The Marriages

James, Henry, 1843-1916Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 73K words
Chapters: 8

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Marriages by Henry JamesAuthor: James, Henry, 1843-1916,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 1, 2000

Editor's review

The Marriages is a novella by Henry James that continues his characteristic finely wrought manner: taking marriage as its point of entry, it observes the currents of power, propriety, and feeling within family relations. James is in no hurry to deliver a moral verdict; instead he lets his characters gradually reveal their calculations and hesitations through dialogue and silence, and the reader should attend to shifts in narrative perspective and to what is left unsaid. The piece is short yet fully displays James's grasp of upper-class family ethics and psychological detail. It serves well as a light entry into his fictional world and equally well as a companion to his longer works, revealing the continuity of his narrative art. As a public-domain ebook, the text is readily available and convenient for classroom discussion and close reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers seeking an initial encounter with Henry James's fiction
Readers interested in marriage and family ethics as themes
Students needing a short text for courses in English and American literature
Close readers who enjoy psychological portraiture and understated narration

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narration
Readers seeking clear moral conclusions or emotional catharsis
Learners unaccustomed to 19th-century English syntax and indirect expression

Reading tips

Read through once for events and character relations, then reread for narrative perspective and the subtext of dialogue.
As you read, map the characters' differing attitudes toward marriage and note who observes and who is observed.
After finishing, compare it with James's other marriage-themed works to see similarities and differences in narrative technique.
With the English original, read a plot summary first and then the text closely, so that long sentences do not break your reading rhythm.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this novella suitable as an introduction to Henry James?

Yes. It is short and focused on a small cast, and it displays James's attention to family ethics and psychological detail. Afterwards you can turn to one of his major novels to see his narrative art unfold at greater length.

What should I focus on while reading?

Focus on narrative perspective and the subtext of dialogue. James often lets characters reveal their true intentions beneath polite speech; noting who observes, who is observed, and how the narrator guides the reader's judgment is more rewarding than rushing toward the ending.

Is the Project Gutenberg edition suitable for classroom use?

It is suitable as a free source of the text, easy for students to obtain and excerpt. But it generally includes no notes or introduction, so in class you may want to supplement author background, historical context, and close-reading questions to help students understand 19th-century modes of expression.

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About the author

James, Henry, 1843-1916 Author

Henry James (1843–1916) was a novelist born in the United States who later became a British citizen, known for his psychological realism. He advances his narratives through his characters' consciousness and moral dilemmas, in a delicate, restrained style with carefully crafted sentences, often using limited points of view to leave meaningful gaps. His works frequently explore themes such as the collision between European and American cultures, marriage and freedom, and innocence versus worldly sophistication. The collection holds 81 of his works, including the two-volume The Portrait of a Lady, The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove, The Golden Bowl, The Beast in the Jungle, and the novella The Turn of the Screw. These works range from novels to novellas and show his fine, detailed portrayal of inner life across different lengths. Public information is limited, so biographical details are omitted, but these works alone reveal his important place in the tradition of psychological narrative in English literature.