Shock and Astonishment: The Rise of Cinema Spectatorship and What Maisie Knew

The reading public that caught James's attention in the late 1890s and cinema spectators that emerged in the same period were not two exclusive groups. James, his contemporary readers, and cinema spectators all inhabited and were being engulfed by the same mediascape that constituted their fledgling spectatorial subjectivity. James actively interacted with early film culture in his 1897 novel What Maisie Knew by foregrounding spectatorial experiences in the relationships among characters, narrator, and readers. By applying multiple modes of perception evocative of viewing practices of early cinema to his narrative techniques, James attempted to configure the media environment of early cinema for his readers and re-navigate his relation to the audience.