The Master

The Master contains many descriptions of Henry’s writing process, along with sketches that become The Turn of the Screw, The Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, and The Princess Casamassima. Henry’s writing becomes a key motif that helps the author to more fully embrace The Power of Art and the Creative Process. The author explores the relationship between art and life in part through Henry’s use of his friends and family as artistic inspiration. Henry does not necessarily place his peers fully formed into his novels, but he does use his observations and interpretations to construct his own characters. By imbuing his writing with psychological depth and interiority, Henry creates a more cerebral form of writing that is well-regarded because of his deeply detailed characterizations. As he fully explores his characters’ identities, beliefs, values, and motivations, he conjures up lifelike relationships and pens novels that are much more character-dependent than plot-driven. This idea of author as “artist” is central to Henry’s identity as both a writer and an individual; he prides himself on the quality of his writing and on his ability to observe and understand the people around him. While Henry works on The Turn of the Screw, he observes several different people in an attempt to decide upon the inner workings of his characters.