The Portrait of a Lady vs The Awakening

The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James

1881

HENRY JAMES (1843-1916), was born in New-York. His father was a writer in theology and his elder brother, William, was a philosopher. From 1865 he was a regular contributor of reviews and short stories to American periodicals. His first piece of fiction, "Watch and Ward", appeared in 1871, followed by "Transatlantic Sketches" and "A Passionate Pilgrim" in 1875. His first important novel was "Roderick Hudson (1876). For more than 20 years he lived in London, and in 1898 moved to Lamb House, Rye, where his later novels were written. At first he was concerned with older civilization of Europe, and to this period belong his novels "Daisy Miller" (1879) and "Portrait of a Lady"(1881). In "The Tragic Muse" (1890), "The Spoils of Poynton"(1897), and "The Awkward Age" (1899), he analyses English character. With "The Wings of the Dove" (1902), "The Ambassadors" (1903), and "The Golden Bowl" (1904), he returned to the theme of the contrast of American and European character. In 1915, Henry James became a British subject, and in 1916 was awarded the OM.

The Awakening

Kate Chopin

1899

'The voice of the sea is seductive; never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude' When 'The Awakening' was first published in 1899, charges of sordidness and immorality seemed to consign it into obscurity and irreparably damage its author's reputation. But a century after her death, it is widely regarded as Kate Chopin's great achievement. Through careful, subtle changes of style, Chopin shows the transformation of Edna Pontellier, a young wife and mother, who - with tragic consequences - refuses to be caged by married and domestic life, and claims for herself moral and erotic freedom. The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.