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A house of their own: women and houses in Henry James's late 1890s fiction

Tarui, Yasuko (2005) A house of their own: women and houses in Henry James's late 1890s fiction. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent. (doi:10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94684) (KAR id:94684)

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https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94684

Abstract

This thesis examines Henry James’s late 1890s fiction in terms of the heroines’ “search for a home.” The works that are analyzed are The Spoils of Poynton (1897), The Other House (1896), What Maisie Knew (1897), The Turn of the Screw (1898), In the Cage (1898), and The Awkward Age (1899). The first purpose of this thesis is to point out how, on a naturalistic level, the heroines suffer from a lack of their own living space, and to analyze the plot of each work as recounting the heroine’s search for a home that is safe and permanent. The second purpose is to explain the “spatial implications” of each residence. The rooms and houses serve not only as metaphors of the characteristics of their inhabitants but also emerge as significant narrative presences in their own right.

What becomes clear from these analyses is James’s pessimism regarding the women’s future, because in the end the heroines are either “homeless” or decide to live somewhere by compromise. It is implied that the root of the problem is the breakdown of family relationships, particularly acute in the tensions between parent and child, and also in the failure of the traditional marriage-plot to offer objectively acknowledged endings and solutions. The only final possession of a house in the works of this period lies in the consciousness of their heroines, who remain consequently vulnerable and

unfulfilled.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD))
DOI/Identification number: 10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94684
Additional information: This thesis has been digitised by EThOS, the British Library digitisation service, for purposes of preservation and dissemination. It was uploaded to KAR on 25 April 2022 in order to hold its content and record within University of Kent systems. It is available Open Access using a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-commercial, No Derivatives (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) licence so that the thesis and its author, can benefit from opportunities for increased readership and citation. This was done in line with University of Kent policies (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/strategy/docs/Kent%20Open%20Access%20policy.pdf). If you feel that your rights are compromised by open access to this thesis, or if you would like more information about its availability, please contact us at ResearchSupport@kent.ac.uk and we will seriously consider your claim under the terms of our Take-Down Policy (https://www.kent.ac.uk/is/regulations/library/kar-take-down-policy.html).
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
SWORD Depositor: SWORD Copy
Depositing User: SWORD Copy
Date Deposited: 11 Nov 2022 16:50 UTC
Last Modified: 11 Nov 2022 16:50 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/94684 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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