Teaching the Short Fiction of Henry James

Henry James stands as one of the preeminent writers of the late 19th/early 20th century period; however, the world he wrote about has since disappeared. This collection of essays provides pedagogical assistance for several of his short stories—including “The Jolly Corner”, “The Europeans” and “Travelling Companions”—and his most anthologized longer works. It is aimed at instructors who do not consider themselves experts on James’ work. Each essay approaches a single work, offering a critical analysis as well as providing pedagogical suggestions for how to introduce both the work and the relevant social issues to students of the 21st century.

Kathleen McDonald is a professor of English at Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont, the university assessment coordinator at Norwich University and regularly participates in regional accreditations, and presents at conferences.

Anne S. Jung is vice president of academic affairs, dean of the college, and associate professor of English at Maria College in Albany, New York. Her current research interests include 19th century American Romance, art and gender in the literature of Henry James, as well as the pedagogy of teaching Cultural Studies.

Edited by Kathleen McDonald and Anne S. Jung
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 170
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2022
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8425-3
eISBN: 978-1-4766-4586-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments vi
Introduction: Setting the Scene
Kathleen McDonald 1
“[She] is not, after all, a Comanche savage”: Reading Daisy Miller and Teaching Inclusive Excellence
Jayson Baker 7
­Gold-Digger with a Purpose: Class Delusions and Disparities in “A ­Landscape-painter”
Katherine Shloznikova 25
Painting “a picture out of her setting”: The Jamesian Picturesque, the Claude Mirror Effect, and the Racial and National Dynamic in The Europeans
Nevena Stojanovic 41
Providing Contexts and Contextualization: Prosper Mérimée’s “La Vénus d’Ille,” James’ “The Last of the Valerii,” and The Portrait of a Lady
Anne S. Jung 62
“Bedizened in this unnatural garb”: Fashion, Rivalry, and the Supernatural in Teaching “The Romance of Certain Old Clothes”
Alissa Burger 83
Beneath an Italian Sky: Europe and Artistic Education in “Travelling Companions” and “The Madonna of the Future”
Bruno Penteado 98
Memory, Imagination, and the Recovery of the Past in the Present: The American Scene and “The Jolly Corner”
Ronald A. Bosco 113
The Specter of Tradition and Liberal Agency in “Owen Wingrave”
Mercedes García Palma 129
What to Do with a Dead Author: A Study of Influence Between Henry James’ “The Figure in the Carpet” and Roland Barthes’ “The Death of the Author”
Jamie Bowman 145
About the Contributors 159
Index 161