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Madame De Mauves
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75 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1874
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160 people want to read
About the author
Henry James
4,733 books4,056 followersHenry James was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."
He is best known for his novels dealing with the social and marital interplay between émigré Americans, the English, and continental Europeans, such as The Portrait of a Lady. His later works, such as The Ambassadors, The Wings of the Dove and The Golden Bowl were increasingly experimental. In describing the internal states of mind and social dynamics of his characters, James often wrote in a style in which ambiguous or contradictory motives and impressions were overlaid or juxtaposed in the discussion of a character's psyche. For their unique ambiguity, as well as for other aspects of their composition, his late works have been compared to Impressionist painting.
His novella The Turn of the Screw has garnered a reputation as the most analysed and ambiguous ghost story in the English language and remains his most widely adapted work in other media. He wrote other highly regarded ghost stories, such as "The Jolly Corner".
James published articles and books of criticism, travel, biography, autobiography, and plays. Born in the United States, James largely relocated to Europe as a young man, and eventually settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1915, a year before his death. James was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911, 1912, and 1916. Jorge Luis Borges said "I have visited some literatures of East and West; I have compiled an encyclopedic compendium of fantastic literature; I have translated Kafka, Melville, and Bloy; I know of no stranger work than that of Henry James."
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
August 7, 2020
Longmore turned away with the feeling that women were indeed a measureless mystery, and that it was hard to say in which of their forms of perversity there was most merit.
This is an early James novella (1874) and thus is written in less labyrinthine prose than his later works but already it foreshadows his 'international theme' and bears witness to his acute skills in observation and psychological insight. Indeed, it almost rehearses The Portrait of a Lady in miniature but with decidedly more humour and a slightly less sophisticated and complicated approach. There are certainly points in this story where we feel that the more mature James would have been less unrefined, more intricate, and there's something close to a sting in the tail, something so far from what I expect from James that I actually gasped out loud in amused surprise!
At around 100pp. this is a perfect little amuse-bouche between other reading and would also make an ideal first read for anyone new to James.
January 30, 2024
O capodopera sub 100 de pagini care reuseste sa transmita atat de multa tristete si maturitate incat n-are cum sa nu placa unui cititor cu experienta. In ciuda faptului ca Henry James este cunoscut si poate nesimpatizat din cauza faptului ca scrie mult, cu propozitii alambicate, acest mini-roman nu este facil de citit deloc. Nu l-as recomanda pentru cei care-l descopera prima data pe Henry James, deoarece li s-ar parea prea complicat, prea abstract si greu de parcurs. Daca l-as fi citit in adolescenta cred ca nu mi-ar fi placut pentru ca nu as fi avut experienta unor sentimente, necesara pentru a intelege faptele si gandurile personajelor.
Ca in majoritatea cartilor lui Henry James, povestea infatiseaza un american aflat la Paris. Longmore are ocazia s-o cunoasca pe madame de Mauves, o femeie care mereu are o tristete neobisnuita in ochi. Aflandu-i povestea, descoperim casnicia ei trista cu Richard de Mauves care a luat-o de sotie doar pentru averea ei. Iubindu-si sotul, ea sufera in tacere toate infidelitatile lui si atunci cand sotul ei ii propune lui Longmore sa aiba o aventura cu ea, plina de demnitate ii cere acestuia sa plece.
Moralist innascut, autorul ne ofera unul dintre cele mai extraordinare finaluri care o sa-i confere multa satisfactie cititorului.
Pentru a exprima frumusetea si profunzimea textului, am selectat cateva citate:
"Prima datorie a femeii este aceea de a placea, iar cele mai fericite femei pe care le-am cunoscut au fost cele capabile sa-si indeplineasca aceasta datorie cu credinta."
"Pentru ca, desi, in aceasta lume, Dumnezeu transforma sperantele noastre in desertaciune, El nici nu ne uita cu totul, nici nu ne paraseste."
"Presupun ca sunt o romantica. Am un gust cat se poate de nefericit pentru poezie."
"Viata este o proza dura, pe care trebuie sa inveti a o citi multumit."
"Lumea aceasta e o umbra a carei realitate e in viitor."
"Ratiunea e un simplu cuvant! Unica realitate pe lume e sentimentul!"
Ca in majoritatea cartilor lui Henry James, povestea infatiseaza un american aflat la Paris. Longmore are ocazia s-o cunoasca pe madame de Mauves, o femeie care mereu are o tristete neobisnuita in ochi. Aflandu-i povestea, descoperim casnicia ei trista cu Richard de Mauves care a luat-o de sotie doar pentru averea ei. Iubindu-si sotul, ea sufera in tacere toate infidelitatile lui si atunci cand sotul ei ii propune lui Longmore sa aiba o aventura cu ea, plina de demnitate ii cere acestuia sa plece.
Moralist innascut, autorul ne ofera unul dintre cele mai extraordinare finaluri care o sa-i confere multa satisfactie cititorului.
Pentru a exprima frumusetea si profunzimea textului, am selectat cateva citate:
"Prima datorie a femeii este aceea de a placea, iar cele mai fericite femei pe care le-am cunoscut au fost cele capabile sa-si indeplineasca aceasta datorie cu credinta."
"Pentru ca, desi, in aceasta lume, Dumnezeu transforma sperantele noastre in desertaciune, El nici nu ne uita cu totul, nici nu ne paraseste."
"Presupun ca sunt o romantica. Am un gust cat se poate de nefericit pentru poezie."
"Viata este o proza dura, pe care trebuie sa inveti a o citi multumit."
"Lumea aceasta e o umbra a carei realitate e in viitor."
"Ratiunea e un simplu cuvant! Unica realitate pe lume e sentimentul!"
August 1, 2020
I have read only one thing by Henry James before - "The Turn of the Screw," and that was many years ago, so I was intrigued to read this novella, first published in 1874.
Longmore is a young American man, who is introduced to Madame de Mauves, wife of the Comte Richard de Mauves, by joint acquaintance, Mrs Draper. Mrs Draper suggests that Mr Longmore console the beautiful Madame de Mauves, who she feels is terribly unhappy. Having had romantic ideals about marrying a nobleman, encouraged by a spiteful school 'friend,' and, now sister in law, Madame Clarin, she is repenting her youthful dreams in leisure. For her husband is, frankly, a wastrel. However, this is 1874 and disastrous marriages are not easy things for women to extricate themselves. As he womanises, spends her money and neglects his wife, both husband, and sister in law, conspire to encourage Longmore's increasing passion for Madame de Mauves.
This novella has many themes. Marriage, European, as opposed to American, sensibilities, whether marriage should involve love - whether marital love continues, forgiveness, stoicism, betrayal and more. I found it fascinating and loved the ending. Certainly I want to read more Henry James and I am pleased I was encouraged by members of my book group to give this a try.
Longmore is a young American man, who is introduced to Madame de Mauves, wife of the Comte Richard de Mauves, by joint acquaintance, Mrs Draper. Mrs Draper suggests that Mr Longmore console the beautiful Madame de Mauves, who she feels is terribly unhappy. Having had romantic ideals about marrying a nobleman, encouraged by a spiteful school 'friend,' and, now sister in law, Madame Clarin, she is repenting her youthful dreams in leisure. For her husband is, frankly, a wastrel. However, this is 1874 and disastrous marriages are not easy things for women to extricate themselves. As he womanises, spends her money and neglects his wife, both husband, and sister in law, conspire to encourage Longmore's increasing passion for Madame de Mauves.
This novella has many themes. Marriage, European, as opposed to American, sensibilities, whether marriage should involve love - whether marital love continues, forgiveness, stoicism, betrayal and more. I found it fascinating and loved the ending. Certainly I want to read more Henry James and I am pleased I was encouraged by members of my book group to give this a try.
August 20, 2020
The summer challenge offered an option to read books of fewer than 100 pages and it was an offer I couldn't refuse! That I could find an author I've been neglecting was a bonus. At something around 80 pages, it is far too short for much a review. First published in 1874, this is one of James' earlier published works. I have not read enough by him to say definitively, but it seems he had not yet developed the writing style many think of as being "difficult".
The GR description of one edition includes: The story centers on the troubled marriage of a scrupulous American wife and a far from scrupulous French husband, and is told mostly from the point of view of a male friend of the wife. There was some background on how the French man and American woman came to be married. It was obvious they had much different ideas on how a marriage should be conducted. In any case, when I read these pages I thought of Balzac. I did not think of a specific Balzac story, but I could not turn away from the idea as James brought us current with the introduction of the male friend. Balzac's stories are filled with irony and, in that one respect, this is no different.
I am very glad to have read this, short as it is. Too short for 5-stars, but certainly good enough.
The GR description of one edition includes: The story centers on the troubled marriage of a scrupulous American wife and a far from scrupulous French husband, and is told mostly from the point of view of a male friend of the wife. There was some background on how the French man and American woman came to be married. It was obvious they had much different ideas on how a marriage should be conducted. In any case, when I read these pages I thought of Balzac. I did not think of a specific Balzac story, but I could not turn away from the idea as James brought us current with the introduction of the male friend. Balzac's stories are filled with irony and, in that one respect, this is no different.
I am very glad to have read this, short as it is. Too short for 5-stars, but certainly good enough.
September 30, 2024
Si Henry James hubiese escrito Caperucita Roja, la protagonista habría sido una americana que inicia una relación sentimental con el lobo, un vividor europeo, francés o italiano. El narrador no dejaría de insistir en las elevadísimas cualidades morales de Caperucita pero sin dar muestra alguna de las mismas, más allá de una cierta tendencia al idealismo. El lobo, por su parte, estaría profusamente caracterizado como alguien interesado y concupisciente. El narrador daría vueltas y más vueltas en torno a los entendidos, sobrentendidos y malentendidos de su relación eludiendo plantear el conflicto subyacente de manera directa: Caperucita cree en la fidelidad conyugal y el lobo no. La abuela de Caperucita sería una mujer chismosa y vulgar que ayudaría al lobo en sus propósitos de conquista. Sobre la narración planearía el misterio de por qué Caperucita, tan virtuosa ella, se deja embaucar por el lobo, cuando el resto de los personajes calan al lobo a la primera. Al final Caperucita abriría los ojos a la verdadera naturaleza del lobo y se tomaría algún tipo de venganza discreta como, por ejemplo, darle a entender que ya no le quiere.
En Madame de Mauves esta fórmula no estaba perfeccionada todavía.
En Madame de Mauves esta fórmula no estaba perfeccionada todavía.
March 21, 2023
Much more engaging than other writings by James I’ve read, this 1874 novella still has what seriously detracts from my overall appreciation of his unique perspective. That is, the story arises from romantic entanglements of ex-patriot Americans in Europe among the relatively hard-up aristocracy of that continent and always an extreme surplus of wealth accompanied by a lack of any regular employment and an extreme emphasis on proper social mannerisms and activities.
However, this work is better than this would lead one to expect in that it seems to take head-on the thorny issue of marital fidelity. Although it is always wrong to generalize, such indiscretions seem to have a larger part in the fabric of French culture than they do in America. Similarly, a strictly moral observance of loyalty to one’s spouse varies from person to person largely irregardless of gender or nationality. Hence the stark contrast between the woman of the title and her husband, (whom, of course, married her almost solely for her money) and the moral quandary in which the newcomer’s affection for her places the otherwise respectful figure of Longmore.
His love for her almost completely overwhelms his thoughts and actions. What initially attracted him to her was her silence: a willingness to accept her situation with an almost saint-like manifestation of self-sacrifice. For his part, her husband virtually tells Longmore to pursue his wife, though this seems to arise from the incongruity of her purity with his normal circle of somewhat rakish acquaintances, which has led to her general isolation in the Parisian suburb of Sainte-Germaine. Later, her husband’s sister confirms that she’d heard him essentially tell his wife to take Longmore as her lover. Longmore wonders about Madame: 'But by what extraordinary process of the heart – through what mysterious intermission of that moral instinct which may keep pace with the heart even when this organ is making unprecedented time – had she fixed her affections on an insolently frivolous Frenchman? As Longmore seems it, she can offer so much while her husband amounts to so little. Only he can truly appreciate the depth of character epitomized by her perpetual silence.
People who are habitually silent seem, through James’ analysis, to be carrying some profound weight of disillusion over their relationship to all others. Personally, I’ve known a few people over the years who displayed this striking mannerism, and my observation would seem to bear out the conclusion by James that they operate at more than arm’s length from all others due to a fundamental peculiarity in the way they view all those outside their personal orbit. In this story, the final scene in which Madame lets Longmore know what their destiny must be is played out almost without words!
Highly recommended.
However, this work is better than this would lead one to expect in that it seems to take head-on the thorny issue of marital fidelity. Although it is always wrong to generalize, such indiscretions seem to have a larger part in the fabric of French culture than they do in America. Similarly, a strictly moral observance of loyalty to one’s spouse varies from person to person largely irregardless of gender or nationality. Hence the stark contrast between the woman of the title and her husband, (whom, of course, married her almost solely for her money) and the moral quandary in which the newcomer’s affection for her places the otherwise respectful figure of Longmore.
His love for her almost completely overwhelms his thoughts and actions. What initially attracted him to her was her silence: a willingness to accept her situation with an almost saint-like manifestation of self-sacrifice. For his part, her husband virtually tells Longmore to pursue his wife, though this seems to arise from the incongruity of her purity with his normal circle of somewhat rakish acquaintances, which has led to her general isolation in the Parisian suburb of Sainte-Germaine. Later, her husband’s sister confirms that she’d heard him essentially tell his wife to take Longmore as her lover. Longmore wonders about Madame: 'But by what extraordinary process of the heart – through what mysterious intermission of that moral instinct which may keep pace with the heart even when this organ is making unprecedented time – had she fixed her affections on an insolently frivolous Frenchman? As Longmore seems it, she can offer so much while her husband amounts to so little. Only he can truly appreciate the depth of character epitomized by her perpetual silence.
People who are habitually silent seem, through James’ analysis, to be carrying some profound weight of disillusion over their relationship to all others. Personally, I’ve known a few people over the years who displayed this striking mannerism, and my observation would seem to bear out the conclusion by James that they operate at more than arm’s length from all others due to a fundamental peculiarity in the way they view all those outside their personal orbit. In this story, the final scene in which Madame lets Longmore know what their destiny must be is played out almost without words!
Highly recommended.
August 18, 2020
Longmore, a young American living in Paris, is introduced to the mysterious Mme de Mauves. She is also American but educated in Paris, and has married a French nobleman, brother of an old school friend. Longmore has been told Mme de Mauves is unhappy, so he befriends her and tries to gain an understanding of her emotions, before long becoming fascinated by her and falling in love. This is encouraged by her husband and sister-in-law, and Longmore soon finds himself in an emotional battle that he doesn't fully understand.
This seemed very similar to other James novellas I have read - there is an interesting examination of the internal life of the main characters, their thoughts and emotions, although James does have a tendency to over-explain at times. Longmore is a fairly passive and indecisive character, constrained by good manners and a sense of honour, while the other characters try to control and manipulate him.
There are some interesting tensions and issues at play here - Europe v America, fidelity, marital expectations - and in a novella this works quite well, as the characters weren't interesting enough to hold my attention for a longer work.
This seemed very similar to other James novellas I have read - there is an interesting examination of the internal life of the main characters, their thoughts and emotions, although James does have a tendency to over-explain at times. Longmore is a fairly passive and indecisive character, constrained by good manners and a sense of honour, while the other characters try to control and manipulate him.
There are some interesting tensions and issues at play here - Europe v America, fidelity, marital expectations - and in a novella this works quite well, as the characters weren't interesting enough to hold my attention for a longer work.
May 17, 2025
e frumoasă ca un film vechi privit cu ochi din 2025
e frumoasă ca o fotografie veche a bunicului tânăr ascunsă în bibliotecă
Are toți tropii obișnuiți pentru Henry James dar forța frazei e uluitoare, e unul dintre textele lui din tinerețe foarte foarte reușit despre plecarea pe Vechiul Continent și iubirea pe Vechiul Continent.
vă las doar asta:
"Cum au reușit - mergi și privește la pînzele întunecate și șterse, la pasteluri și întreabă-le. Erau femmes d'esprit. Dacă aveau o durere de cap, își dădeau cu puţin fard și apăreau la cină ca de obicei ; iar cînd le durea inima, o fardau puţin și pe ea."
e frumoasă ca o fotografie veche a bunicului tânăr ascunsă în bibliotecă
Are toți tropii obișnuiți pentru Henry James dar forța frazei e uluitoare, e unul dintre textele lui din tinerețe foarte foarte reușit despre plecarea pe Vechiul Continent și iubirea pe Vechiul Continent.
vă las doar asta:
"Cum au reușit - mergi și privește la pînzele întunecate și șterse, la pasteluri și întreabă-le. Erau femmes d'esprit. Dacă aveau o durere de cap, își dădeau cu puţin fard și apăreau la cină ca de obicei ; iar cînd le durea inima, o fardau puţin și pe ea."
January 13, 2016
This is perhaps one of the most religious story from Henry James’ work that I have read so far. But its religiousness comes like the sipping of a water stream through a boggy, mossy thick of walls. The first signs of its appearance comes to readers views rather unpleasantly. The tainted spot rankles and irritates; we don’t know its pattern to account for stupidity or perversity. We are irritated to cry out “do something! this is intolerable — this mute suffering and renunciation!” I imagine the Bronte sisters would have resisted less fury.
The reaction ranges from vile aggression to stamp it out (sister-in-law), malignant indifference (husband), compassion (Mrs. Draper), empathy (Longmore). Only through the developed friendship and deep love, Longmore recognized the eventual meaning of Madame de Mauves. Note the Mauves — of the color purple — confers directly to the suffering of the biblical Virgin Mary.
We see the world through Longmore’s eyes. This is a young man cut in the lines of Austen heroes: Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park or Mrs. Knightley of Emma. Romantic passionate lovers they are not; their own egos have long been cultivated and in peace with their sensibility of others and mores. Only such men can have the patience to wait till the pattern on the wall reveals itself in full. Without the ego to insert their own lives into the pattern, they can stand back, amazed and in awe.
Back to some notes of the story …
It starts with romantic love-match marriage. Much is said about visible and invisible gaps and fault-lines of a rich American girl and a poor French aristocrat. But the couple did not examine the meanings of their apparent and implicit differences. The older generation tried to warn or curb, but they do not know enough themselves. Nor the compassionate friends.
In duration of marriage, Madame de Mauves has left both the realms of romantic love and secular rationalism behind. That is why she is exacerbating and mysterious, resisting our itchiness for resolution. (“Just divorce him” would be on everyone’s tip of tongue).
Initially I see the heroine as a composite of Fanny Price from Mansfield Park, or Hester Prynne from Scarlett Letter. The former lends a quiet and dignified suffering, the latter a religious level of endurance without revenge nor rankle. Yet I suspect this view is projected by Longmore, a being of his own prejudice and limitation, not to say his attraction to certain type of beauty and mannerism.
In the end, Longmore sees the awful beauty in Madame de Mauves. We can no longer feel sorry for her, or empathetic about her life. She lives in the realm of religious “terreauty” — the terrible beauty which renders us standing back and be amazed without the possibility of understanding.
The reaction ranges from vile aggression to stamp it out (sister-in-law), malignant indifference (husband), compassion (Mrs. Draper), empathy (Longmore). Only through the developed friendship and deep love, Longmore recognized the eventual meaning of Madame de Mauves. Note the Mauves — of the color purple — confers directly to the suffering of the biblical Virgin Mary.
We see the world through Longmore’s eyes. This is a young man cut in the lines of Austen heroes: Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park or Mrs. Knightley of Emma. Romantic passionate lovers they are not; their own egos have long been cultivated and in peace with their sensibility of others and mores. Only such men can have the patience to wait till the pattern on the wall reveals itself in full. Without the ego to insert their own lives into the pattern, they can stand back, amazed and in awe.
Back to some notes of the story …
It starts with romantic love-match marriage. Much is said about visible and invisible gaps and fault-lines of a rich American girl and a poor French aristocrat. But the couple did not examine the meanings of their apparent and implicit differences. The older generation tried to warn or curb, but they do not know enough themselves. Nor the compassionate friends.
In duration of marriage, Madame de Mauves has left both the realms of romantic love and secular rationalism behind. That is why she is exacerbating and mysterious, resisting our itchiness for resolution. (“Just divorce him” would be on everyone’s tip of tongue).
Initially I see the heroine as a composite of Fanny Price from Mansfield Park, or Hester Prynne from Scarlett Letter. The former lends a quiet and dignified suffering, the latter a religious level of endurance without revenge nor rankle. Yet I suspect this view is projected by Longmore, a being of his own prejudice and limitation, not to say his attraction to certain type of beauty and mannerism.
In the end, Longmore sees the awful beauty in Madame de Mauves. We can no longer feel sorry for her, or empathetic about her life. She lives in the realm of religious “terreauty” — the terrible beauty which renders us standing back and be amazed without the possibility of understanding.
July 20, 2021
Among his novellas I feel Madame de Mauves stands out as one of Henry James best earlier works. It's unusual in breaking from what became his standard limited point of view approach, but this done with ease and in a manner that advances the reader's understanding. As an introduction to Henry James' work, I can't think of a better first book.
It is most remarkable for pointing to the outgoing tide of romanticism and at the same time observing the rise of pragmatism. From the outset he is working out themes of old world cynical attitudes to love & marriage over against what he perceives as new world idealism.
Below, someone expressed that opinion that this is James' most "religious" book. I can't agree. While many of James' stories wrestle with questions that we often relegate to religion or spirituality. I feel like more than religion or a matter of morals though, the characters are wrestling with essential questions of identity.
Mme de Mauve made significant decisions based on misinformation. She made choices that were right within her own naieve, limited perspective. That was unfortunate. But it is her response to an enlarged view of the world, and of her husband's cynical behavior, which proves her character. She rises to meet her ideals as the truth of her situation is revealed.
Her unwillingness to then refuse to accept him back into her life when he finally acknowledges his failings is, to me, the critical question. Did she become a figure carved in marble, too perfect for life (rather like the Venus in the Last of Valerii) ? Or was she simply a most upright and moral being whose self-actualization drove her husband round the bend so he blew his brains out? This is the final question that Longmore is left pondering at the store
It is most remarkable for pointing to the outgoing tide of romanticism and at the same time observing the rise of pragmatism. From the outset he is working out themes of old world cynical attitudes to love & marriage over against what he perceives as new world idealism.
Below, someone expressed that opinion that this is James' most "religious" book. I can't agree. While many of James' stories wrestle with questions that we often relegate to religion or spirituality. I feel like more than religion or a matter of morals though, the characters are wrestling with essential questions of identity.
Mme de Mauve made significant decisions based on misinformation. She made choices that were right within her own naieve, limited perspective. That was unfortunate. But it is her response to an enlarged view of the world, and of her husband's cynical behavior, which proves her character. She rises to meet her ideals as the truth of her situation is revealed.
Her unwillingness to then refuse to accept him back into her life when he finally acknowledges his failings is, to me, the critical question. Did she become a figure carved in marble, too perfect for life (rather like the Venus in the Last of Valerii) ? Or was she simply a most upright and moral being whose self-actualization drove her husband round the bend so he blew his brains out? This is the final question that Longmore is left pondering at the store
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 19, 2021
Henry James explores the conceits of one Madame de Mauves, an endowed American who has married an impovered French nobleman. She is looking for his philanthropic virtue, or any distinguishing virtue born of generations of refined breeding. Unfortunately this exists mostly within her romantic imagination, and she resigns herself not well to his flings wit other women. Her husband practically begs an American to come entertain his wife, and the man obliges, falling into a romantic friendship with the wife. It's a book to be read for it's insights into people romantic projections, not necessarily for the equally ironic plot. I would read it again.
To offer an informed insight into this short novel I would call attention to the concept of hereditary evil from Emanuel Swedenborg, sort of a psychological Lamarkism. It lends itself to arrogance and dishonesty about family failings, because who really wants to think they cannot influence scripts? In this book the woman is in the receptive mode for the purple aura her husband should extrude, a sort of conferred nobility. Instead shhe is surrounded with the fug of other women's perfume, her husband's lavender pocket squares like a false signal of refinement. The french regard Madame as provincial, narrow because she does not accept that her husband will stray, sort of an American Puritan. Her guest understands her better, but not quite as well as he might think. The virtue she seeks in her husband she actually has within herself, and she repels this man who might taint her morality regardless of how satisfying it would be to love a likeminded soul. James has moved beyond the romantic tragedy of a superficial reading of Swedenborg, albeit one encouraged by romanticism.
To offer an informed insight into this short novel I would call attention to the concept of hereditary evil from Emanuel Swedenborg, sort of a psychological Lamarkism. It lends itself to arrogance and dishonesty about family failings, because who really wants to think they cannot influence scripts? In this book the woman is in the receptive mode for the purple aura her husband should extrude, a sort of conferred nobility. Instead shhe is surrounded with the fug of other women's perfume, her husband's lavender pocket squares like a false signal of refinement. The french regard Madame as provincial, narrow because she does not accept that her husband will stray, sort of an American Puritan. Her guest understands her better, but not quite as well as he might think. The virtue she seeks in her husband she actually has within herself, and she repels this man who might taint her morality regardless of how satisfying it would be to love a likeminded soul. James has moved beyond the romantic tragedy of a superficial reading of Swedenborg, albeit one encouraged by romanticism.
October 24, 2018
Un relato muy cortito sobre un hombre que se enamora de una mujer casada que es infeliz en su matrimonio.
La forma de narrar y la capacidad que tiene Henry James de trasmitir los sentimientos del protagonista me han dejado maravillada.
Reseña: http://contandoteunlibro.blogspot.com...
La forma de narrar y la capacidad que tiene Henry James de trasmitir los sentimientos del protagonista me han dejado maravillada.
Reseña: http://contandoteunlibro.blogspot.com...
June 22, 2011
Touching novella about integrity amongst the morally bankrupt. I loved the surprise ending.
July 18, 2021
I found the story stunning; it's beautifully written and observed. Everything turns on the choices of the title character, an American heiress who marries a French aristocrat -- but we see them largely through the lens of Longmore, a fellow American.
Here are two quotes I made note of in reading:
-“the house of De Mauves had been pervaded by the cold comfort of an establishment in which people were obliged to balance dinner-table allusions to feudal ancestors against the absence of side-dishes”
- “our hero, glancing askance at [M. de Mauve’s] aristocratic profile, declared that if the chief merit of a long pedigree was to leave one so fatuously stupid, he thanked his stars that the Longmores had emerged from obscurity in the present century, in the person of an enterprising timber-merchant”
Here are two quotes I made note of in reading:
-“the house of De Mauves had been pervaded by the cold comfort of an establishment in which people were obliged to balance dinner-table allusions to feudal ancestors against the absence of side-dishes”
- “our hero, glancing askance at [M. de Mauve’s] aristocratic profile, declared that if the chief merit of a long pedigree was to leave one so fatuously stupid, he thanked his stars that the Longmores had emerged from obscurity in the present century, in the person of an enterprising timber-merchant”
April 22, 2022
Henry James' short stories continually take us back to the time when love was a sacrifice, when love was a means of adoring the brevity of life, when to met one's lover was to say "I have not lived in vain." This story, as well as others I have read recently on page 3 of the table on contents of James' short stories and novellas, reminds me of the prototypical type of Romantic European women I was so fond of the early stages of my life when my ardor was relentless and could not be extinguished....
March 23, 2026
A quietly devastating read, in Mme de Mauves, James explores the tension between maintaining one’s integrity and fidelity to vows, even when made to faithless partners. This novella features all of the psychological complexity James writes with in his signature style. Fans of Henry James will love this element of his canon.
April 13, 2020
I enjoyed reading this - another easy read written by Henry James. Both novellas so far have ended in some sort of death. It’s interesting in this one, though I can’t find it in any analysis, Mme de M’s sister-in-law becomes widowed in the same way that she does?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2019
Not as difficult to read as late Henry James, but with his characteristic oblique revelations of character. I was thinking 4 stars till the end, which was just so right that it deserves 5.
August 8, 2020
This book reminded me why I do not read romances. Thank goodness it was only a short book.
August 1, 2025
Favourite so far
February 28, 2026
An American in France in the 1870s falls in love with an American woman who is married to an unfaithful Frenchman, but her goodness and morals prevent her from returning his affections.
November 7, 2010
" Mademoiselle
de Mauves was very positive, very shrewd, very ironical,
very French "
" If you
wish to live at ease in the doux pays de France don't trouble too much
about the key of your conscience or even about your conscience itself—I
mean your own particular one. You'll fancy it saying things it won't help
your case to hear. They'll make you sad, and when you're sad you'll
grow plain, and when you're plain you'll grow bitter, and when you're
bitter you'll be peu aimable. I was brought up to think that a woman's
first duty is to be infinitely so, and the happiest women I've known have
been in fact those who performed this duty faithfully. "
" Illusion of course is illusion, and one must always pay for it; "
" I suppose I'm too romantic and always was. I've an unfortunate
taste for poetic fitness. Life's hard prose, and one must learn to read
prose contentedly. I believe I once supposed all the prose to be in America,
which was very foolish. What I thought, what I believed, what I expected,
when I was an ignorant girl fatally addicted to falling in love
with my own theories, is more than I can begin to tell you now. "
de Mauves was very positive, very shrewd, very ironical,
very French "
" If you
wish to live at ease in the doux pays de France don't trouble too much
about the key of your conscience or even about your conscience itself—I
mean your own particular one. You'll fancy it saying things it won't help
your case to hear. They'll make you sad, and when you're sad you'll
grow plain, and when you're plain you'll grow bitter, and when you're
bitter you'll be peu aimable. I was brought up to think that a woman's
first duty is to be infinitely so, and the happiest women I've known have
been in fact those who performed this duty faithfully. "
" Illusion of course is illusion, and one must always pay for it; "
" I suppose I'm too romantic and always was. I've an unfortunate
taste for poetic fitness. Life's hard prose, and one must learn to read
prose contentedly. I believe I once supposed all the prose to be in America,
which was very foolish. What I thought, what I believed, what I expected,
when I was an ignorant girl fatally addicted to falling in love
with my own theories, is more than I can begin to tell you now. "
October 8, 2012
A man is asked to console a unhappily married woman. Many themes explored: the American vs French (European?) view of love/marriage; pleasure vs honor; virtue/vice and the proper (allowable?) behavior of the wronged party; true love and friendship wrt causing corruption of ideals through the pursuit of happiness (which may be fleeting); passion for art vs passion in 'real' life; is pursuit of happiness in life the most important pursuit?; is love (and/or conjugal happiness) necessarily fleeting?; etc. (All explored in a novella < 100 pages long). Only Henry James...
June 17, 2015
Mr. Longmore, un giovane americano onesto fino all'ingenuità, conosce e si innamora di Madame de Mauves, americana sposata con un francese. L'infelicità della donna, causata dalla sua giovanile tendenza a fantasticare e ad ignorare beatamente il mondo reale, stimola la cavalleria di Longmore...
L'ambientazione intimistica e la caratterizzazione psicologica dei personaggi rendono questo romanzo realmente interessante. Peccato per il finale un po' affrettato e sottotono.
L'ambientazione intimistica e la caratterizzazione psicologica dei personaggi rendono questo romanzo realmente interessante. Peccato per il finale un po' affrettato e sottotono.
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March 31, 2014A nice bit of irony ultimately, but I tell you that I do not like Madame de Mauves.
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