Research Paper on:
International Theme in the Works of Henry James

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Europe on American life, and the diverse struggles that Americans had while traveling or living abroad. This essay will examine this internationalist theme in three of his most celebrated works:  Portrait of a Lady, The Europeans and The Golden Bowl. The characters of Henry James move in the social circles of the rich, well-bred urbanites of New York, London, and  Rome, and most of his fiction revolves around the distinctions he makes between Americans and Europeans. Therefore, the key to understanding the fiction of this author is to understand the  crucial differences in his American versus his European characters and, by extension the cultures they represent. Compared to ancient European cities, American  cities were considered infants. Consequently, members of high society in Europe considered America and Americans to be raw, uncivilized interlopers who had no culture of their own.  Therefore, they were seen as those who must borrow culture from the Europeans. In James fiction, the typical high class European was not just wealthy, but came from "old  money" -- the money from landed titles with ties to royalty. Most rich Americans made their money in industry. They were from "new money," which meant not just that the  money had been recently made, but that it had been made through work and not inheritance. Similarly, American culture (art, literature, and music) was not yet established in Europe. Moreover,  for one to be "cultured" meant in most circles that one needed to have European style and European manners. These are just some of the inherent elements/ codes in  James novels (Menand, 1995 and James, Henry, 2001). In Portrait of a Lady, Isabels aunt brings the young heroine from the