Henry James Essay, Research Paper

Son of the religious philosopher Henry James, Sr., and brother of the

psychologist and philosopher William, Henry James was born in New York City,

April 15, 1843. His early life was spent in America; on and off he was taken to

Europe, especially during the impressionable years from twelve to seventeen.

After that he lived in Newport, went briefly to Harvard, and, in 1864, began to

contribute both criticism and tales to the magazine. In 1869, and then in

1872-74, he paid visits to Europe and began Roderick Hudsen. Late in 1875 he

settled in Paris, where he met Turgenev, Flaubert, and zola, and wrote The

American (1877). In December 1876 he moved to London, where two years later he

achieved international fame with Daisy Miller. Other famous works include

Washington Square (1880), The portrait of a Lady (1881), The Princess

Casamassima (1886), The Aspern Papers (1888), The turn of the Screw (1898), and

the three large novels of the new century, The wings of the dove (1902), The

Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904). In 1905 he revisited the United

States and wrote The American Scene (1907). He also wrote many works of

criticism and travel. Although old and ailing, he threw himself into war work in

1914; and in 1915, a few months before his death, he became a British subject.

In January 1916 King George V conferred the Order of Merit on him. He died in

London on February 28, 1916, and his ashes were buried in the James family plot

in Cambridge, Massachusetts.