What Maisie Knew by Henry James
"What Maisie Knew" is a novel by Henry James published in 1897 that explores complex themes of childhood, divorce, and the moral ambiguities of adult relationships. The story centers on a young girl named Maisie, caught in the tumultuous aftermath of her parents' highly publicized divorce. Initially, her parents, Beale and Ida Farange, struggle to share custody, leading to confusion and emotional turmoil for Maisie as she navigates their conflicting narratives and behaviors. Over time, Maisie becomes increasingly disillusioned with her role as a pawn in their disputes, opting to remain silent about her experiences with each parent.
As the narrative unfolds, Maisie's interactions with various adults, including her governesses Mrs. Wix and Miss Overmore, further illustrate the adult world's complexities and moral failures. The relationships depicted reflect broader societal issues surrounding child care, parental responsibilities, and the impact of adult choices on children's lives. The novel culminates in a poignant exploration of Maisie's understanding of love and loyalty, ultimately leading her to make a significant decision about whom she will stay with. Through its rich characterization and layered narrative, "What Maisie Knew" invites readers to reflect on the nature of innocence, responsibility, and the challenges faced by children in fractured family dynamics.
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What Maisie Knew by Henry James
First published: 1897
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of plot: 1890’s
Locale: London, Folkestone, and Boulogne, England
Principal characters
Maisie Farange , the daughter of divorced parentsIda Farange , her motherBeale Farange , her fatherMiss Overmore , a governess and, later, the second Mrs. Beale FarangeMrs. Wix , a governessSir Claude , Ida Farange’s second husband
The Story:
Beale and Ida Farange are divorced with much publicity. At first, each fights to keep their daughter Maisie, but at last it is arranged that the girl should spend six months with each. The first period is to be spent with her father. Maisie is confused by the divorce. At first, she truthfully reports to her parents what each says about the other, but finding that her candor leads to furious outbursts and that she is being used as an innocent messenger, she soon becomes silent on the subject of the absent parent and appears to absorb no knowledge during her visits.
Ida engages Miss Overmore, a pretty governess, whom Maisie is unhappy to leave when it is time to return to her father. Soon, however, to Ida’s fury, Miss Overmore is engaged to be Maisie’s governess at Beale Farange’s house. Upon her subsequent return to Ida, Maisie is placed in the care of Mrs. Wix. She learns no lessons from Mrs. Wix but adores her conversation and feels comfortable and secure with her.
During Maisie’s next stay with Beale, he goes to Brighton for a few days together with Miss Overmore. When the governess returns, she finds Mrs. Wix waiting for her. Mrs. Wix alone is concerned for Maisie’s welfare, and she is outraged by the child’s environment. She announces that Ida is about to remarry, and she gives Maisie a photograph of Sir Claude, her future stepfather. Miss Overmore thereupon announces that she just married Beale.
Some time after his marriage, Sir Claude calls and is received by the new Mrs. Beale Farange. Maisie is delighted by their apparent understanding and declares that she brought them together. Sir Claude wins Maisie’s love by being gentle with her and by declaring that he intends to make her his responsibility. In spite of the pain of leaving the new Mrs. Farange, the girl is pleased to go home with him. Ida’s love for her new husband, however, soon wanes, and she has several lovers. When she accuses Sir Claude of basely stealing Maisie’s affections and threatens to drive Mrs. Wix out of the house for supporting him, Maisie feels that she belongs nowhere. Mrs. Wix is determined to meet her responsibility for Maisie, and she desires to “save” Sir Claude from Mrs. Beale Farange, whom he frequently visits. Fearing for the loss of her livelihood, she wishes that Sir Claude would take a house for himself where she and Maisie will also live.
On one outing, Sir Claude takes Maisie to her father’s new house, which she is afraid to enter for fear of losing him if she remains there. Once in the house, however, she is again enthralled by Mrs. Farange’s beauty and is interested to learn that Beale matters no more to his wife than Sir Claude does to Ida. Maisie remains happily with her stepmother after Sir Claude assures her that he will provide for Mrs. Wix and visit her frequently.
After a long absence, Sir Claude visits Maisie again. While they are walking in the park, they meet Ida with an unknown, military-looking man. Both Ida and Sir Claude become terribly angry, and Maisie is sent to talk with Ida’s escort, whom her mother calls the Captain. Maisie, who is by that time thoroughly aware that neither parent loves her, weeps when the Captain praises her mother highly and is eager to agree that she is “good.” Sir Claude, unable to learn from Maisie what the Captain said to her, sends her home alone in a cab.
Mrs. Farange tells Maisie that she meets Sir Claude away from her home but that he is reluctant to visit them and thus compromise Maisie. The three hope to meet at a London exhibition; instead, they unexpectedly encounter Beale. After a subdued but violent quarrel, Maisie is whisked away by her father to the house of his mistress. In a way that is intended to elicit Maisie’s refusal, he offers to take her to America with him.
Encouraged by Mrs. Wix, Sir Claude takes Maisie to Folkestone as the first step toward making a home for them in France. There Ida arrives suddenly and surrenders Maisie to Sir Claude’s guardianship. The following day, they cross to France, where Mrs. Wix joins them. Sir Claude intends to return to England and to Mrs. Beale Farange once Maisie’s father finally leaves. Sir Claude confesses that he fears Mrs. Farange as he formerly feared Ida. Mrs. Wix, still strongly opposed to Mrs. Farange, asks to be sent to England to sever their relationship. Sir Claude refuses this request and goes off to England alone.
While he is away, Mrs. Wix explains to the bewildered Maisie that she refuses to condone the immorality of Mrs. Farange and Sir Claude in living together with them. Also, she declares that she will never again leave Maisie. After several walks and much thought, the full implications of what this situation might mean becomes apparent to Maisie. She realizes, too, that she has no moral “sense,” and having rapidly absorbed the idea of such a sense from vague but emphatic conversations with Mrs. Wix, she decides to show in her future responses that she does indeed possess it.
When they return to their hotel after a morning walk, Maisie is unexpectedly greeted by her stepmother. Mrs. Wix’s own “moral sense” is nearly destroyed by Mrs. Farange’s charm and determination to have the governess-companion as an ally. According to Mrs. Farange, now that the girl’s father has left, Maisie is her own daughter. In this way, she intends to hold Sir Claude through his devotion to the girl. Mrs. Wix wavers, but Maisie declares that she will stay with Sir Claude only if he is alone.
The next morning, Mrs. Wix awakens Maisie with the news that Sir Claude has arrived. When Maisie breakfasts alone with him, he asks her if she will leave Mrs. Wix and live with him and Mrs. Farange. She asks to see Mrs. Wix before deciding. Later, while walking with Sir Claude, she says she will give up Mrs. Wix only if he will give up Mrs. Farange. Maisie makes her decision when the four people confront one another in a final struggle at the hotel. When she fails in her appeal that Mrs. Farange give up Sir Claude, Maisie decides to stay with Mrs. Wix.
Bibliography
Cargill, Oscar. The Novels of Henry James. New York: Macmillan, 1961. A vigorous study of all of James’s novels. Cargill draws on the observation of several prominent literary critics and discusses James in the light of English and American literary history. Evaluates moral and artistic aspects of James’s work.
Coulson, Victoria. Henry James, Women, and Realism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Examines James’s important friendships with three women: his sister Alice James and the novelists Constance Fenimore Woolson and Edith Wharton. These three women writers and James shared what Coulson describes as an “ambivalent realism,” or a cultural ambivalence about gender identity, and she examines how this idea is manifest in James’s works, including What Maisie Knew.
Freedman, Jonathan, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Henry James. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998. A collection of essays that provide extensive information on James’s life and literary influences and describe his works and the characters in them.
Kaplan, Fred. Henry James: The Imagination of Genius. New York: William Morrow, 1992. A thorough narrative account of the life of Henry James. Kaplan considers American and English political history, literary history, and the personal life of James, while discussing the writer’s complete oeuvre.
Miller, J. Hillis. Versions of Pygmalion. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1990. Miller’s work on the ethics of narration is difficult, but his chapter on What Maisie Knew is valuable both for its background information on the social climate in which the novel was written and for its clearly written examination of the complexity of the ethical dilemma in which James places his characters and readers.
Mitchell, Juliet. “What Maisie Knew: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl.” In The Air of Reality: New Essays on Henry James, edited by John Goode. London: Methuen, 1972. A complete examination of the pressures that shape Maisie’s consciousness. Mitchell argues against reading a sexual undercurrent into the relationship between Maisie and Sir Claude.
Pifer, Ellen. “Innocence on the Brink: James’s What Maisie Knew.” In Demon or Doll: Images of the Child in Contemporary Writing and Culture. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000. Examines the ambiguous and contradictory conceptions of childhood in the twentieth century and how the period’s fiction reflects this confusion. Describes how James’s depiction of children anticipated post-Freudian ideas of childhood.