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MONEY AND PRAGMATIC MORALITY IN HENRY JAMES
Abstract
In Henry James's novels, morality is constantly defined by changing circumstances of reality. James is acutely conscious that money is one of life's powerful exigencies, exposing people to the reality of the world, and he presents situations in which money becomes one of the controlling factors in the moral actions of his characters. This study of the development of James's ideas about money in relation to moral vision confirms his conception of a pragmatic morality as an approach most appropriate to the actualities of life. In The American James presents Newman's growing realization of the limitations of money to solve the problems of life. As his confidence in his wealth is tested by a new reality of Europe, Newman realizes that he had put too much value on money. Ultimately, Newman finds that there are things in the world which one cannot buy. In The Portrait of a Lady James uses money to symbolize the central force in a relativistic world. Isabel learns at the end that the reality of the world cannot be understood or controlled by idealistic designs. Money is then the emblem of the irreducible reality which every character in the novel must accommodate. In The Ambassadors James uses the money values to characterize a limited moral vision of life inadequate to meet the realities of life's pragmatic conditions. Learning the complexity and relativity of the human conditions, Strether realizes that life's moral complexity cannot be "priced" as though one were making a purchase in a simple exchange of values. Reality is too complex to be approached on the same basis that the world of business teaches. In The Golden Bowl James examines how one must be intelligent about human life and morality, even in terms of the impact of such a basic necessity as money. The reality of money, which is the concern at the outset of the novel, becomes a metaphor for the emotional needs that become the basis of human motivation.
Subject Area
American literature|British and Irish literature
Recommended Citation
CHOI, KYONG DO, "MONEY AND PRAGMATIC MORALITY IN HENRY JAMES" (1985). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8602107.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8602107