Henry James

The Author of Beltraffio Henry James

Henry James (1843 - 1916) was one of the leaders in the school of realism in fiction. He is known for his series of novels in which he portrayed the encounter of America with Europe. James is considered to be the master of the novel and novella. James wrote about personal relationships and the power within these relationships. James explored consciousness and perception from the point of view of a character within a tale. The Author of Beltraffio tells of a man who has written a novel. He has a rigid Calvinistic wife who despises his work. She hopes to keep his son away form the "evil" in his works. The story begins, "Much as I wished to see him I had kept my letter of introduction three weeks in my pocket-book. I was nervous and timid about meeting him--conscious of youth and ignorance, convinced that he was tormented by strangers, and especially by my country-people, and not exempt from the suspicion that he had the irritability as well as the dignity of genius. Moreover, the pleasure, if it should occur-for I could scarcely believe it was near at hand--would be so great that I wished to think of it in advance, to feel it there against my breast, not to mix it with satisfactions more superficial and usual. In the little game of new sensations that I was playing with my ingenuous mind I wished to keep my visit to the author of "Beltraffio" as a trump-card. "