The Aspern Papers: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Aspern Papers" is a novella by Henry James that delves into themes of obsession, manipulation, and the complexities of human relationships. The story centers on an unnamed American narrator who is fixated on acquiring the long-lost papers of the late poet Jeffrey Aspern, believed to be in the possession of Juliana Bordereau, Aspern's former mistress. Juliana, now elderly and reclusive in Venice, is depicted as a cynical and avaricious character, who manages her affairs with a blend of sarcasm and shrewdness. Her niece, Tita Bordereau, is portrayed as a timid, somewhat awkward woman caught between her loyalty to her aunt and the narrator's advances. As the plot unfolds, the narrator's unethical pursuit leads to a series of events that culminate in Juliana's death and Tita's surprising revelation that she has destroyed the cherished papers.
Notable supporting characters include Mrs. Prest, the narrator's confidante, who encourages his deceptive tactics, and John Cumnor, a British editor whose admiration for Aspern fuels the narrator's obsession. Through intricate character dynamics, James explores the moral implications of ambition and the nature of artistic legacy, leaving readers to contemplate the cost of obsession and the fragility of human connections. This analysis of major characters provides insight into their motivations and relationships, making it a compelling study for those interested in the psychological depth of literary figures.
The Aspern Papers: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Henry James
First published: 1888
Genre: Short story
Locale: Venice, Italy
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: The late nineteenth century
The narrator, an unnamed, well-to-do American literary scholar. He is obsessed by a desire to learn everything possible about the life and works of the long-dead American poet Jeffrey Aspern and is willing to do almost anything to appropriate Aspern's papers. He has heard that the papers are in the possession of Juliana Bordereau, Aspern's former mistress, who is now living reclusively in Venice. Using a false name and pretending to be a writer, the narrator rents rooms in her run-down palazzo, improves her neglected garden, and in time mentions Aspern in chats, first with her niece Tita and then with Juliana, who does not mind throwing the narrator and Tita together. One night, Juliana, now quite sick, catches the unprincipled scholar rifling her old mahogany desk and collapses. Humiliated, he leaves Venice for several days. He returns to learn that Juliana has died and is buried, and he finds Tita in supposed possession of the papers, which she hints can be his only if he becomes a member of the family. The narrator leaves in consternation, sleeps on what seems to him to be Tita's proposal of marriage, and returns half resigned to agree; Tita, however, greets him with the news that she has burned the Aspern papers.
Juliana Bordereau, an American who has long resided in Venice and is Aspern's former mistress. She is now shrunken and puckered with age and sickness, constantly masks her once-celebrated eyes with a green eyeshade, and supposedly possesses a treasure trove of Aspern papers. The narrator views her as sarcastic, cynical, profane, and even witchlike. She is certainly avaricious and rude, overcharging him for rent, demanding payment months in advance, and accepting his flowers ungratefully. She teases him by offering to sell him a small oval portrait of Aspern for an exorbitant price and by encouraging him to see more of her niece Tita Bordereau, for whom she may want him to care. Juliana's discovery of the narrator rifling her desk hastens her death. The character is modeled partly on Clare Clairmont, one of the long-lived mistresses of George Gordon, Lord Byron.
Tita Bordereau, Juliana's tall, thin, pale, faded, untidy American niece (or possibly grandniece). She is middle-aged, mild, gauche, and seemingly callow. When the narrator broaches the subject of Aspern, she timidly agrees to try to help him obtain the papers. Encouraged by Juliana, the two get into his gondola to sample decorous Venetian nightlife. After Juliana dies, Tita cannot decide whether to respect the domineering old woman's privacy or to aid the narrator, evidently the one attractive man in her life. When he rebuffs her implicit proposal, she seems to enjoy telling him that she burned the papers “one by one.” The narrator, seeing her in a new light, concludes that she is “plain, dingy, elderly” and yet not “hard or vindictive.” In the 1908 revision, Tita is named Tina.
Mrs. Prest, the narrator's confidante, expatriated from the United States for some fifteen years in Venice. She urges the narrator to lay siege to Juliana Bordereau by renting rooms from her and bombarding her with flowers. Mrs. Prest helps him rationalize when he feels hypocritical and duplicitous. The character is modeled partly on James's socialite friend Katherine De Kay Bronson, long a resident in Venice.
John Cumnor, a British editor and an admirer of Aspern's works. Cumnor does not appear in the story; however, he is a motivating force, because he encourages the narrator to seek the Aspern papers by any available means.
Pochintesta, the Bordereaus' Venetian lawyer friend.