An Essay On Henry James

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Recommended: Features of 19th century literature

Kristen Cappello
Adv. English
Mrs. Dwyer
Feb. 16, 2014
Henry James
Each period of history consists of the ideas and inspirations of individuals ending in a progression. Within this group there are people and ideals that surpass the average and improve an age. One such individual that displayed these qualities was the American writer Henry James. As a man of the arts, James believed that literature should offer an experience for a reader that truly resembled life and its many necessities. The movement created from these ideas was known as literary realism and provided a new level of depth and meaning to James works (Chandler). As a citizen of both America and Britain, James was able to cross cultural gaps in his literature exploring the clash of personalities from the regions. The freedom with which he wrote and developed his novels led to the overall enrichment of literature for years to come. As a freedom writer, Henry James assimilated literary realism and cross cultural gaps in his literature that had a strong impact on America (Chandler).
During the 1800s, the time of Henry James birth, literature’s impact on society had had an overwhelming breakout. Henry James, born on April 15th 1843, was one of many striking American writers helping shape the way literature is written until this day. As a young boy, Henry’s education was very limited. As an alternative to going to school, Henry began to teach himself, only to one day become a student of Harvard law school in the future. His parents, Mary Walsh and Henry James Sr., would takes Henry and his siblings back and forth between England and America to learn the culture and lifestyle that was lived, causing Henry to be a lot better-rounded due to his knowledge of the outside worl...

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... proved how influential and notable he really was. He was able to influence writing on a global scale because of the connections he made allowing literature to develop on a rapid scale. Being able to incorporate history into his works, Henry stated, “It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature”, which evidently shows his ability to incorporate modern history into what he wrote. The ever-changing dimensions of the New and Old world were also some of the more notable elements of James’s writes as he was able to assort together the connection between the two. This synthesis between nations and peoples was what made James’s work truly revolutionary giving him a place among some of the greatest novelists. His ability to bring together people of different nationalities is truly a cornerstone of literature giving depth to written works around the globe.

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