Uncle Sam on the Scene: American stereotypes roaming the literary spaces of Henry James
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2017-07-17
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en
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This thesis explores how the stereotyping of American characters develops from Henry James’s early works to his late works. The research sets out by exploring the American side of the Jamesian international theme. This has been done through the analysis of four different American characters from four different works by James. The research is focused on a shift between James’s early and his late oeuvre. There are therefore two American characters selected from his early works and two of his late works. The two works from his early oeuvre are the novella The Europeans (1878) and the novel The Portrait of a Lady (1881), and the two works selected from his later period are the novel The Ambassadors (1903) and the novella The Jolly Corner (1908). The first analysis is focused on how the stereotyping of American characters in terms of character descriptions develops in Henry James’s oeuvre. The image of America symbolized by two young and innocent American girls changed to the image of America personified by two middle-aged American men. The second analysis is concerned with how the symbolizing of space, as part of the stereotyping of American characters, develops in Henry James’s oeuvre. In the early works of James, space is used either to magnify or contrast the stereotyping of the American characters. The girls are restless, isolated but eager to enrich themselves with the desires and cultures of Europe. In the late works of James, space becomes something more complex that could influence a character’s mindset. Since the stereotypical image of America has shifted, the two men who portrayed this image of America have different qualities as well. They represent a more matured image of America.
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