Paste

This Henry James story made me angry--Arthur made me angry, as did Mrs. Guy. It's one of those stories with one of those endings that leaves the reader just as helpless and frustrated as the cheated character.

James's use of parataxis makes him more present in the story and I, as a reader, knew he was in control of the fate of Aunt Prime's pearls the whole time. Thus with a fixed ending in mind, a reader would read this story just wanting to get to the end and find out what becomes of Charlotte and the pearls. But James won't give in that easily--his sentences are often interrupted with phrases and clauses and are built in complex suspenseful structures, making a reader work to find out whats happening.

Flagrant tinsel and glass, they looked strangely vulgar, but if, after the first queer shock of them, she found herself taking them up, it was for the very proof, never yet so distinct to her, of a far-off faded story. An honest widowed cleric with a small son and a large sense of Shakespeare had, on a brave latitutde of habit as well as of taste--since it implied his having in very fact dropped deep into the 'pit'--conceived for an obscure actress, several years older than himself, an admiration of which the prompt offer of his reverend name and hortatory hand was the sufficiently candid sign. The response had perhaps, in those dim years, in the way of eccentricity, even bettered the proposal, and Charlotte, turning the tale over, had long since drawn from it a measure of career renounced by the undistinguished comedienne--doubtless also tragic, or perhaps pantomimic, at a pinch--of her late uncle's dreams. (p 85)

The first sentence of this passage begins with an eerie echo of the sentence before "flagrant tinsel and glass." This eerie tone is continued through the sentence; they tip off the reader that there is, in fact, a "far-off faded story." But to get to this first period, the reader is held up by suspensful phrases and commas: "but if," "after the first queer shock of them," "never yet so distinct to her."

Although these are all interruptions to the sentence, they do not necessarily read as interruptions; on the contrary, the sentences in this story as a whole flow out very naturally in a consistent, archaic tone. (this story was, after all, published in 1899)

The second sentence of this passage is equally suspenseful and even longer in length. The action of the sentence does not appear until after two lengthy interruptions (a noun phrase and a dashed off clause). The second half of this sentence is worded in such a way that a reader (especially a modern one) must re-read it to understand that he fell in love with an older woman and liked her so much he almost immediately asked her to marry him. James' archaic vocabulary and wording are, indeed, suspenseful here because they are not straightforward and rather passive. Words like "conceived" and "hortatory" are not of this era, but nonetheless would have added to the story's archaic, high style in 1899 and certainly do now.

Again, the third sentence is consistently interrupts itself and the action of the sentence is held off until after two phrases ("in those dim years," and "in the way of eccentricity"). The second half of this sentence is very well constructed and the rhythm of it even seems to mimic the rhythm and manner of Charlotte's thoughts: "and Charlotte, turning the tale over, had long since drawn from it a measure of career renounced by the undistinguished comedienne--doubtless also tragic, or perhaps pantomimic, at a pinch--of her late uncle's dreams." The musings put into em-dashes could very well be her turning thoughts at that moment.

This synchronised rhythm between Charlotte's thoughts and the parallel information James gives the reader puts both Charlotte and the reader on the same plane. Neither of them know the full the story and both want to find out.