Henry James’s Virtual Beast

This article draws some connections between Leo Bersani’s early work and his late book, Intimacies, tracking how he accounts for individuals who succeed in embracing a future more open to possibility. He extols literary characters such as the protagonist of Henry James’s “The Beast in the Jungle,” who lives his life in a fantasy of anticipation. The piece criticizes Bersani for extolling a “pure,” unrealized form of desire over one that is more pragmatically oriented. James, it suggests, explores a form of “virtuality” or potential within situations that requires individuals to make distinct choices, rather than perpetually to suspend choice.