“Like a Dazzling Curtain of Light”: Fanny Assingham’s Performances of Jewishness in The Golden Bowl

This article discusses James’s views of Jewishness and of his portrayal of Fanny Assingham, highlighting his approach to positive (stereotypically) Jewish characteristics as qualities worthy of emulation and illuminating Fanny as a performer of such characteristics. I contend that Fanny, figured as the Queen of Sheba, a symbol of female diplomacy and power, is James’s model for one’s social success in Anglo-America and that this novel of manners can be considered James’s ideological manual for such a success. The article demonstrates that through her performances of positive (stereotypically) Jewish characteristics, Fanny secures her social position, changes the established order in the Verver family, maintains the equilibrium between the European and American branches of the family, and enables Anglo-American unity.