Biography of Henry James before
'The Turn of the Screw'
By Jemima Varughese
Henry James, the author of ‘Turn of the
Screw’, was born on April 15, 1843 in New York. Because of his father’s desires
to provide the best education possible for James and his siblings, the James
family moved very frequently. In 1859, young James went to school in Germany
and Switzerland, where he discovered that the math and science courses did not
appeal to him. With his father’s permission, he eventually dropped out of all
his classes expect for the language courses. By the end of 1862, after James
went to Harvard to study law, he lost interest in law and decided to pursue a career
in writing.
By the time Henry James made his first independent trip to Europe in 1869, he had written multiple short stories and literary articles, and he continued to write reviews, but he had not yet published any books. Throughout the next few years of his life, James supported himself financially by writing for various American magazines. Later on, he moved to England and continued to write fiction. His writing career developed drastically, and he became well known for his outstanding ability to write in many fields.
James frequently lived in London, which was known for its miserable poverty. This aspect greatly troubled him, and he would ultimately write stories based on this poverty stricken land. His novel, The American, which he begun in Paris, was published in 1877. The book explores the beauty and the ugliness of Europe, something James encountered regularly on his travels. Countless themes which reappeared in Henry James’s fiction were dark and wretched, such as that of adultery and treachery in his novels The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl. Many of James’s works were influenced by outside forces, which is obvious when one compares his writing to his actual life.
Throughout the following years of James’s life, he faced many tragic deaths of loved ones, including the death of both his mother and father. James continued to travel and write, coming out with many novels and short stories. Before moving to a place called the Lamb House, located in a town called Rye near London, England, he wrote one of his best known tales, called ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ This story was a ghost story novella, a genre he was fascinated by throughout his entire career. However, he was not attracted to the stereotypical ghost stories which were popular at the time. He based ‘The Turn of the Screw’ on realistic ghosts which were eerie extensions of everyday life, a method that runs throughout his literature. James’s fascination with ghosts and his decision to write ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was sparked by his travels between England and America, where the belief in ghosts and spirituality was considerably prevalent at the time.
Works Cited:
Edgar, Pelham. “Henry James: man and author.” New York: Russell & Russell, 1964. Print.
Kelley, Cornelia Pulsifer. “The early development of Henry James.” Rev. ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965. Print.
Moore, Harry T. “Henry James and His World.” New York: The Viking Press, 1974. Print.
By the time Henry James made his first independent trip to Europe in 1869, he had written multiple short stories and literary articles, and he continued to write reviews, but he had not yet published any books. Throughout the next few years of his life, James supported himself financially by writing for various American magazines. Later on, he moved to England and continued to write fiction. His writing career developed drastically, and he became well known for his outstanding ability to write in many fields.
James frequently lived in London, which was known for its miserable poverty. This aspect greatly troubled him, and he would ultimately write stories based on this poverty stricken land. His novel, The American, which he begun in Paris, was published in 1877. The book explores the beauty and the ugliness of Europe, something James encountered regularly on his travels. Countless themes which reappeared in Henry James’s fiction were dark and wretched, such as that of adultery and treachery in his novels The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl. Many of James’s works were influenced by outside forces, which is obvious when one compares his writing to his actual life.
Throughout the following years of James’s life, he faced many tragic deaths of loved ones, including the death of both his mother and father. James continued to travel and write, coming out with many novels and short stories. Before moving to a place called the Lamb House, located in a town called Rye near London, England, he wrote one of his best known tales, called ‘The Turn of the Screw.’ This story was a ghost story novella, a genre he was fascinated by throughout his entire career. However, he was not attracted to the stereotypical ghost stories which were popular at the time. He based ‘The Turn of the Screw’ on realistic ghosts which were eerie extensions of everyday life, a method that runs throughout his literature. James’s fascination with ghosts and his decision to write ‘The Turn of the Screw’ was sparked by his travels between England and America, where the belief in ghosts and spirituality was considerably prevalent at the time.
Works Cited:
Edgar, Pelham. “Henry James: man and author.” New York: Russell & Russell, 1964. Print.
Kelley, Cornelia Pulsifer. “The early development of Henry James.” Rev. ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1965. Print.
Moore, Harry T. “Henry James and His World.” New York: The Viking Press, 1974. Print.
