Character Clues

Character Analysis

Family Life

If you think of Strether's engagement to Mrs. Newsome as part of his family life, then you can see how family life would be a major tool for defining Strether as a character. First off, Strether is the kind of guy who runs to Europe to do the bidding of Mrs. Newsome. Second, his career is working at a magainze that Mrs. Newsome funds as a charity project.

No doubt about it, Strether is really under Mrs. Newsome's thumb, and this plays into James' general portrayal of Strether as a meek, almost spineless dude at the start of this book. It takes another family relation, Chad Newsome, to pull Strether out of his dependence on Mrs. Newsome. Chad shows Strether a whole new way of looking at the world, and you can bet your boots Strether's grateful for it.

Family life is significant for defining other characters, too. Sarah Pocock, for example, harbors a prejudice toward the world that is totally based on her belief that her family is the moral center of everything ever and that everyone else is bad. She reveals this when she tells Strether her mother is "the most distinguished woman we shall either of us have seen in this world" (10.3.20). Intense, right?

Her husband Jim, on the other hand, lives a life similar to Strether's, being totally dominated and ordered around by one of the Newsome women (Sarah). It seems to be only Chad who has escaped the clutches Newsome family, and by the end of the book, Strether has no interest in seeing Chad (or himself, or anyone) return to these people.

Location

Paris vs. Woollett. That's really what Strether's internal struggle comes down to in this novel.

On the one hand, Paris is exciting and cultured. On the other hand, Woollett is boring but safe. This is really the choice that Strether has been facing his entire life; the only problem is that he has always taken the safe way out.

It's only when Strether visits Europe to track down Chad that he realizes just how much of life he's missed out on by staying in dusty old Woollett. As the plot continues, he'll do just about anything to hold onto his new life in Paris—including keeping the truth from his fiancée, Mrs. Newsome.

By the end of the book, though, Strether makes the suprising decision to return to Woollett in all of its boring anti-glory. Why, you ask? Because Strether has realized that even though Paris is flashy and beautiful, it can also be deceiving.

The whole book, Strether has believed that Chad Newsome's relationship with Madame de Vionnet has been "virtuous," aka lacking in the hanky-panky department. But when he sees the truth of their relationship, Strether feels that Paris is a little too edgy for him and decides to head back to Woollett.

That said, he'll never forget the wonderful adventures he had as part of his "second youth" in Paris. How could he?

Occupation

Strether works as an editor for a magazine that his fiancée funds more or less out of charity. How's that for meaningful work? Um, just kidding. Strether's job is actually not so bad, but it also shows you just how dependent he is on Mrs. Newsome's generosity (read: giving him stuff because she knows she can get more out of it).

As you might imagne, it'd be nice if he had a career that was based on his talents more than someone else's charity, and it's this kind of situation in Woollett that makes Strether yearn for a freer, more independent life when he gets his first taste of Paris.

Chad, on the other hand, doesn't work at all, but just lives off his inheritance from his grandfather. No wonder Strether envies the guy's life so much.

Social Status

When Strether reaches Paris, one of the first things he realizes is that Chad's friends are mostly rich and famous people. The glamor instantly goes to Strether's head and makes him wish that he lived among these kinds of people all the time.

As the book continues, he learns that rich people have all of the same insecurities he does. Madame de Vionnet, for example, is every bit as insecure about her age and looks as he is. Which is kind of a shocker, because he's an editor of his fiancée's charity mag and she's a countess. We mean, really.

Meanwhile, Chad's artist friend named Bilham is totally insecure about the fact that he's just a poor, short artist. Heck, they call him "Little Bilham"—how's that for building self-respect.

No question, Strether can be really naïve in the way he looks at the people around him. He thinks that everyone in Paris is happy just because they have money and status. But the truth is that everyone pretty much experiences the same (occasional) joys and (crippling) insecurities as him, whether they have money or not.