The Catholic Side of Henry James (review)

Book Reviews 227 (92). Ultimately, however, as Dawidoff notes, James rejects the conventional endings of popular and canonical fiction, just as Strether moves beyond the roles conventional society expects of him. Dawidoff s analysis of Strether—his self-deceptions, his generosity of spirit, his idealism, charm, and protective self-deprecating irony—is very fine. Dawidoff is also very good on the differences between the "sacred rage" of older New England, represented by Waymarsh, and the genteel tradition of Woollett, a "degenerate morality" (97), that identifies moral goodness with sexual purity but that permits ' 'the idealization of what was illicit' ' (111) to sanction material gain and worldly ambition. In illuminating detail he shows how James's novel unravels "the whole fabric of high-toned, American, genteel deceit" (84). What is missing in the chapter is any discussion of Strether's growing awareness of the darker realities of European civilization that also shape his judgments of American culture. Dawidoff says nothing of the ruthless predatory forces Strether first senses in Gloriani's garden as "something covertly tigerish___a waft from the jungle" and later feels more keenly in his awareness of "something ancient and cold" in Madame de Vionnef s sudden announcement, "We're marrying Jeanne." Not only must Strether "throw off the retarding orthodoxies' ' (130) about America, as Dawidoff says, but he must "[fight] against a superstitious valuation of Europe," a responsibility that James defined as part of the "complex fate" of being an American. How Strether's growing understanding of European society affects his evolving perceptions of America and helps to explain his decision to return to Woollett is part of Dawidoff s subject that he does not explore. Dawidoff s treatment of The Ambassadors reflects the preoccupation in recent criticism with the homosexual elements in James's fiction and in his friendships with younger men. Recalling James's passionate letters to the sculptor Hendrik Anderson, Dawidoff locates the erotic center of the novel in Strether's infatuation with Chad, first revealed in the scene where the two meet at the theater in Paris. The reader who does not feel in this passage and elsewhere the "obsessive, enraptured love" (121) for Chad that Dawidoff imputes to Strether will resist the idea that unrequited love for Chad is ' 'the secret heart' ' of the book. Such a reading has to slight the scenes where Strether delights in having Madame de Vionnet all to himself, is preoccupied with her impressions of him, and seems pleased not only to live through Chad but to displace him. Whether intended or not, the chapter on James, given to a single novel, has the effect of distilling the novelist in his work and thus freeing him from the inner conflicts, disillusionments, and pessimism that burdened the other two writers. While Adams and Santayana remain defined and confined by their attitudes and views, James seems to transcend his complex fate by transforming it in the lives of his characters. Elsa Nettels College of William and Mary Edwin Sill Fussell. The Catholic Side of Henry James. New York: Cambridge U P, 1993.166 pp. $40.00. Although various critics have explored the religious "side' ' of James's fiction—perhaps Quentin Anderson's brilliant, obsessive book is the most well-known one—they have not looked closely at the various references to Catholicism in the letters, the play Guy Domville, and the fiction. I am grateful to Fussell, one of our most subtle readers of American literature, for his close reading of the Catholic elements. Fussell does not believe that James embraced Catholicism, but he does demonstrate in a careful manner the ' 'fascination' ' the religion held for him. He gives us at the beginning 228 The Henry James Review a ' 'Calendar: Chief Items of Catholic Interest in Henry James." The calendar is especially interesting because it lists such obscure items as James's reviews of Parkman's Jesuits in North America (1867) and Wallon's Jeanne d'Arc (1875) as well as "The Great Good Place" (1900) and The Golden 5ow/(1904). It demonstrates that James referred to Catholic elements throughout his entire career. Fussell's statement that a Catholic "side" does not mean that James was a "closet" believer is...