Essay on Henry James Biography |

ABSTRACT:

Henry James, novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, literarycritic, and theorist, was one of the most influential American writers of the19th century, and today he is considered one of the greatest of authors to havewritten in English. His innovations and contributions to the novel helped pavethe way for 20th-century modernism and contemporary literature in general. Manyscholars view James as the creator of the modern psychological novel, whichforms a bridge to the stream-of-consciousness novels of the early 20th century.He was adamant in his belief that a given piece of fiction should contain noinformation not realistically available to those characters within the work. Tothis end, he concentrated on narrative perspective and employed a techniquecalled the central consciousness, usually but not always assigned to the maincharacter. This illustrated his belief in the limitation of one person'sperception.