"Europe" 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 ...

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 ...

first published in ''Scribner's Magazine'' in June, 1899. In his preface to the story in the '' New York Edition'' (1907–1909) of his fiction, James says he got one hint for this domestic

tragicomedy Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a seriou ...

from a visit to an elderly lady who largely lived in her recollections of an early trip to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. James later heard about her aging daughters who had never been to Europe and much regretted the fact. He combined the two suggestions in a clever

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the story of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 Other * ''Plot' ...

and produced a brilliant, polished gem of short

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travelogue, etc.) or fictional ( fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel, etc. ...

Plot summary

The narrator visits the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

home of an ancient widow, Mrs. Rimmle, and her three aging daughters: Becky, Jane and Maria. Long ago Mrs. Rimmle visited Europe, which was the great event of her life. The daughters would also like to see Europe but their mother falls ill whenever their plans get close to materializing. Finally, family friends take Jane to Europe, where she is too happy ever to return. When the narrator next sees Mrs. Rimmle, she tells him that Jane has died abroad, which is not true, and that Becky will soon be going to Europe. Becky never actually gets away from the family house and finally dies. When he last visits the family, the nearly mummified Mrs. Rimmle tells the narrator that Becky has "gone to Europe," a sad euphemism for her death.

Major themes

The story is a

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

variant of James' old "international theme" of the Old World versus the

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. The comedy grows bitter, though, as the witch-like Mrs. Rimmle slowly squeezes the life out of her daughters with her unrelenting psychological dominance. Although one of the daughters escapes Mrs. Rimmle's grasp to enjoy a ripe second youth in Europe, the other two are not so lucky. Mrs. Rimmle has been seen as the embodiment of New England

Puritanism The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. P ...

in her ability to control her daughters by guilt-tripping them. James ridicules the old woman fairly severely but she is by no means powerless to enforce her will. James was proud of the compression he achieved in this story and the way he dramatized the quiet but intense struggle between the ancient widow and her daughters. The narrative's dark humor only heightens the pathos of thwarted and wasted lives.

Critical evaluation

The story has generally been a favorite of critics for the bittersweet account of each daughter's fate and the suavity of the narrator in relating the sometimes grim details. Although the story wastes little time on local-color description, the entire narrative is imbued with the atmosphere of primitive New England, as personified by the aged Mrs. Rimmle. The domineering widow seems almost as old as the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

and brings more than a little of their spirit into the story. In his book-length study of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

, James noted how adroitly the older novelist used New England's Puritan heritage to deepen and darken his tales. James achieves something of the same effect in "Europe".

References

* ''The Tales of Henry James'' by Edward Wagenknecht (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1984) {{ISBN, 0-8044-2957-X

External links

The ''New York Edition'' text of "Europe", with the author's preface (1909)

Note on the texts of "Europe"
at 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 ...

web site 1899 short stories Short stories by Henry James Works originally published in Scribner's Magazine