''The Princess Casamassima'' is a novel by
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 as a serial in ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'' in 1885 and 1886 and then as a book in 1886. It is the story of an intelligent but confused young London bookbinder, Hyacinth Robinson, who becomes involved in radical politics and a terrorist assassination plot. The book is unusual in the Jamesian canon for dealing with such a violent political subject. But it is often paired with another novel published by James in the same year, ''
The Bostonians
''The Bostonians'' is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in '' The Century Magazine'' in 1885–1886 and then as a book in 1886. This bittersweet tragicomedy centres on an odd triangle of characters: Basil Ransom, a political c ...
'', which is also concerned with political issues, though in a much less tragic manner.
Plot
Amanda Pynsent, an impoverished seamstress, has adopted Hyacinth Robinson, the illegitimate son of her old friend Florentine Vivier, a
French woman of less than sterling repute, and an English lord. Florentine had stabbed her lover to death several years ago, and Pinnie (as Miss Pynsent is nicknamed) takes Hyacinth to see her as she lies dying at
Millbank prison
Millbank Prison or Millbank Penitentiary was a prison in Millbank, Westminster, London, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary, and which for part of its history served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were ...
. Hyacinth eventually learns that the dying woman is his mother and that she murdered his father.
Many years pass. Hyacinth, now a young man and a skilled bookbinder, meets revolutionary Paul Muniment and gets involved in radical politics. Hyacinth also has a coarse but lively girlfriend, Millicent Henning, and one night they go to the theatre. There Hyacinth meets the radiantly beautiful Princess Casamassima (Christina Light, from James' earlier novel, ''
Roderick Hudson
''Roderick Hudson'' is a novel by Henry James. Originally published between January and December 1875 as a serial in ''The Atlantic Monthly'', it is a bildungsroman that traces the development of the title character, a sculptor.
Plot summary
Row ...
'').
The Princess has become a revolutionary herself and now lives apart from her dull husband. Meanwhile, Hyacinth has committed himself to carrying out a terrorist assassination, though the exact time and place have not yet been specified to him. Hyacinth visits the Princess at her country home and tells her about his parents. When he returns to London, Hyacinth finds Pinnie dying. He comforts her in her final days, then travels to France and Italy on his small inheritance.
This trip completes Hyacinth's conversion to a love for the sinful but beautiful world, and away from violent revolution. Still, he does not attempt to escape his vow to carry out the assassination. But when the order comes, he turns the gun on himself instead of its intended victim.
Reception
''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''s review, published in 1887, noted that ''The Princess Casamassima'' kept to the promise of ''Roderick Hudson'', which James's other novels had not met. The review praised James's characterisation of Hyacinth's friends and comrades, but nonetheless found that James "does not understand" the English, with the result that his characters are "rather extremely clever attempts and conjectures than real life studies." The review concluded: "there is a great deal of interest in the book, interest which is not lessened by the fact that its catastrophe is quite unexpected, or rather is one which most readers are likely not to expect, exactly because it is so obvious."
References
Further reading
* ''The Novels of Henry James'' by
Edward Wagenknecht
Edward (Charles) Wagenknecht (March 28, 1900 – May 24, 2004) was an American literary critic and teacher who specialized in 19th century American literature. He wrote and edited many books on literature and movies, and taught for many years at ...
(New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1983)
* ''A Henry James Encyclopedia'' by Robert Gale (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989)
* ''Meaning in Henry James'' by Millicent Bell (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1991)
* ''A Companion to Henry James Studies'' edited by Daniel Fogel (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 1993)
* ''Henry James: A Collection of Critical Essays'' edited by
Ruth Yeazell
Ruth Bernard Yeazell (born April 4, 1947) is an American literary critic.
Ruth Bernard Yeazell was born on April 4, 1947, in New York City. She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1967, then attended Yale University. Yeazell taught at the Univers ...
(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall 1994)
External links
Original magazine publication of ''The Princess Casamassima'' (1885-86)*
ttp://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=58§ion=notes Note on the various texts of ''The Princess Casamassima''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 rangi ...
web site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Casamassima, The
1886 British novels
1886 American novels
Novels by Henry James
Novels first published in serial form
Works originally published in The Atlantic (magazine)
Macmillan Publishers books