Abstract
Although Henry James has long occupied a pre-eminent position in American letters, his popularity has never been anything more than negligible. His novels, like those of other authors associated with obscurity, are regarded with little interest by the average reader. James’s complex characters and unorthodox method of portrayal have often proved inscrutable to those who have not under stood him. His limited appeal may be largely due to the fact that he does not concern himself with the ribald escapades of modern fiction, for they are deficient in the depth and feeling needed for his kind of portrayal. Ephemeral diversions and blatant suggestiveness have no place in James’s literature. For he is willing to forego the extravaganzas of the twentieth century for a society in which living has become an art.