The Prose of Henry James Trivia Quiz

Answer: Realism

Literary realism was a reaction against romanticism. It started in nineteenth-century France with Balzac, Maupassant and Flaubert. Then it spread internationally with writers like Leo Tolstoy and George Eliot. James believed that literature had to depict life as it is and represent the different layers in society.

Answer: Daisy Miller

This was a controversial story at the time because of Daisy's loose morals. Not only does she flirt with Mr Winterbourne, but also with an Italian man who brings her into trouble. The novella was rejected by one publisher because of the way it depicted the flirty American girl, but it went on to become a big success.

Answer: Isabel Archer

Isabel Archer is a young American heiress with two suitors, including an American self-made man and a British nobleman. She turns down both proposals and marries an obscure Italian instead. The contrast between Europe and America is one of Henry's main themes. Jane Campion directed a film adaption with Nicole Kidman as Isabel Archer.

Answer: Feminism

This novel is about the feminist movement in Boston. It was published in 1886, in a period when progressive women were pleading for the women's right to vote. Verena Tarrant has to choose between her belief in feminism and her love for a conservative but attractive man.

Answer: Dead poet

In this novella a biographer is searching for private letters of the dead American poet Jeffrey Aspern. He rents a room in the house of Aspern's former lover and her niece. The story is based on a real biographer who tried to obtain private letters by the late poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. James considered this one of his finest works.

Answer: What Maisie Knew

This is a bildungsroman: a novel that follows the main character's development from childhood to early adulthood. It was published as a serial in 1897, and tells about a girl with divorced and irresponsible parents. "The Scarlet Letter" is by Nathaniel Hawthorne, "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin and "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton.

Answer: The Real Thing

The painter had to illustrate a series of novels about aristocrats. Although the Monarchs were the genuine thing they were useless models for commercial purposes, so his publisher tried to convince him to use other models of lower descent instead.

Answer: Ghost story

This remains one of his most popular creations. When a governess has to raise a brother and sister they start seeing ghosts. The title is explained in the introduction: when a ghost story involves a child that adds a turn to the screw; when it involves two children that adds two turns to the screw.

There's an ongoing debate among critics about the question whether the governess really sees ghosts or just imagines so.

Answer: The Wings of the Dove

Kate Croy was based on James' cousin Minny Temple, who died young of tuberculosis. The theme of a girl full of expectations dying early already appeared in "Daisy Miller" in 1878.

Answer: She's his stepmother-in-law

Italian Prince Amerigo marries American heiress Maggie Verver. Maggie's father marries Charlotte. She already was Amerigo's lover in the past, and they become lovers again. James Ivory directed a film adaption with Kate Beckinsale as Price Amerigo's wife and Uma Thurman as his mistress.