The Europeans [antikvár]

i: ! ¦ I 1 ' ifA Introduction r When in 1877 Henry James was commissioned to write a ' romance in four parts for the Atlantic Monthly, he was tremendously enthusiastic, and in a letter to the editor, William Dean Howells, he promised a work that would be as dazzHng as a 'sim-spot' and that would have 'the neatest little figure in the world'. The Europeans is indeed a brilliant creation in the taut novella form of which James was so fond, and in which some of his best fiction is cast. Written after Roderick Hiidson and The Americans, but before Portrait of a Lady, it deals with the clash of European and American outlooks, a theme that pervades his early writing, and to which he returned in his last period with works such as Wings of a Dove, The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl. Set in the Arcadian countryside of mid-nineteenth century New England, the tale is at once a romantic idyll and a more serious moral fable. Felix Young, an artist with the happy nature that his name impHes, and his sister, Eugenia, the Baroness Mvmster, come from Europe to New England to visit their relations, the wealthy and God-fearing Wentworths. Eugenia's curious morganatic marriage to a German nobleman is about to be annulled for political reasons, and so she in particular has come to seek her fortune. From the outset we are aware of how very different these two Europeans are. Felix sketches, relaxed and enthusiastic, whilst the restless Eugenia seems discontented and theatrical. Eugenia's elaborate string of names and titles reflects the complexity of her character, so that Felix, who is the most natural character in the book, seems superficial in comparison. Yet they are complementary characters, both undeniably 'artists', and together they represent much of the style, elegance, and charm of European culture that James prized. The confrontation between European epicureanism and dreary New World restraint is central to the story, yet the Wentworths are not presented in total contrast to their worldly cousins. The elder Mr. Wentworth is the archetypal Puritan for whom the Europeans are an 'element not allowed for in [his] scheme of usual obligations'. He is concerned about the 'peculiar influence' that Felix and Eugenia might exert, and so lodges them in a small house apart from the family home. His elder daughter Charlotte is as wary as he, but