The Princess Casamassima

Infobox Book |
name = The Princess Casamassima


image_caption = Cover of 1987 Penguin Classics edition of "The Princess Casamassima"
author = Henry James
country = United Kingdom
language = English
genre = Novel
publisher = Macmillan and Co., London
release_date = 22 October, 1886
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages = Volume one, 252; volume two, 257; volume three, 242
isbn = NA

"The Princess Casamassima" is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in "The Atlantic Monthly" in 1885-1886 and then as a book in 1886. It is the story of an intelligent but confused young London bookbinder, Hyacinth Robinson, who becomes involved in radical politics and a terrorist assassination plot. The book is something of a lone sport in the Jamesian canon for dealing with such a violent political subject. But it is often paired with another novel published by James in the same year, "The Bostonians", which is also concerned with political issues, though in a much less tragic manner.

Plot summary

Amanda Pynsent, an impoverished seamstress, has adopted Hyacinth Robinson, the illegitimate son of her old friend Florentine Vivier, a Frenchwoman of less than sterling repute, and an English lord. Florentine had stabbed her lover to death several years ago, and Pinnie (as Miss Pynsent is nicknamed) takes Hyacinth to see her as she lies dying at Millbank prison. Hyacinth eventually learns that the dying woman is his mother and that she murdered his father.

Many years pass. Hyacinth, now a young man and a skilled bookbinder, meets revolutionary Paul Muniment and gets involved in radical politics. Hyacinth also has a coarse but lively girlfriend, Millicent Henning, and one night they go to the theater. There Hyacinth meets the radiantly beautiful Princess Casamassima (Christina Light, from James' earlier novel, "Roderick Hudson").

The Princess has become a revolutionary herself and now lives apart from her dull husband. Meanwhile, Hyacinth has committed himself to carrying out a terrorist assassination, though the exact time and place have not yet been specified to him. Hyacinth visits the Princess at her country home and tells her about his parents. When he returns to London, Hyacinth finds Pinnie dying. He comforts her in her final days, then travels to France and Italy on his small inheritance.

This trip completes Hyacinth's conversion to a love for the sinful but beautiful world, and away from violent revolution. Still, he does not attempt to escape his vow to carry out the assassination. But when the order comes, he turns the gun on himself instead of its intended victim.

Major themes

At first glance, this novel seems much different from James' usual work because of its concentration on radical politics and less-than-wealthy characters. And it's true that the book comes closer to classic Naturalism than any other long fiction in the Jamesian canon. The influence of French Naturalists like Émile Zola is evident in the prison scenes, the depiction of the revolutionary movement, and the deterministic nature of Hyacinth's heredity.

But the novel also explores themes familiar from James' other work. Hyacinth always seems to be an outsider, unable to participate fully in the life around him. He commits to the revolution, then hesitates and wavers. He is attracted to the beauty of the world, but can't enjoy it completely because he sees how it is purchased at the cost of so much human suffering. When the final call comes, he can see no way out of his dilemma: either the state will kill him if he carries out the assassination, or the revolutionaries will kill him if he doesn't.

Such hesitations and divided loyalties are common among James' perceptive central characters. Hyacinth's case is particularly acute because his actual life is at stake. In his preface to the "New York Edition" of the novel, James audaciously compared Hyacinth to Hamlet and Lear. While some may cavil at such comparisons, others believe that Hyacinth's fate does rise close to the status of classic tragedy.

The plot summary doesn't do justice to the rich cast of characters populating the novel. This is a broad panorama of all levels of European life, and the many supporting characters are presented brilliantly. There is also a generous amount of humor in what might otherwise be a dreary story, which shows the influence of Dickens from James' early reading.

Critical evaluation

"The Princess Casamassima" has suffered something of a checkered critical history. Early critics like Rebecca West admired the novel's workmanship and characters, but smiled at the more melodramatic aspects of the plot. Later critics like Lionel Trilling found the novel a much more convincing account of political reality.

Despite the many vividly realized supporting characters, the novel stands or falls on its portrayal of Hyacinth Robinson. From his comments in the "New York Edition" preface, James obviously believed he had succeeded in presenting a flawed but deeply affecting hero. Others have been less kind. One critic even dismissed Hyacinth as "a bit of a wimp."citequote

References

* "The Novels of Henry James" by Edward Wagenknecht (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1983) ISBN 0-8044-2959-6
* "A Henry James Encyclopedia" by Robert Gale (New York: Greenwood Press, 1989) ISBN 0-313-25846-5
* "Meaning in Henry James" by Millicent Bell (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1991) ISBN 0-674-55763-8
* "A Companion to Henry James Studies" edited by Daniel Fogel (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press 1993) ISBN 0-313-25792-2
* "Henry James: A Collection of Critical Essays" edited by Ruth Yeazell (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall 1994) ISBN 0-13-380973-0

External links

* [http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?coll=moa&root=/moa/atla/atla0056/&tif=00295.TIF&view=50&frames=1 Original magazine publication of "The Princess Casamassima" (1885-86)]
* [http://www.henryjames.org.uk/pcasa/intro_inframe.htm First book version of "The Princess Casamassima" (1886)]
* [http://www.henryjames.org.uk/prefaces/text05_inframe.htm Author's preface to the "New York Edition" version of "The Princess Casamassima" (1908)]
* [http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=58&section=notes Note on the various texts of "The Princess Casamassima"] at the Library of America web site