ヘンリー・ジェイムズのアメリカ観(5)

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This paper aims to analyze Henry James's view of American people and society, projected in the delineation of a wealthy American girl Milly and English people interested in her, in The Wings of the Dove. The story focuses on English society at the beginning of the twentieth century. James's feeling about England and English people at that time is an important milieu to understand the story. As the result of his unhappy experience of the theater at the end of the nineteenth century, James came to entertain an unfavorable view of English society. He finds people,from the rich to the poor, are keen about money. This viewpoint is projected in the characterization of Kate, Mrs. Lowder, Lord Mark, Kate's father and sister. As a contrast, Milly, an extremely rich American, is projected as a person indifferent to money. Because of her poor health, she knows she is doomed. Still, she is eager to live a full life. James presents Milly as a tolerant, generous person, who forgives treacherous people. We find Milly's moral beauty is presented as sustained by her wealth, as a contrast to mercenary English people. A contrastive analysis of Milly with Newman in The American (1876) leads to an understanding of the fact that America has acquired maturity, not only in prosperity but also in people's minds, in a quarter of a century. However, it is clear James does not put full confidence in money, as we see in Milly's life.
2001-01-20