An essay on life
The real thing:
Author: Henry James
First Published: 1892
Type of Plot: Social realism
Time of Work: The 1890’s
Setting: London
Characters: The narrator, Major Monarch, Mrs. Monarch, Oronte, Miss Churm
Genres: Psychological fiction, Social realism, Short fiction
Subjects: Class conflict, Art or artists, Success or failure
Locales: Europe, London, England, United Kingdom
It is frequently difficult to pin down what a work by Henry James is about, not because his stories have no plot, but because they are so multi-layered that the plot is only one part of the reading experience. This is clearly demonstrated by his short story, "The Real Thing." On the surface, James' story deals with the attempt of the story's narrator, an artist, to find suitable models for a dime novel he's illustrating. But on another level, the story is about appearance versus reality, pride versus shame, and the fate of the victims of a society that trades in appearances alone.
Our artist regularly employs two models who are excellent actors: a lower-class English girl, Miss Churm, who can convincingly portray anyone from a street urchin to a queen, and a flashy Italian named Oronte who is just as versatile. However, the narrator experiments with using a couple who are actually members of the English aristocracy, simply down on their luck and desperate for work. In other words, they should be perfect models for his drawings of "quality" English people because they are "The Real Thing."
Unfortunately, however, the Monarchs do not in fact make good models at all. Certainly they capture the essence of the English aristocracy, but they have no idea how to make themselves look like anything except themselves. Even in those parts of the story in which members of the aristocracy are actually featured, the illustrations of the Monarchs look stiff and posed. Arguably, there's a logical reason for this; in the couple's wealthy days, photographers were constantly taking their picture, and
Author: Henry James
First Published: 1892
Type of Plot: Social realism
Time of Work: The 1890’s
Setting: London
Characters: The narrator, Major Monarch, Mrs. Monarch, Oronte, Miss Churm
Genres: Psychological fiction, Social realism, Short fiction
Subjects: Class conflict, Art or artists, Success or failure
Locales: Europe, London, England, United Kingdom
It is frequently difficult to pin down what a work by Henry James is about, not because his stories have no plot, but because they are so multi-layered that the plot is only one part of the reading experience. This is clearly demonstrated by his short story, "The Real Thing." On the surface, James' story deals with the attempt of the story's narrator, an artist, to find suitable models for a dime novel he's illustrating. But on another level, the story is about appearance versus reality, pride versus shame, and the fate of the victims of a society that trades in appearances alone.
Our artist regularly employs two models who are excellent actors: a lower-class English girl, Miss Churm, who can convincingly portray anyone from a street urchin to a queen, and a flashy Italian named Oronte who is just as versatile. However, the narrator experiments with using a couple who are actually members of the English aristocracy, simply down on their luck and desperate for work. In other words, they should be perfect models for his drawings of "quality" English people because they are "The Real Thing."
Unfortunately, however, the Monarchs do not in fact make good models at all. Certainly they capture the essence of the English aristocracy, but they have no idea how to make themselves look like anything except themselves. Even in those parts of the story in which members of the aristocracy are actually featured, the illustrations of the Monarchs look stiff and posed. Arguably, there's a logical reason for this; in the couple's wealthy days, photographers were constantly taking their picture, and