(855) 4-ESSAYS

Type a new keyword(s) and press Enter to search

Henry James: The Art of Fiction

            In The Art of Fiction Henry James states and supports his belief that a novel is art and that it is the responsibility of the novelist to take that art form seriously. James states that writers should write realistically and avoid "make-believe" and "apologetic" (Perkins 443) forms of literature. James openly states that "fiction is one of the fine arts, deserving in its turn all the honors" (Perkins 444). James goes on to say that the true art of writing fiction is "to catch the color of life itself" (Perkins 456). In The Art of Fiction Henry James publicly discusses his own private opinion in an attempt to remind writers of their duty to create a "perfect work" (Perkins 456). .
             Analysis.
             Henry James uses The Art of Fiction to publicly notify writers that they are not taking their writing seriously, and to try too defining his own work as an art form. James writes The Art of Fiction after dedicating a lifetime to writing fiction. James comes to realize that readers are capable of and will enjoy reading about complex, emotional, and intense characters. Thus he emphasizes that writers have to challenge their readers be creating complex and emotional works. He urges writers to take their work seriously when he states "It must take itself seriously for the public to take it so" (Perkins 443). He uses his critical essay The Art of Fiction to point this out as a major fault in the literature of his time. James views the literature in the late eighteenth century to be "apologetic" (Perkins 443) and somewhat unrealistic. James felt that he had a responsibility as a published writer to stress the importance of artistic and "effective literary expression" (Harper 429). James" goal is to encourage novelists to take writing a novel seriously, he hopes of elevating fiction to the same level as music and painting, a fine art. .
             James has a good reason to believe that fiction of his day is not worthy of being called art.


Essays Related to Henry James: The Art of Fiction

1. Henry James

James was born in New York City, His dad was also named Henry James. ... Henry James was a lot favorites to people like example, Author James Thurbers favorite author was Henry James. ... James was also a master at fiction that's what he is known for too his novel "The Turn Of The Screw"(1898) an excellent book that is fiction. ... James wrote 3 novels about politics and art: The Bostonians (1886), The Princess Casamassima (1886) which was a very good book in my opinion the characters again were outstanding. ... In conclusion, I was thrilled to learn about Henry James the best writ...

  • Word Count: 847
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Fandom... Frenzied Crowd, Obsessed Loner or In Between?

The assumption that fans cannot distinguish the boundaries, as Henry Jenkins argues: between fact and fiction, speaking of characters as if they had an existence apart from their textual manifestations, entering into the realm of the fiction as if it were a tangible place they can inhabit and explore (Jenkins; 92; 18) can be challenged by looking at the ways some fans do actually use their knowledge of some fictional characters but apply them for their own creative purposes or self-expression. ... The fan is therefore "active" and "critical" as Henry Jenkins might put it. ... Pe...

  • Word Count: 1821
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The Developing of A Nation

Not only did an economy begin to develop in the U.S., but an American System was put in to play by Henry clay, in order to produce better roads and canals. ... Some authors like James Fenimore Cooper were famous for there works of historical fiction. ... Not only was writing changing, so was art. ... Another famous artist was George Caleb Bingham who became famous for taking landscape art a step forward and drawing what life was like for the people who lived in it. ... The U.S. has managed to go from a colony, to become a world power with its own style of art, architecture, government, and way...

  • Word Count: 907
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Last Of The Mohicans

From implausible, daring escapes to unrealistic accounts of the savagery of the Native Americans, James Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans emphasizes the "fiction" in historical fiction. ... One could honestly say that the gun-slinging heroes of O"Henry's in Double Trouble, John Wayne flicks or the Cisco Kid might never have been without Cooper's contribution of Hawkeye. ... An interesting tidbit that one can pick up from the book is a description of the lost art of psalmody. ... For this reason, the book is not deserving of its genre classification, "Historical Fiction". ...

  • Word Count: 1482
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Biography - Queen Elizabeth 1

Family History King Henry VII Anne Boleyn King Henry the VIII was Elizabeth's father and during his reign he had six wives. ... She had many interests but her particular interests were history, science, art, literature, and philosophy. ... She also incorporated the use of mannerisms from various art forms that existed of aging male images depicting power and experience. Her mannerist style created a shift between reality and fiction which meant that she was able to represent herself as both a forgiving and forbidding politician while in a woman's body. ...

  • Word Count: 2510
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Wilde's Aestheticism

Wilde's aestheticism detests Nature and praises Art, which is artificiality. ... The sterility of art is not only stressed continuously but is also to be found in the novel when Dorian Gray blames Lord Henry for having poisoned him with a book: you poisoned me with a book once. ... Art has no influence upon action. ... The gods had given Oscar Wilde everything, rank, wealth (Lord Henry Wotton), brains, art (Basil Hallward), and good looks (Dorian Gray), attributes these he suffered, suffered terribly. ... James Gazette, was that it (the novel) is far too crowded with sentimental inc...

  • Word Count: 1666
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Growth of Novels In The Victorian Age

For all their awareness of the contradictions involved in writing "realistic fiction" and their consciousness that language could not provide a transparent "objective" verisimilitude, novelists as realists still believed that language could represent the world beyond the text and convey a meaning outside of language, a nonverbal truth. ...

  • Word Count: 6746
  • Approx Pages: 27

8. The Revolution of Literature: 19th-20th Century

Among the many Writers/Novelists of this time period some of the most influential writers include: James Joyce, Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, Stephen Crane, Gustave Flaubert and, Frantz Kafka; All of whom are not only prime examples in rejecting the romantic perspective in their writing, but are also masters in exhibiting freedom in altering the form, and substance throughout their writing to adequately exemplify motifs of modernism. While Joyce, Crane, James, Hemingway, Flaubert, and Kafka all master the incorporation of modernist ideals in their writing, each writer individually has a uniq...

  • Word Count: 3767
  • Approx Pages: 15
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

Got a writing question? Ask our professional writer!
Submit My Question