Between Aestheticism And Pragmatism

Henry James is the famous novelist and critic at the end of19th century and the beginning of20th century. He was born in America and later joined in the British nationality, and this special background made him getting attention from both American and British circle of literature and art. James had explored the "international theme" in his fictions, and made great creation of the fictional techniques, bridging between the tradition and modernity. Research on James’s work has begun just the same time of his writing, and in this long history of more than one hundred years, it has become a very important area of literary research. On the contrary, the research of Henry James in China has a much shorter history, only focusing on his first and second period of creation. This certainly implies that the research on Henry James needs to be broadened and paid more attention to. Thus, the research on Henry James still has a lot to be explored.This thesis chooses The Ambassadors, which is the masterpiece of James’s late period, aiming to analyze the relation of aestheticism and pragmatism in the novel. The novel’s construction of theme and exploration of art will be discussed in detail, while James’s dilemma in culture, as well as his lifelong pursuit of higher civilization, will also be analyzed.The thesis is composed of five parts.The introduction presents Henry James and the summary of his works, the researches of him at home and abroad and the significance of this topic, then gives a brief statement of aestheticism and pragmatism.The first chapter is a discussion of The Ambassadors’theme, in which aestheticism and pragmatism has a confliction. Two categories of characters have been analyzed, and the cultural dilemma of James has been discussed. This is the first argument of James’ wandering between aestheticism and pragmatism.The second chapter focuses on the art problem in The Ambassadors. The works of art, which signifies aestheticism, confronts with the dramatic elements, which are the symbols of pragmatism. There are also discussions of decorations and architectures, and the dilemma is also pointed out, making this chapter a further demonstration of James’ wandering between aestheticism and pragmatism.The third chapter concentrates on the reasons of the dilemma. James inherited the aesthetic traditions of Europe, while actively practiced pragmatism in literature area. Aestheticism and pragmatism have also deeply influenced people’s values. The confliction between tradition and modernity, together with the confrontation between Europe and America, makes James’s works full of contradictions. Therefore James could be seen as a "cultural ambassador", who saw higher civilization as a cultural interest, ideal American as a cultural metaphor, dramatized novels as a try in writing.The conclusion reaffirms James’s constant thinking about European and American culture, unscrambles the track of his wandering between elegant literature and popular literature, pointing out that the late works of James need to be further discussed, especially the moral issue.