International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Call for Paper Volume 6 Issue 5 September-October 2024 Submit your research before last 3 days of October to publish your research paper in the issue of September-October.

Anxiety of Influence: Reading Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady

Author(s) Dr Antara Datta
Country India
Abstract Edith Wharton’s literary relationship with Henry James has been a subject of much critical debate wherein Wharton is often positioned as James’s devoted follower. This paper reflects upon this relationship by reading Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and James’s The Portrait of a Lady and examines how, while sharing various thematic interests, both the authors depart significantly in their aesthetic and social concerns. Wharton, undermined and trapped under James’s shadow, diverges from James’s psychological introspection of the self and interior lives of his characters. Her interests are centred on broader social contexts, critique of social convention, and gender hierarchies. The paper tries to assert her autonomy and show how her writing is distinct from James’s, despite their similar literary preoccupations.
Keywords Edith Wharton, Henry James, The Age of Innocence, The Portrait of a Lady, Narrative divergence, Literary Influence
Published In Volume 6, Issue 5, September-October 2024
Published On 2024-09-17
Cite This Anxiety of Influence: Reading Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady - Dr Antara Datta - IJFMR Volume 6, Issue 5, September-October 2024. DOI 10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i05.27641
DOI https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2024.v06i05.27641
Short DOI https://doi.org/gzwpvk

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