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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