Indebted – Henry James and Honoré de Balzac

Abstract

Abstract:MILLS: This essay traces the development of Henry James's thought about the work, life and legacy of the French novelist Honoré de Balzac. It proposes that over the course of five critical pieces devoted to his precursor, James adopts Balzac as a figure through which to unfold his own pressing concerns regarding the nature and the costs of the artist's creative responsibility. 'Debt' – as a recurring signifier and motif in these writings—witnesses the evolution of Balzac's importance to James as incomparably, terribly responsible.