The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James
"The Figure in the Carpet" is a short story by Henry James that explores the intricate relationship between a novelist and his critics. The narrative follows a nameless narrator who reviews the work of the enigmatic writer Hugh Vereker. After a chance encounter during a country-house weekend, Vereker reveals to the narrator that all his writings are interconnected by a hidden structure known as the "figure in the carpet," which no critic has yet discerned. Intrigued, the narrator embarks on a quest to uncover this elusive design, enlisting the help of a friend, George Corvick, and a fellow novelist, Gwendolen Erme.
As the story unfolds, Corvick believes he has discovered Vereker's secret after departing for India. His pursuit leads to personal upheaval, including a quick marriage to Gwendolen and an untimely death. Following these events, the narrator remains in the dark about the secret, while Gwendolen's subsequent marriage to another man raises questions about the nature of knowledge and intimacy. The tale concludes with a sense of unresolved mystery and the poignant realization of the burdens of unshared secrets, leaving the narrator and other characters to grapple with their own interpretations of Vereker’s work. This rich, metafictional narrative invites readers to reflect on the complexities of literary interpretation and the elusive nature of artistic truth.
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The Figure in the Carpet by Henry James
First published: 1896
Type of plot: Metafiction
Time of work: The late Victorian period
Locale: London
Principal Characters:
The nameless narrator , a minor literary journalistHugh Vereker , a novelist of some standing, whose works are the subject of curiosity and analysis by several of the charactersGeorge Corvick , a friend of the narrator, the husband to Gwendolen Erme, and the purported discoverer of the secret of Vereker's workGwendolen Erme , a minor novelist, the wife of Corvick and later of Drayton DeaneDrayton Deane , a prolific literary journalist who marries Gwendolen Erme after the death of Corvick
The Story
Having reviewed Hugh Vereker's latest fiction in The Middle, a literary weekly (this a result of the kind offices of his friend George Corvick), the nameless narrator is invited to a country-house weekend, during which he encounters Vereker. The novelist reads the narrator's notice and comments derisively on it, only to relent when he learns the identity of the author. In a gesture of compensation (one supposes), Vereker confides to the narrator that his fictions are all linked by a single idea or scheme that no critic has ever noticed but that is the very secret of all of his work. This is the famous "figure in the carpet" of the story's title, and it is what Vereker sets the narrator to discover.
On his return to London, the narrator sets about his work of investigation and analysis, to no avail. He confides his secret to Corvick, who in turn (and with the help of Gwendolen Erme, herself a novelist) pursues the same goal of discovering the elusive design in Vereker's writings. Baffled and unsuccessful, Corvick departs for India, ostensibly on a journalistic assignment, but (one learns later) in actuality with the intention of distancing himself from the immediate engagement with Vereker's books, the better to discover their secret. Corvick succeeds, or so he asserts, as a cable from Bombay to Miss Erme informs her that he has discovered the "general intention" in Vereker. Corvick rushes to visit Vereker in Rapallo, Italy, where (once again the news is cabled to London) Vereker confirms that Corvick has indeed stumbled onto the secret of the fiction. Corvick immediately proposes a long, definitive piece on Vereker but not before demanding of Miss Erme that she become his bride as the price for his revealing to her the treasure that he has discovered. She consents, her mother (who has consistently opposed the union) conveniently dies, and the two are wedded, while the narrator is called away to Germany to assist an ailing relative.
Corvick's marriage to Gwendolen proves ill-fated, for on their honeymoon, he is killed in a cart accident in the country. The grieving Mrs. Corvick returns to London, where the narrator inquires of her whether Corvick had written his essay on Vereker. He had merely begun it, she admits, but he had nevertheless confided to her the secret itself. The narrator presses her for it, and when she refuses to reveal its nature or even to hint at it, he expresses doubts that Corvick had in fact ever known. Insulted, Gwendolen departs, thus enforcing a more or less permanent break with the narrator.
Six months later, Vereker publishes The Right of Way, which will be his last fiction. In an attempt to ingratiate himself with Gwendolen, the narrator delivers his copy to her, only to discover that she has already read it, having obtained a copy courtesy of Drayton Deane, who is reviewing it for The Middle. Deane is, in the narrator's view, more or less a hack, and the review confirms his judgment. However, Deane manages nevertheless to impress Gwendolen so that she consents to make him her second husband. She continues to write novels, and Deane's career as a literary journalist flourishes, while the narrator languishes in his ignorance of the secret of Vereker's work. In the meantime, Vereker dies, as does Gwendolen, as a result of the birth of her second child. Encountering Deane at their club after Gwendolen's death, the narrator inquires whether she had ever shared with her second husband the secret confided to her by her first. Deane, expressing first bemusement, then shock that his wife had possessed so momentous a secret and had kept it from him, is left at the end of the story utterly crestfallen—whether at the loss of the precious knowledge itself or at the sense of having been betrayed by his wife is unclear. The narrator, meanwhile, derives a certain compensatory satisfaction for the permanent loss of Vereker's secret in the distress of Drayton Deane.
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