Visual Figures in Three Novels by Henry James: The Portrait of a Lady, The Aspern Papers, The Wings of the Dove

The main object of this thesis was to present the visual figures and various aspects of visuality within The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove and The Aspern Papers. As noted, Italian cities of Rome and Venice serve as the needed picturesque, historical background to enhance the visuality of the characters. The canals, alleys and squares of Venice serve as a gateway to escape the interiors of the palaces. Venetian palaces may have been grandiose at some point in history, but now just serve as hosts to the dying. This is also what Palazzo Roccanera in Rome represents, a fortress filled with objects of Osmond’s artistic presence, who eventually die a spiritual death. Death, being the prevalent theme in all three works, is the one that propels other characters into action. In the case of Isabel Archer, all the deaths she dealt with made it possible for her to be liberated from within, making her able to go back to her loveless marriage in Rome. For Milly Theale, death is a looming presence she lives with, and once she dies, Milly is set free, while the issue of her enormous wealth tears Kate and Merton apart. The death of the author in The Aspern Papers pushes the spectral from within the narrative into the old Miss Bordereau, and it is her death which brings life to Miss Tita. In conclusion, the three works discussed in this thesis display a great deal of connoisseurship and psychological know-how that James possessed and transferred in a brilliant manner, becoming more and more complex as his production matured. The knowledge James possessed stemmed from his life experiences as well as his abundant work as a literary critic and spectator of all the fine, as well as ordinary, things in life