Nanda's Smile: Teaching James and the Sense of Humor

In The Awkward Age, Nanda Brookenham is accused by two of her male admirers of lacking a sense of humor. Yet though she never laughs, Nanda can and does smile. This paper considers what is at stake in the invitation to laugh or smile, with and at whom, and the ways in which James's writing explores the awkward complicities not only between his characters but also between his narrator and readers. It suggests that we can learn much from reading James about the double edge to "humor" in many kinds of interaction, including those we think of as teaching and learning.