Fatherhood in Henry James

FATHERHOOD IN HENRY JAMES SISTER M. CORONA SHARP, O.S.U. The modernity of Henry James's subject matter, narrative technique and theory of fiction has already been discussed' But also in the realm of ideas this nineteenth·century author is close to our times, particularly in his concept of fatherhood. The condescension toward fathers, even the ridicule of them prevalent in modern forms of entertainment is already present in the genteel works of this Victorian gentleman. With only one notable exception, Adam Verver in The Golden Bowl, James's fictive fathers are either comic, cruel, or frustrated.' Very little of the impeccable dignity associated with the Victorian paterfamilias is evident in these characters. Searching the author's life hardly provides a sufficient explanation for James's negative view of fatherhood. The extant letters bearing on his relation with his father all give evidence of the young man's filial respect. His grief at his father's death was genuine, although less keen than at the loss of his mother. The autobiographical books written in old age, A Small Boy and Others and Notes of a Son and Brother, reflect an attitude consistent with that in the letters. Allowing for certain inaccuracies, these documents are valuable for preserving the most vivid reminiscences of the author. James bears testimony to his father's "passionate tenderness, his infinite capacity for reaction on reaction/' and his use of lithe vividest social terms, terms of living appreciation, of spiritual perception, of 'human fellowship'... .'" Above all, the utter freedom of mind with which the father encouraged his sons to grow up is gratefully acknowledged by the writer. But in spite of these passages of praise, Mr. Edel finds an undercurrent of "uncertainty and emotional confusion" On the part of the author toward his father, a confusion as to the reversal of roles between the parents, and the lack of success which dogged the philosopher's steps. Mr. Edel also invokes the evidence of Alice, the sister, for the total emotional dependence of the father on wife and children, and the ridicule heaped on him by the family.' The evidence of Henry's fiction, Mr. Edel thinks, corroborates this view: "an ideal fatherless and brotherless state" is what the author frequently confers on his protagonists. who are often second sons. like himself. It is tempting to infer that James was distorting the image of his father- however unconsciously. But Mr. Edel himself avoids this conclusion by supposing that such villainous fathers as Dr. Sloper and Gilbert Osmond are recreations, not of the father, but of William and Henry himself, or parts of them' It seems mare profitable, therefore, to consider only the effects, rather than the possible sources, of James's inspiration. It is of preliminary interest that James lets the "ideal fatherless state" exist not only actually in several major novels, but also virtually in "Daisy Miller" and The Ambassadors.' The actualized fathers fonn quite a motley crowd; nevertheless three distinct types emerge, from which six characters come into the present discussion. The first group consists of the domestic tyrants, Dr. Sloper in Washington Square (1880) and Gilbert Osmond in The Portrait of a Lady (1881). The second group is composed of the adventurers, Beale Farange in What Maisie Knew (1897) and Lionel Croy in The Wings of the Dove (1902). The third type is the quiet, vanquished man, Colonel Chart in 'The Marriages" (1891) and Edward Brookenham in The Awkward Age (1899). On the whole, it is not an inspiring gallery. What is the underlying concept of fatherhood? Was this concept merely part of James's total view of the male sex? And did it evolve from bad to worse, or is there a rise in moral integrity and dramatic effectiveness in the characters of the later period? After reviewing the three types, we will return to these problems in the conclusion. 1. THE TYRANTS The flaw of egoism offered James ample scope for analysis. In the tyrannical father it takes the form of possessiveness over the child. Dr. Sloper and Gilbert Osmond are kindred spirits; but Sloper's propensity to tyranny is more exteriorized than Osmond's. In W ashington Square the omniscient...