Browse all books

The Real Thing: By Henry James - Illustrated

Henry James

The Real Thing: By Henry James - Illustrated

eBook ( Aug. 3, 2017)

How is this book unique?


  1. Font adjustments & biography included

  2. Unabridged (100% Original content)

  3. Illustrated


About The Real Thing by Henry James


The Real Thing is a story by Henry James. This story, often read as a parable, plays with the reality-illusion dichotomy that fascinated James, especially in the later stages of his career. Plot Summary: The narrator, an unnamed illustrator and aspiring painter, hires a faded genteel couple, the Monarchs, as models, after they have lost most of their money and must find some line of work. They are the "real thing" in that they perfectly represent the aristocratic type, but they prove inflexible for the painter's work. He comes to rely much more on two lower-class subjects who are nevertheless more capable, Oronte, an Italian, and Miss Churm, a lower-class Englishwoman. The illustrator finally has to get rid of the Monarchs, especially after his friend and fellow artist Jack Hawley criticizes the work in which the Monarchs are represented. Hawley says that the pair has hurt the narrator's art, perhaps permanently. In the final line of the story the narrator says he is "content to have paid the price—for the memory."
Pages
71

Enjoy reading The Real Thing: By Henry James - Illustrated? You may also like these books