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Chapter 17 - ‘All the unspoken’: James’s Style

from Part II - Authors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2021

By
Nicola Bradbury
Edited by
Daniel Tyler
Daniel Tyler
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

Nicola Bradbury’s chapter on Henry James notices the force that comes from simple diction even as it expresses subtle, complicated thoughts, feelings and occasions in The Wings of the Dove (1902) and What Maisie Knew (1897). At times in these novels, a bold, clear style plays against the more verbose, analytical style we expect from late James. A style such as this repeatedly gestures towards an apprehension that is not fully expressed, something that goes behind and beyond the immediate statement. Here, style is measured at the level of the sentence and it is shown to comprise of a range of devices including alliteration, assonance, diction, syntax, rhythm, and cadence.

Keywords

The Wings of the DoveWhat Maisie Knewlate styleplain stylesuggestionimplicationdictionsyntax
Type
Chapter
Information
On Style in Victorian Fiction , pp. 296 - 308
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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