The Perversities of Marriage in Henry James's "Maud-Evelyn"

This essay is a close analysis of an under-read story published in 1900. James describes the history of a young man's relationship with a wealthy older couple, through participation in the fantasy by which they create a life for their only child, a daughter who had died in early adolescence. "Maud-Evelyn" systematically unravels the traditional "marriage plot" offered by the primary narrator. Stylistic elements reflect and contribute to an escalating complication of clear markers of gender, class, and sexuality. The shifting, queer bodies of characters undermine the static notions of identity foundational to the first narrator's heteronormative expectations.