Beth Morris

Realism and Naturalism

Professor VanNoy

November 16, 1999

Critical Review of The Bostonians

The geographical line that divided north from south in America’s post civil war era was a fine one. But the gulf that divided the lovers of reform from the lovers of the status quo is one that may be impossible to bridge. Henry James, in his Bostonians, ponders the effects of a union between members of each party

The plot, which moves very slowly, is centered around Miss. Olive Chancellor, a bitter young spinster bent on the reformation of society, and Miss. Verena Tarrant, who has the gift of motivational speaking, specifically on the feminist movement. Olive, driven by her desire to seek revenge on the male sex as a whole, takes poor, lower class Verena under her wing with the intention of spreading the "new truth" to the world. Olive’s good intentions take a turn for the worse when her genuine sympathy turns to jealousy and spite. Miss. Chancellor is bent on preventing young Verena to marry, as she fears that this would be adverse to their role in life and feminist views. When Olive’s estranged cousin, Basil Ransom, shows up in Boston, he falls madly in love with Verena, and makes every attempt to woo her away from Miss. Chancellor. His southern gentility and conservative views are so in contrast to those of the two feminists, that both women deplore the man initially. However, as time would tell, Verena was not as steadfast in her views as she had thought, and eventually gives in to her original fantasies of life: those of love and happiness with a gentle husband.

The book opens with a flourish from Mrs. Luna. Her prattle is so full of energy that the reader begins to feel that this piece of realism may have some vitality. Yet all these hopes are shattered when one finds that eventually, even Mrs. Luna becomes droll.

The book is full of talk of the feminist movement. This topic, in general, is not one to quickly dismiss. However, for the modern reader of this older novel, these outdated ideas are no longer interesting. The opinions stated are stuffy, especially when they come from an uncharismatic old maid. They are only slightly more interesting coming from Verena. They are sweeter perhaps, but once the reader comes to realize that Verena is nothing more than a bag of hot air (the air having been blow into her by Olive) then even the novelty of her interesting little personality wears off.

This also indicates another one of the novel’s difficulties: there seems to be no hero or heroine. Olive, the droll and bitter spinster who is bent on having an oppressive control over Verena, is frustrating. Verena, who never notices how much a tyrant Olive is, then becomes a disappointment. Mrs. Luna, Olive’s sister, begins the novel as a contrite, yet pleasant woman. She later turns on Mr. Ransom, her sister, and Verena, and becomes nearly as bitter as Olive. The only character truly endearing character is Miss. Birdseye, the eccentric woman of many charities, who has nothing on her mind but the welfare of others. Unfortunately, Miss. Birdseye plays a rather minor role.

The title indicated that location would play an important part in the novel, which indeed it does. The characters are placed in this northern city in order to contrast the views of the southern conservatism (found in Mr. Ransom Basil) with the more liberal north. It is also necessary to place a realistic novel in a big city so as to allow for distinct class differentiation. A small town would not have such a distinct class system as that of Boston or New York (the latter of which some of the action of the novel also occurs in).

The slow moving plot is typical to this literary movement, but the reader is taken aback by precisely how slow moving this plot really is. Initially every step taken by either Miss. Chancellor or Verena is recounted with full detail. This progress continues until chapter thirty-five. It is here that one begins to imagine that James may have realized that if he keeps up at this rate, he will have a novel longer and more tedious than War and Peace. The almost complete cessation of all the unnecessary explanation is a relief to the reader initially, yet also a source of confusion. For, in the sake of brevity, the narrator leaves out more key information than he realizes. Such as, the less subtle details explaining how the characters came to vacation at the Cape, as well as some insight into the motives of Verena and Ransom (insight the reader has become conditioned to from earlier in the novel). This absence leaves the reader feeling unfulfilled, and also a bit confused - as if one had been guided by the hand in the beginning of the novel, and then left to fend for one self at the end.

The Bostonians ends on a sad note: Basil wins his lovers heart and converts her mind. Yet, after closing the book and setting it down, the reader can’t help but feel unsettled. Did you (the reader) really want Verena to abandon her ideals and beliefs, despite how little Basil claims she really believes them? Or did one simply want to get Verena away from the vice that held her to Olive Chancellor? By denouncing her dedication to the feminist movement, is she purporting that men are truly superior? Is this the message James wants the reader to find? Perhaps part of James success is bringing the reader to this level of distress. Perhaps it is James’ triumph to be able to put the reader in a position where he is forced to think about these questions. Other readers may feel as though the lack of conclusion only serves to prove the rushed quality of the ending, as mentioned earlier.

The Bostonians is a rather longwinded novel, dedicated to the battle of the sexes. The feminist arguments are so outdated that they are no longer interesting to the modern reader, and the characters so frustrating that they are not enjoyable. While one may feel a certain pride in having made it to the end of this fine example of American realism, one should not feel disappointed in having never encountered The Bostonians.