The Master

Henry comes to terms with the failure of his play, realizing that the general public might not be the best audience for his work. He knows that his novels appeal to more educated, refined writers and are not works of “popular” fiction. This measured success has been enough for him so far. He is solitary by nature and enjoys writing for writing’s sake. Devoted to his art, he is pleased that his novels are popular among like-minded people, but he remains distressed by the public failure of his play. As a result of the debacle, he has largely withdrawn from society. He decides that he might be happier travelling, so he accepts invitations from two friends in Ireland, Lord Houghton and Lord Wolseley; they did not see his play and were not aware of its resounding failure. 

Lord Wolseley is in charge of the English army in Ireland. Recently, there has been considerable unrest due to the antipathy between the Irish and the British in Ireland. Henry does his best to ignore the uproar. He enjoys his time with Lord Houghton, although there are too many social events; he almost always prefers solitude to the company of others. When he arrives at Lord Wolseley’s, he finds that Lady Wolseley holds Lord Houghton in very low regard. Henry does his best to remain polite to his current host without disparaging his previous one. 

Lady Wolseley has arranged for Henry to be looked after by a manservant named Corporal Hammond. Hammond is Irish but has lived for most of his life in London. He is a quiet, dignified man with whom Henry feels an instant affinity. 

Henry would much rather sit in his room writing or reading, but he must socialize with the rest of Lord and Lady Wolseley’s guests. One night at dinner, another guest makes snide comments about County Cravan, where Henry’s grandfather was born. It is obvious that both the guest and Lady Wolseley do not respect Henry’s ancestors. Henry is puzzled and does not understand why he should care about the social standing of distant relatives. His ancestors left Ireland to find success in America, and they had. He retires to his room in a particularly foul mood, and Hammond does his best to soothe him. He even offers to return to “check on” Henry in the night, and Henry is unsure whether Hammond is trying to make a sexual advance. Worried that he is misinterpreting an innocent offer of help, he politely declines. However, he feels a distinct pang; although he craves the physical comfort of someone who cares for him, he cannot afford to mistake innocence for a romantic advance. 

The next day is clear but cold. He heads outside for a walk and sees the daughter of one of the other guests with her nurse. He observes them carefully, taking note of the nurse’s tone of voice and the child’s response. When he returns to the house, he runs into Lady Wolseley. There is to be a fancy dress ball later, but Henry has no intention of dressing up for it. Truthfully, he wishes he could skip it all together. Lady Wolseley is disappointed that he will not appear in costume, but she assures him that he will enjoy himself. 

At the ball, the young girl he saw on the lawn with her nurse is wearing an elaborate costume. Henry finds both the costume and the attention it garners inappropriate. He looks around carefully, expecting to see shock on other faces, but no one shares his reaction. The ball is not enjoyable, and he is glad to return to his room as soon as possible.

In London, Henry notices that idiosyncrasies are tolerated as long as the individual in question conforms to general societal standards and is well-mannered. He therefore finds relative acceptance of his preference for solitude and turns down invitations without giving offense. He enjoys spending time alone and is much more comfortable thinking and writing in his room than he is at any party. 

After his return from Ireland, he does his best to direct his attention away from the failure of his play and toward other creative ventures. He is at work on a story about a governess and two children. He decides to set the tale in an English country house. He enjoys writing and feels proud of his novels despite the failure of his play. He thinks carefully about each character that he creates, outlining their traits and characteristics, but also their motivations and the nature of their relationships. He is particularly interested in how the governess relates to her small charges, and he recalls the young girl he observed at the Wolseley home, who was at play with her nurse. He wants to present fully formed characters with rich inner lives, so he spends hours getting the smallest details right. 

He also thinks of his siblings. He felt a kinship for Alice, as the two of them were always unprepared for life and ill at ease in society. William, his outgoing elder brother, was better equipped for success in the world and was better accepted by his peers. Still, Henry and all four of his siblings had been deemed “strange.” Their family traveled widely when they were young, and they knew more about Europe than they did about America. 

Alice was overly fond of Henry and deteriorated after his marriage. Their mother diagnosed her with hysteria, but it was obvious that her emotional difficulties were complex in nature and origin. After their parents’ deaths, Alice traveled to London. By that time, she was confined to her bed and quite unwell. Henry wrote two novels during that time. Both The Bostonians and The Princess Casamassima were suffused with Alice’s particular struggles and contained characters reminiscent of his sister, although neither novel was specifically “about” her. Alice’s health deteriorated further, and she eventually died. At the time, Henry thought that she lacked the will to live.