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The Ambassadors - Henry James

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General Information

Name of the book                      :           The Ambassadors

Name of the author                    :           Henry James

Name of the Publisher                :           New American Library

Edited by                                   :           R.W.Stallman

Genre of the book                      :           Novel

Pages                                        :           390

Printed in                                  :           1903

Title of the Book

The title of the novel is 'The Ambassadors'.

The main character is Lewis Lambert Strether, who has traveled to Europe in the hope of bringing back to America the son of his longtime friend, Mrs. Newsome. . Strether has been sent as an ambassador, by Mrs. Newsome, to bring back her son, Chadwick, who was living in Paris for three years. After waiting for few months, Mrs. Newsome sent more ambassadors, her daughter and son-in-law.

Thus, the title 'The Ambassadors' is appropriate one.

About the Author

Henry James (1843-1916) born on April 15, 1843 in New York is one of the famous writer of America.

Education & Early Life:

Henry was educated in often unorthodox conditions with full access to books and new experiences. He attended Harvard Law School from 1862 to 1863 but left form it to concentrate on his writing, and was later awarded an honorary degree in 1911. He was such a greatly influnced by the Europe that he decided to live in Europe rather than America. He remained bachelor for his entire life.

Contributions to the literature:

·                     He wrote his first story 'A Tragedy of Error' at the age of only twenty! Then he wrote his novel on ghosts namely 'The Turn of the Screw' in 1898. On the same topic, he wrote another novel in 1868 namely 'The Romance of Certain Old Clothes.'

·                     Among James's most famous literary works are 1878's The Europeans, 1878's commercial success Daisy Miller, 1880's critically acclaimed Washington Square , 1886's The Bostonians, and 1898's The Turn of the Screw.

·                     It became the most widely read of all James's works of fiction and remains famous because of the critical controversies it continues to inspire.

·                     He wrote twenty novel and one hundred short stories as well as number of plays, reviews etc. It was more than any other great American author of that time.

·                     The Ambassadors displays Henry James as an author writing at the full height of his powers. It was written in 1903.

Main Characters of the Novel

Lewis Lambert Strether:

An American, from Woollett Massachusetts, in his late middle age, working for Mrs. Newsome. He is a hero of the novel.

Chadwick Newsome (Chad):

He is a son of Mrs.Newsome and living in Paris.

Maria Gostrey:

An American woman living in Europe who developed better relations with Strether.

Madame de Vionnet:

A French countess living in Paris.

Mrs. Newsome:

A wealthy widow who lives in Woollett, Massachusetts.

Waymarsh:

Strether's traveling companion and old friends from Milrose, Connecticut.

Sarah Pocock:

The daughter of Mrs. Newsome and wife of Jim Pocock

John Little Bilham and Miss Barrace:

Two of Chad's closest friends in Paris.

Jim and Mamie Pocock:

Jim is husband of Sarah and Mamie is his sister.

Jeanne:

She is a daughter of Mrs.Vionnet.

The Story (Summary)

            The whole story is written keeping in center Lewis Lambert Strether, a middle aged widower man who edits a local periodical in the town of Wollett, Massachussetts in the America.   He has very close relations with his employer Mrs. Newsome. She is a wealthy widow who has a big business to run. It was possible that she would marry Mr. Strether. Her twenty eight year son named Chad was living in the Paris for long time. She wanted him back to America for marriage and to handle the large family business. She sent Mr. Strether to Paris to bring back Chad to the America.

            Strether arrived in England, where he met a young woman named Maria Gostrey. She acts as a tour-guide for him, and helps him become acquainted with England. Strether also met Mr. Waymarsh, an old friend, who was a lawyer from Milrose, Connecticut. They travelled to Paris, in order to meet Chad.

            Strether arrived in Paris and his trip became a return to his own youth. He enjoyed spending time with Chad's young friends, Miss Barrace and Little John Bilham, a young artist. At one day, Chad introduced Mr. Strether with the Countess Marie de Vionnet, and to her daughter, Jeanne. Mr. Strether was now fully impressed by the city of Paris, architecture and atmosphere of Paris and also the Countess. He was trying to make adjustments with Mrs. Newsome and Countess which was naturally not possible. His friend, Waymarsh advised him either to follow directions of Mrs. Newsome or to give up altogether. But he avoided this advice and tried to find the solution between two conflicting situations. Just when Chad was seem willing to go back home to Woollett, it was Strether who convinced the young man to stay in Paris for a little while longer. Strether was thinking that living in Paris was the best for Chad rather than going to the U.S. He decided to forget his aim as an ambassador of Mrs. Newsome and only aim at the best for the Chad.

            But Strether's fate quickly fall down. Mrs. Newsome sent her daughter, Sarah Pocock (Chad's sister), to bring Chad home. Sarah arrived with her husband, Jim Pocock, and her sister-in-law, Mamie Pocock. It was suggested that Chad should return home to marry Mamie Pocock and continue in the family business: advertising. It did not take very long for Chad to get himself ready to leave Paris. His condition to Sarah was that he would agree to return home if Strether gives him the word. Sarah told that to Strether and told him to do so. But Mr. Strether refused to give a word to Chad. It results into lose of the job for Strether and probability of his marriage with Mrs. Newsome remained no more.

            At the end of the story, Strether also returned to the America without any money and job. But he has a satisfaction that he was true in his ideals and try to do the best for chad.

Evaluation

            Henry James's The Ambassadors is a novel of penetrating psycological insight, and of profound moral significance.

            In The Ambassadors, suspense comes not in the detail of what happens, but in the details of how happenings occur, why they have occurred as they did, and what might have happened in a different scenario. In an autobiographical sense, James' Strether is like a number of other older gentlemen who appear in late James. The self-evaluation, nostalgia and regret experienced by Strether recalls Spencer Brydon, a character in James' short story "The Jolly Corner." And both characters resemble James' self-depiction in his non-fictional travel narrative The American Scene.

            James is known for his intensity of detail and the deep penetration into the psychological interior of his characters. Reading The Ambassadors, we might ask ourselves: How much of what is narrated actually occurs? - And how much occurs only in Strether's mind? The bulk of the narration is interior psychology even though the plot involves multiple characters who are, in fact, quite active. Strether, the central figure, stands out among the characters of the novel as the imbalanced one: he thinks far more than he acts. In this sense, The Ambassadors represents Henry James' "late period."