Henry James and Ibsen
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9590595 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Herbert Edwards, H L R Edwards (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1952 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 208 |
| Publication date | 1952-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Literature (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9831 • E-ISSN: 1527-2117 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2921800 |
| OpenAlex | W2315775912 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
O NLY RECENTLY has the probable influence of Ibsen on the technique of Henry James's later period become a subject of scholarly interest. In 1943 Austin Warren commented upon the probable influence of Ibsen in the novels of the final period with respect to their tight technique and their symbolism.' In I947, in his introduction to The Other House, Leon Edel, after pointing out James's extensive knowledge of Ibsen, showed the similarities in technique and content between Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and Rosmersholm and The Other House. Edel extended his comparison, in more general terms, to The Spoils of Poynton and What Maisie Knew, stating: Without seeking to push too far the question of 'influence,' we may say definitely that some of the passion and intensity, the quality of Ibsen's plays was carried over into these works of James's; they bear little resemblance to the earlier, more spacious Bostonians, Princess Casamassima and Tragic Muse, which preceded the dramatic years.2 In I949, Francis Fergusson, after calling attention to the fact that James's comments on Ibsen are at once the most sympathetic and the most objective that have been written, stated that James shared Ibsen's ethical preoccupation and his strict sense of form.3 In PMLA for June, I95I, Daniel Lerner and Oscar Cargill, primarily concerned with showing the influence of Greek tragedy on James, admit the influence of Ibsen, and conclude: knew more than Hawthorne, Eliot, Turgenev, Balzac, Daudet, and other French realists. He knew Ibsen, and he knew the Greeks (p. 33I). It is in the hope of extending somewhat the conclusions of the scholars cited above that the present essay is written. It is not my intention to imply that Ibsen was the only influence on the technique of James's later period, but rather to suggest that Ibsen's influence was perhaps larger than has previously been realized
Art · Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinary Research · History · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.01 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1955 - 1955 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |