The Master

Henry James (1843-1916) is a British American author who is known for his psychologically complex novels, which provide an in-depth window into his characters’ lives. Like the fictionalized version that Tóibín has created, Henry James struggled with his sexuality, his social anxiety, and the tension that he felt between his American identity and the more European cosmopolitanism that his father introduced into his life. He is considered one of the greatest novelists of the Western canon, and his works remain popular more than a century after they were written. 

James published his novels at the tail end of the realist movement, which promoted art and literature that represent real life. In the case of his later works, he became influenced by the rising trend of literary modernism. Although his work is primarily realist in nature, his writing is also viewed as a bridge between the two movements because he habitually focuses on the complexities of human nature, individual consciousness, and subjectivity. His novels are character-driven rather than plot-driven, and although they do explore the society of his day, they are more concerned with examining individual characters’ experiences of society than with relating detailed descriptions of the novel’s events. He also sometimes employs stream-of-consciousness, a key modernist technique. In this context, Tóibín’s use of stream-of-consciousness in The Master is a nod to James’s own writing style and literary innovation. James also employs ambiguity and unreliable narrators: two additional techniques that proved more common in modernist works than in realist writings. 

Henry James was born in New York to an affluent family. The ancestors of his father, Henry Senior, emigrated from Ireland and rose to prominence in American society, and James’s mother came from a well-established New York family. His father, although independently wealthy, was a philosopher and a lecturer, and he nurtured his children’s intellectual interests. Henry’s brother William thus became a philosopher and a psychologist, while his sister Alice was a noted diarist. Henry’s father enjoyed travel and wanted to expose his children to European cities in order to help them develop a more cosmopolitan sensibility than they would ever gain by remaining in the United States. The family spent time in London, Paris, Geneva, and Bonn, and Henry Sr. did his best to introduce his children to cutting-edge science, philosophy, and the newest ideas of the day. Henry was profoundly affected by his years abroad, and the double-consciousness that these experiences produced would become a defining feature of his identity. In social terms, double-consciousness refers to “the internal conflict experienced by marginalized groups as they navigate their own identity while viewing themselves through the often critical eyes of the dominant culture” (“Double Consciousness—Definition and Explanation.” The OR Briefings. Oxford Review).

Double-consciousness would also become a key feature of James’s writing, and many of his characters wrestle with their national identity in much the same way James himself did. He is also interested in the complex interplay between quintessentially “American” visitors to Europe and their continental counterparts. Many of his characters are Americans who travel abroad, and many of his novels examine what it means to be American or European at the turn of the century. 

James was a prolific writer who penned many novels, and in The Master, Tóibín provides an insider’s view into the writing process of several of James’s most famous works. For example, at the beginning of the novel, Henry is at work on The Turn of the Screw (1898), and he draws inspiration from various people whom he meets in London and while traveling. The Turn of the Screw is a ghostly novella that centers on the experiences of a governess who is tasked with educating two young children in a mysterious old country house. Its complex psychology, unreliable narration, and fraught ambiguity have provided material for myriad interpretations, and the novel is still widely read and taught. 

In The Master, Henry also discloses the fact that his friend Minny served as the inspiration for the character of Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady (1881), one of the famed author’s most celebrated novels. In this tale, the protagonist, Isabel, is a headstrong American woman who refuses two marriage proposals, travels to Europe, inherits a large sum of money, and then falls victim to the manipulative machinations of several people who do not have her best interests at heart. The plot reflects James’s own interest in the tension between American and European identities. He also consummately develops the inner worlds of his characters, and he conducts a broader inquiry into societal mores and the conventions surrounding courtship and marriage. Henry hints that there is something of Minny in the protagonist of Daisy Miller (1878), another of James’s most critically acclaimed works; this particular book also follows a young American woman as she travels to Europe. 

Within the context of the novel, the fictionalized Henry notes the impact that his sister’s decline had on two of his novels: The Bostonians (1886) and The Princess Casamassima (1886). The Bostonians, although character-driven and dedicated to the inner life of its protagonist, critiques the rhythm of progress in post-Civil War America. Throughout his writings, James explores the contrast between burgeoning ideas like feminism and the traditional values that had hitherto defined life in the United States. For example, The Princess Casamassima follows a complex female protagonist as she navigates the world of radical politics. Like The Bostonians, this novel depicts the changing landscape of a modernizing United States, even as the narrative proper remains grounded in the lived experiences of the main characters. During the years covered in The Master, James also penned several more of his most canonical works: The American (1877) and The Europeans (1878). James is additionally known for writing The Wings of the Dove (1902) and The Golden Bowl (1904).