"A Tragedy of Error" is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

by American writer

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, his first, written at the age of 21 and published anonymously in the February 1864 issue of ''

Continental Monthly Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (a ...

'' by its editor Martha Elizabeth Duncan Walker Cook. This story was never collected or published by James in book form, but appears in the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rang ...

edition of his stories that cover the years 1864–1874. The story is approximately 7500 words in length, is divided into four parts, and is written using the third person narrative voice.

Plot summary

Mrs. Hortense Bernier receives a letter notifying her of her lame husband's return after an absence of two years. She is greatly affected by the letter; It is implied that she has been carrying on an affair with Monsieur de Meyrau and is certain her husband will find out. The next day, she rents a boat from a "dogged, brutal, and sullen" ferryman. In conversation, she learns that he is very poor and has killed several men. She asks him to meet her husband at the port when he arrives and kill him in return for payment. He agrees. The next day, M. de Meyrau goes to meet M. Bernier at the dock. On hearing that he had already been carried off by a boatman, he asks a different boatman to take him to Madame Bernier's. This boatman, who mistakes him for Monsieur Bernier, says, "You're just the man I want." An hour later, Hortense Bernier steps out of her house to see a limping man come toward her with outstretched arms.

External links

Reading Henry James: A Tragedy of Error

The Continental Monthly, vol 5, issue 2 facsimile on-line
Short stories by Henry James 1864 short stories Works originally published in American magazines Works originally published in literary magazines Works published anonymously {{Story-stub