"Attracted by a Dusky Object": Henry James's "The Patagonia" and Its Atlantic Context

Instead of treating "The Patagonia" as a lesser experiment in the international theme, this essay analyzes the story as a transnational text. Against the background of the social and cultural history of the Atlantic, it discusses symbolic connections between the illicit affair and suicide of protagonist Grace Mavis on the one hand and the colonial imaginary, technology, and observation on the other. It examines possible influences of late nineteenth-century images of Patagonia on James's story, arguing that the tale plays with the idea of innocent exploration only in order to expose the notion as fictitious.