different becomes thatis,thewhole carpet, of thiskind of the effect narrator of The Sacred Fount describes to to meaning:"It could not but be exciting in itsrelation writing,

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The SentenceStructure of HenryJames

talk,as we talked, on thebasisof thosesuppressed processes and unavowed references whichmade the meaningof our meeting so different from itsform"(S.F., p. 212). Ambiguity. James'ssentences are occasionallygrammatically ambiguous. Doubtlesseveryreaderhas noticedexamples,which seemto growslightly morenumerous in thelaterbooks,wherethe stylereachesits highestpoint of development.Many of the sentences, of course,are difficult, theirgrammar appearingonly after a secondreading;parsingthemis something of a struggle, yetit can be done. Sometimes, however, afterparsinghas relievedthe technicaldifficulty, remains. "'And you the,sense of ambiguity knew,'I sighed,'so beautifully, you glowed over it so, thismorning!'" (S.F., p. 203). "So beautifully" obviously modifies "knew"; nevertheless, its force continues to attachpartly to "glowed,"where we first applyit. Other sentences more stubbornly resistour parsing. "He had quite theconsciousness of his new friend, fortheir companion, that sentence, one mightsay,skilfully avoidstellingus exactly who had the consciousness of the new friend, Maria Gostrey, as a Jesuit in petticoats-thesubject,Strether, or the companion,Waymarsh. Does Strether have the consciousness thatWaymarsh has the consciousness of Miss Gos.trey as a Jesuit in petticoats? Or does Strether alone have the consciousness, while Waymarsh has something else, sayan intuition?Grammatically thedifficulty arises thefloatfrom ing natureof thephrase"fortheir and from thepossicompanion," thatthe second"he" refers bility to "companion" as its antecedent. the effect Rhetorically, givenis of a "consciousness" detachedfrom either like a individual, disembodied overthesituahovering entity tion. Stylization. In what has gone beforewe have seen some exdevices used by James amplesofdifferent to breakdown theorderly tightness of Englishprose; thesedevicesgo fartowardconstituting the author's style. In so far as theymay be closelyidentified with his purposes, no othertermis needed to denominate them. The when this styleof sentence stage is reached, servesas a however, for othersentences pattern whereinthe cogencyof the devicesis not so immediately felt. At thispointit seemsconvenient to emhe might have had of a Jesuitin petticoats. . ." (Amb., I, 35). This

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ployanother term to describe whatis happening, and to speakof thesecond lotofsentences as undergoing stylization. In themature writings ofJames, we find a fewpassages written in a style comparatively free from deliberate grammatical breaches. Thesepassages develop thenarrative and character portrayal in a relatively sharp, straightforward, fast-moving manner.Theirtexture stands outin boldrelief against theprose with which they are associated.The GoldenBowl begins withsucha passage, about three pageslong. The Prince hadalways liked hisLondon, when ithadcome tohim; he wasoneoftheModern Romans whofind bytheTlamesa more convincing ofthetruth image oftheancient state than anythey haveleft bythe Tiber. . . . (G.B., I, 3) Heretheproblem is simple andthestyle, exposition, for one except difficult reads more likeE. M. Forster, with a reminiscence sentence, ofFordMadoxFord, than likeHenry James.In The Wings ofthe Dove we find a muchlonger of comparatively passage straightforwardprose. The first I62 pages, themagnificent containing presentation of Kate Croyin herfather's house, suggests thekindof writing James havedonehad he chosen might to develop thestyle in which he wrote The Europeans. Then,rather thewritabruptly, intothedense, ing shifts nubilous he actually did style prefigured, develop. confessed to an especialadmiration Although James for the ofThe Wings opening oftheDove,hisfavorite The Ambasnovel, contains noneofthese sadors, ofdry land. Andalthough fragments we cannot butadmire this we do so with opening, some reluctance, as we admire a Miltonic digression. It doesnotfit therest of the it cannot sustain itsindubitable work; force against thewhelming tideoftherest.Andbecause style, for James, wasa modeofappreas well as an arrangement hension of words, theopening of this novelsecedes thebulkof it. TherearetwoKate Croys; from alin thecharacter though nothing ofthefirst is inconsistent with the character of thesecond, are thecreatures they of different texture and different timbre. This slightincompatibility, undoubtedly perceived by James, areso fewpassages mayexplain whythere liketheopening in the laterwritings of James, butit does notexplain are so whythere

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of The few like the simplepassageof exposition in the beginning style GoldenBowl. Granted thatJames had to use his characteristic when engagedin tasksforwhichno other style could equallyserve, mightdo whydoes he almostuniformly employit when a simpler device, for as well,if notbetter? This questioninvolves themaster suchit is,of stylization. Artdemandsconsistency of method. This simplecanon applies withparticular forceto methods thatdepartfromthe conventional in brilliance or peculiarity. We are awareoftheshockof unplanned in such a workas Marlowe'sDoctorFaustus, wherethe incongruity mostbrilliant and high-flown blankverselies side by side withpassagesof vulgarcomedy. It is not enoughto say thatthe dramatic scenesand thecomicscenesare incongruous; in whichthe thestyles scenesare presented as are incongruous, and it is this incongruity muchas the otherwhichgivesFaustusitspatchwork effect.It can be arguedthatShakespeare, on the otherhand,was hyperconscious of thisproblem. In his greatplaysthe messengers and otherbusimorearty, than nesscharacters often speak a languagemoreturgid, that,to some thatof any of the major characters.It is necessary but extent, theyshoulddo so. The high moments, when nothing the fullresources his of Shakespeare's baroqueblankversecan serve are of courseexaggerated the flight from purposes, in treatment; is led into these commonrealismis extreme. When the listener his feetmustnot be draggingon the commonearth; experiences, attuned to thestyle thatis,he mustbe fully in whichthemostcomwill be uttered. Thereplex of the play'svariouscommunications from whomwe couldwisha crisper foreeventhemessengers, expoin a fustianwhich, when relatedmerelyto sition,communicate whattheyhave to say,seemsridiculous. If the openingof The Wingsof the Dove failsto flowsmoothly of thenovel,thisis an into,and becomeabsorbed in, theremainder not commit. thelater did Almost error thatJames often throughout are rencommunications the mostelementary, writings, subsidiary dissociated terms. Perhaps dered in freely floating, grammatically withthe Renaissance of in Faustus,Marloweexperimented concept the verisimilitude, hoping to make Wagner talk like a neophyte, whoseartrequires sucha highdegree clownslikeclowns. An artist or Jamesknows he mustreas thatof Shakespeare of stylization

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one: he of a higher in favor of verisimilitude theconcept nounce oftheones to thespeech tunethespeech ofall hischaracters must purposes.Fidelity of his artistic withthe achievement entrusted to realism.By fidelity over takeprecedence must purposes to these goodhisstylization. he makes suchmeans to himan madepossible of James The characteristic stylization as here, mention I shallbarely which order, ofanother effect artistic A beam James. on writers byother recognized it has beenamply emerges ofhisstyle, prism therefracting through dispersed oftalk, incoherent and logically thevoluble in sucha way as to suggest awesome conversation. chatter of society Thus,in spiteof their novels in the James conversations theall-important portentousness, andwhimsicality. ofinformality measure large havea felicitously madeanyfurther James The nextquestion to ariseis whether In so faras delineation. in character use of hisstyle characteristic analytavidly refined, educated, are likeeachother, his characters butto be, notonlyto suggest, use his style, ical,he did of course (and their however aredifferent, In so faras they their personality. are rarely thedifferentiae their similarities), differences outweigh though arefelt, ofspeech.Thatthedifferences byidioms suggested theimportant because partly can be true in speech, notrepresented maybe estabwhich nature, areofperception andmoral differences Moreofdiscourse. as wellas bythemanner lished bythecontent perceptiin themore immediately had litde realinterest James over, his artbeing individual differences, human, ble,morepractically that from ofDickens. Butto some remove possible at thefurthest texture musthave been the uniformity of conversational degree, his coercion to preserve maintained becausehe felta functional the speak Americans, his naive his businessmen, hence stylization; exbyhissuperrefined is spoken that grammatically samelanguage countesses. and decadent patriates and those byno to thisrule, I havefound fewexceptions very the"vilof Charlotte Stant, clearcut. The bestcase is that means it will be rememBowl. Charlotte Stant, of The Golden lainess" and her of MaggieVerver in theaffairs therift provides bered, theflawin thegolden bowl,yetwe are rethatconstitutes Prince attitude balanced of disdelicately to viewherwitha most quired of moral results the disastrous when and admiration; approbation

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magsheis still"utterly haveall beenmadeclear, herintervention ofpity. In a way,James worthy and in theend,entirely nificent," her thanhe presented her to us moredramatically has presented her reveals herspeech partially because Kate Croy, libertine, sister have and analyses events before start, thevery evenfrom nature, about. shehas brought of thesituation thenature disclosed slowly fullof parentheses, periods, she speaksin jerky Like theothers, but in elements, and loosetransitional ambiguities, interruptions, has construction normally from tight ofdeparture hercasea pattern of to the development contributes that a pattern beenestablished, ofthestory.Charlotte as wellas to thedevelopment hercharacter in retreats and constantly rush outherideasin an emotional pours ofit parts with, up,or tinker to patch ofa meaning theexpression an produces The emotion hasled hertomisstate. heremotion that theothers us to seewhy andenables andvitality, offorce impression but the patching as "magnificent," question accepther without In thedrainstability. herunderlying quiteclearly reveals process Charlotte Prince, to the marriage before Maggie's matic parkscene, tothePrince: speaks is,to hear. I that you, I wanted youto understand. I wanted of ornot. If I asknothing I think, whether youunderstand don't care, as that." (I, 87) so much even youI don't-Imayn't-ask to exor tries Charlotte expresses, later in thesamescene, A little toward Maggie. ofherattitude something press, enough. not selfish "She's said. instantly I mean," Charlotte what "That's so modest," her. She's that oneneeddo for absolutely, nothing, There's I meanif youloveher-or missthings. doesn't shedeveloped-"she itgo."(I, 9I) you. Shelets say, ifsheloves I should rather, thatCharaboutthegift hereis ostensibly Thoughthediscussion is reof hernature enough wedding, forMaggie's willselect lotte at this thatprobably the deeperintentions vealedto foreshadow ofCharlotte's Another toherself. shehasnotevenarticulated stage elements. of emphatic habits is therepetition verbal significant elsecanwedo?"(I, 265) in the world what dear, "What my else, shewent on,"comes back. Everything," back-they come come "They
back."(I, 268)

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I don't." (I, 269) I don't, yousee. ButI don't, "You boreyourself, It has been-it is importo me important. "I had myidea. It seemed tant." (I, 272) in the alone would standout significantly None of theseexpressions fromtimeto time prosestyle. Othercharacters of James's texture has, as But only Charlotte in thesestructures. expressthemselves again and recur again which own, her of of patterns it were,a set in her speeches. herobservations to interrupt Maggie,on herside,has a tendency thatrelatethe meaningof theobserexpressions withparenthetical is and her opinions. The effect to herself, vationmorepersonally charmwhich unstylish of thepoised, and indicative charming rather of Charlotte. brilliance she opposesto theunfettered up butthemoreI shallgivemyself yet, "If I've readbuttwoor three (I, as soonas I havetime-totherest." 9) absoitbeautiful-is for-andI think he cares to thethings "His relation romantic." (I, io) lutely butin hercase therepepartof hersentence; repeats She,too,often in a playfulmanner,the main idea deprecates, titionfrequently she has expressed. "'We've been like a pair of pirates-positively the sortwho wink at each otherand say "Ha-ha!" stage pirates, is buried'" (I, I2). Magwhen theycome to wheretheirtreasure and much less insistoccur less frequently however, gie's patterns, entlythanthoseof Charlotte. For the mostpart,Maggie,like the dips witha freehand intothebottomless in James, othercharacters made available by the Jamesian supply of verbal arrangements grammar. extends the coercionof stylization In the case of the novelist, as well as overthe speech and narration overpassagesof exposition it extendedover his critical of characters.In the case of James, had itsway over and even his talk. Stylization his letters, prefaces, a mannerto some degree became It theman,as overhis writings. communications, forits own sake,in his extra-artistic ism,or used, of it. Yet it is and also in his art,which shouldhave been freest if by the term to James, unjustto apply the word "mannerism" in orderto assumed moreor lessconsciously we mean an affectation the conof originality.The personalstyle, createthe impression

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versational obliquities, of James manifest theengrossing nature of hisartandthemerging ofthis artintoidentity withall theaspects oflife which, for him, had anyreality. The mannerism is a natural human consequence of artistic conscience. we havedealt Thusfar with qualities inthestyle ofJames which have todo with hisfreedom from customary grammatical restraints. Morethananything else,these qualities account forthepersonal texture of hisstyle, thetexture that is distinct from others, lending itself readily to lampoon or admiration. Thereremains, however, trait oneother ofthis tonotice style before we shallhavecompleted ourinvestigation ofit. Thisis a characteristic useofcertain rather showy tropes. The majority ofJames's sentences contain thekindofdepartures from normal we havebeendiscussing. A smaller number ofthem contain no structural peculiarities and seemon thewholerather A stillsmaller simpleand straightforward. number are again highly wrought, but in accordance withtraditional principles of sentence these somemention. elaboration; require The kindofarrangements here involved reminds us oftheschemataverborum of thelatesixteenth century, especially of theeuphuistic areso carefully prose. The words arranged in accordance and partof speech withtheir initial sound, letter, thatwe might their in theJamesian fabric expect presence to be obtrusive. Curiwe ask why,let us havesomeexamples. ouslyit is not. Before The following at thebeginning sentence occurs ofone,andfollowing another, paragraph describing Maggie'sPrince:"Something ofthis wasin anycasethemoral andthemurmur sort ofhiswalk" of"in anycase"a structure (G.B.,I, i6). On thefulcrum hasbeen have done credit that would to balanced John Lyly. Alliteration and "something sideof thefulcrum, on either of thissort" occurs "murmur forsyllable, balances ofhiswalk." The exactly, syllable an arrest, a sort artificial elaboration of selmaybe saidto provide sideofit. Another on either totheparagraphs vageedge, example, "Whenthey wereso disposed as toshelat theendofa paragraph: wereapttobe shocks" thesurprises tersurprises (G.B.,I, 20). Annot so in the midst of a long,loose other, quite precise, occurring ". . . he saw himself at thecloseof theday, sentence: partaking, white cloth and a sanded of a coarse withtheenhancements floor,

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of something fried and felicitious, washeddown withauthentic wine.. ." (Amb., theschemata aremuch II, 2iI). Sometimes more elaborate thanthis, as in thefollowing sentence, where phrasing, notalliteration, is theprinciple ofbalance: "Whatwassingular was itseemed that notso much an expectation ofanything in particular as a large blandblank assumption ofmerits almost beyond notation, ofessential quality andvalue"(G.B.,I, 20). Occasionally theprinas in this cipleis simple chiasmus, "Shetried example: to be sad so as notto be angry, butit madeherangry that shecouldn't be sad" ( W.D.,I, 4). Fairly thebasis frequently ofelaboration is rhythmical, sometimes witheffects of soundalmost lyrically ornate, as: "They . . walked, wandered, wondered, and, a little, lostthemselves (Ammb., I, 99). Such effects as these(along withthe morenumerous simple, sentences pithy a heightened tension mentioned above) contribute to a prose which, forall itsownpeculiar artifice, forever threatens to becomedevitalized What success by preciosity. theyhave in savingthe situation is, perhaps, a matter of individual opinion. that One doesnotfeel, failtoblend their with however, they neighbors.Theyadaptgracefully totheir environment, probably because, in structure, differ is basically however their effect they similar. offigurae The texture of euphuistic woven prose, as verborum, to figurae opposed a diffuse sententiae, produces or floating effect, akinto themorepurposefully controlled effects of James himself. The preoccupation withlength and soundofwords, and balanced shifts of them, to tone, groupings theemphasis from sense simple from meaning to modeof expression. At a sacrifice, the words liberated fromsharp, context-determined themselves, definitions, waters association. A float similar of as we suggestively upon shift, have seen,took place in the characteristic structures of James; theEuphuists, he controlled thetides unlike of association though witha moonlike rigor.

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