The Drama of Maisie's Vision

The Drama of Maisie's Vision by M. A. Williams, University of Sheffield What Ma i sie Knew, with its unique blend of comedy, pathos, and anguish, is a novel that is deeply concerned with ways of seeing the world. In choosing Maisie as his central consciousness, James has provided himself with maximum scope, precisely because he relies on a set of minimum conditions. For Maisie stands on the threshold of experience: she has not been drawn into the acceptance of conventional values; she lacks even the rudiments of a normal nursery education. Through her influence, James can gain a new purchase on reality. The realms of perception and social intercourse are transformed as he submits them to an open and original examination. To approach What Maisie Knew In this way is not to treat the novel merely as a vindication of innocence and a condemnation of corrupt personal relationships. As James himself notes in the Preface, the creative approach to reality casts a fresh light even on the more lurid occupations of BeaIe and Ida Farange.1 Once the familiar preconceptions have been cast off, the revelation is complete; human events emerge in a sharp, new focus. These characteristics of What Maisie Knew make a phenomeno I og lea I analysis of the novel particularly rewarding. The comfortable relationship that most individuals establish with their surroundings—the one that What Maisie Knew endeavors to transform—is commonly described by phenomenoIogIsts as the "natural" or the "naive attitude." In this state people accept, quite uncritically, the basic conditions of their existence. The writer at a desk knows that the rest of the room, and al I its famil iar objects, lie behind him. Beyond the house Is his garden, beyond that the town—and so the environment shades off to a vague horizon. There is no uncertainty about the stable existence of the world. Moreover, the same easy interaction applies to temporal relationships. The writer is completely absorbed in the task of the present moment. Yet he need have no fear that he will be unable to glance back towards the past, either towards his own Intimate, living past or towards the colder, more abstract record of history. Equally, he can reach out towards an uncertain future. In other words, the operation of the basic structures of experience Is taken for granted. The individual meets others on this sound footing, recognizing that he shares some of their interests and that their responses help to shape his life. Everything has a safe foundation, and the pattern of everyday occurrences is clearly defined. Yet Husserl, the founder of the modern Phenomeno I og 1 ca I Movement, is aware that living in the "natural attitude" implies something more complex than this ease of acceptance. The world of "facts and affairs" exists with equal immediacy as a "world of values," a "world of goods," a "practical world."2 Individuals, for Instance, have their respective moral codes, their favored criteria for arriving at judgments. James vividly illustrates this tendency In the case of Mrs. Wix. He shows that she can live quite effectively in her firm reliance on her "moral sense." She knows what constitutes a "crime branded by the Bible," and she feels no inclination to question such a standard. By the same token, she understands the degree of consideration to which her social status entitles her — and she is moved to the profoundest gratutude when Sir Claude considerately treats her with more than the required courtesy. The Faranges, too, organize their existence at the level of the "natural attitude." The term "natural" may appear strange when applied to the extreme sophistication of Beale and Ida Farange. The emphasis, however, lies on the uncritical response to the familiar patterns of experience, which are regarded as "given" or "normal" and therefore as requiring no further Investigation. Self-indulgence is the Faranges' watchword; pleasure and freedom from responsibility are their ultimate aims. In their 1. Henry James, The Art of the Novel, ed. Richard P. Blackmur (1934; rpt. New York: Scribner's, 1962), pp. 143, 147. 2. Edmund Husserl, Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology, trans. W. R. Boyce Gibson (London: Allen and Unwin, 1931...