A Conversation Among Himselves: Change and the Style of Henry James

A Conversation Among Himselves: Change and the Style of Henry James David L Hoover New York University Style in Fiction Symposium (SIFS) PALA International Symposium 11th March 2006, Lancaster University The “Early” Style Newman looked at her a moment; he saw that she was pretty, but he was not in the least dazzled He remembered poor M Nioche's solicitude for her ‘innocence,’ and he laughed out again as his eyes met hers Her face was the oddest mixture of youth and maturity, and beneath her candid brow her searching little smile seemed to contain a world of ambiguous intentions She was pretty enough, certainly, to make her father nervous; but, as regards her innocence, Newman felt ready on the spot to affirm that she had never parted with it She had simply never had any; she had been looking at the world since she was ten years old, and he would have been a wise man who could tell her any secrets The American (1877 [1879 edition]) The “Late” Style That brought back to Maisie it was a roundabout way the beauty and antiquity of her connexion with the flower of the Overmores as well as that lady's own grace and charm, her peculiar prettiness and cleverness and even her peculiar tribulations A hundred things hummed at the back of her head, but two of these were simple enough Mrs Beale was by the way, after all, just her stepmother and her relative She was just and partly for that very reason Sir Claude's greatest intimate (‘lady-intimate’ was Maisie's term) so that what together they were on Mrs Wix's prescription to give up and break short off with was for one of them his particular favourite and for the other her father's wife What Maisie Knew (1897: NYE,1908) Cluster Analysis—5 Authors—983 MFW • • • • • • • • • 20 Novels (23 Editions) by Henry James Early (1871-81): Watch and Ward, 1871* Roderick Hudson, 1875 The American, 1877 Daisy Miller, 1878 The Europeans, 1878* Confidence, 1880* Washington Square, 1881* The Portrait of a Lady, 1881 • • • • • • Late (1897-17): The Spoils of Poynton, 1897 What Maisie Knew, 1897 (1908) The Awkward Age, 1899 The Sacred Fount, 1901* The Wings of the Dove, 1902 (1909) • The Ambassadors, 1903 (1909) • The Golden Bowl, 1904 (1909) • The Ivory Tower, 1917 • Intermediate (1886-90): • • The Bostonians, 1886* • The Princess Casamassima, • • 1886 • The Reverberator, 1888 (1908) • • The Tragic Muse, 1890 Early (revised versions): Daisy Miller, 1878 (1909) The Portrait of a Lady, 1881 (1908) The American, 1877 (1907) Cluster Analysis of 23 Editions Fifteen Novels by Charles Dickens Eleven Novels by Willa Cather Some Contractions in Periods Personal Pronouns in Periods Pronouns increasing, early < intermediate < late: – her, herself, it, itself, their, them, us Pronouns increasing, early < late: – she, hers, him Pronouns decreasing, late < intermediate < early: – he, his, himself 169 Function Words in Periods Pattern Expected Late early) Waxing and Waning –ly Adverbs Waxing adverbs: markedly, sociably, originally, pleasantly, nobly, comparatively, practically, perceptibly, ruefully, gaily, conspicuously, lucidly, goodhumouredly, visibly, inevitably, luckily, previously, fearfully, supremely, oddly, perversely, cheerfully, helplessly, fully, positively, extraordinarily, mostly, publicly, repeatedly, precisely, thoughtfully, merely, awfully Waning adverbs: sternly, scantily, chiefly, intently, angrily, severely, tightly, hardly, terribly, solemnly, softly, tolerably, greatly, rarely, attentively, badly, rapidly, seriously, mentally, occasionally, slowly, passionately, coldly, strongly, usually, singularly, differently, generally, certainly, abruptly, constantly, gracefully, delightfully Peculiar –ly Adverbs (Mainly Late) (4) sighingly, (2) appointedly, assentingly, diviningly, protectedly, reasoningly, redeemingly, rejoicingly, savingly, (1) advertisedly, affirmingly, applausively, avoidingly, booklessly, coolingly, creepingly, detectedly, inattackably, interruptingly, neededly, obstructedly, peeringly, persuadedly, protectingly, recordedly, relievingly, revivingly, simplifyingly, smokingly, spreadingly, sustainingly, swingingly, unencouragingly, unlightedly, wailingly, wavingly Peculiar –ly Adverbs in Context The fine old presence on the pillow had faltered before expression; then it appeared rather sighingly and finally to give the question up The Ivory Tower (1917) Peculiar –ly Adverbs in Context “She might have been anything she liked except his wife.” “But she wasn't,” said the Colonel very smokingly The Golden Bowl (1904) Fanny herself limited indeed, she minimised, her office; you didn't need a jailor, she contended, for a domesticated lamb tied up with pink ribbon This wasn't an animal to be controlled it was an animal to be, at the most, educated This left, goodness knew, plenty of different calls for Maggie to meet in a case in which so much pink ribbon, as it might be symbolically named, was lavished on the creature What it all amounted to at any rate was that Mrs Assingham would be keeping him quiet now, while his wife and his father-in-law carried out their own little frugal picnic; quite moreover, doubtless, not much less neededly in respect to the members of the circle that were with them there than in respect to the pair they were missing almost for the first time The Golden Bowl (1904)