Fascination In Novellas: Epiphany And Anti-epiphany

This thesis focuses on Henry James's three novellas—The Beast in the Jungle, Daisy Miller and The Pupil from the perspective of epiphany and anti-epiphany. It aims to show the significance of the epiphany and anti-epiphany during the process of the exploration of the theme through the analysis of plots and characters from the psychoanalytic way. It is concluded that Henry James exposes the issues in reality by uniting individual views and social problems.In introduction, the thesis gives a presentation of Henry James, his literary career and literature review of his works including The Beast in the Jungle, Daisy Miller and The Pupil. It shows the knowledge of epiphany and anti-epiphany in order to analyze the three works from a new angle. Chapter one concentrates on introspection and self-destruction in The Beast in the Jungle. By analyzing the delicate depiction of Marcher's psychology and the self-destruction after the epiphany in the end, the author of this thesis wishes to read out the importance of the introspection in the protagonist and the tragic element in his personality. Chapter two is about Daisy Miller, focusing on the revelation and surrender. Through the analysis of anti-epiphanies and epiphany, the author of this thesis hopes to probe into James's concern on people with cultural background which relates tightly to the theme by exposing both individual limits and social and cultural influences leading to the tragedy of this story . Chapter three gives a rereading of The Pupil. The analysis pays more attention to the fictitious realization and kids'sacrifice because of the hypocrisy in adults'world. Epiphany in the end dramatically appears in the form of fictitious realization which adds more tragic color for the hypocrisy in the reality. In the Conclusion, the thesis illustrates the effect of the employment of epiphany and anti-epiphany in James's three novellas. It is the author's sincere wish that this thesis will lead to deeper concern about the technique of epiphany and more intensified studies of Henry James and his works.