The Paranoia of Travel: American Tourists in Henry James’s Late Fiction

Abstract

Abstract:Participating in the conversation on the relationship between place and identity, this paper examines the peculiar characterizations in Henry James's late novels. It identifies a tourist paranoid turn of mind in a cluster of touring Americans in Europe--Milly Theale (The Wings of the Dove), Maggie Verver (The Golden Bowl), and Lambert Strether (The Ambassadors). A heightened need to secure a "firm footing" plunges these characters into a paranoid mode of existence, with a blind faith in knowledge and a strong suspicion of hidden truth.