The aspern papers analysis. The Aspern Papers Chapter 6 Summary and Analysis 2022-12-19
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The Aspern Papers is a novella by Henry James, first published in 1888. The story centers around a young man named Jeffrey Aspern, who is obsessed with obtaining letters written by a famous poet named Juliana Bordereau. Aspern is willing to do whatever it takes to get his hands on the letters, including manipulating and deceiving the elderly Juliana and her spinster niece, Miss Tina.
One of the main themes of The Aspern Papers is the corrupting influence of obsession. Aspern's desire for the letters consumes him and drives him to behave unethically and deceitfully. He becomes so fixated on obtaining the letters that he is willing to betray the trust of the two women, who have allowed him to live in their home under false pretenses.
Another theme of the story is the power dynamic between the young and the old. Aspern is a young, ambitious man who is eager to make a name for himself in the literary world. In contrast, Juliana and Miss Tina are elderly, isolated women who are struggling to maintain their independence and dignity. Aspern uses his youth and charm to manipulate and deceive the two women, ultimately leading to their downfall.
The Aspern Papers also touches on the theme of the dangers of idolizing celebrities. Aspern idolizes the poet Juliana and is willing to go to great lengths to obtain the letters, even though they may not be of much value to anyone else. This idolization of celebrities and the pursuit of fame can often lead to unethical behavior and a lack of empathy towards others.
In conclusion, The Aspern Papers is a thought-provoking novella that delves into themes of obsession, power dynamics, and the dangers of idolizing celebrities. It serves as a cautionary tale about the corrupting influence of desire and the importance of maintaining one's integrity.
The Aspern Papers movie review (2019)
Prest, saying that she is the one who suggested that he go to live with the Misses Bordereau, an idea which would not have occurred to him otherwise. She tells him that she has destroyed all the letters. He gradually befriends Tita, who will do anything within reason to preserve the letters for him after Juliana's death. The insecurity of deception makes him see bogeymen in every statement and in every silence. Miss Tita had denied the existence of any such papers in a letter to the narrator and his publishing partner, but he believes she was dissembling on instructions from Juliana.
The second date is today's date — the date you are citing the material. He absolutely does, but he is unable to look past the urge to obtain the papers and see that he faces a true adversary in Miss Bordeaux. Unreliable Narration The Aspern Papers uses first-person perspective, giving the reader direct access to the narrator's manipulation of the story as it unfolds. She tells him of their past, how they often went out with friends, most of whom are dead now. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1966. By her hints he realizes that she is suggesting that, if they were married, whatever possessions she had, including the letters, would become his.
During the heat of the summer he spends the evenings outdoors, since the insects from the canals infest his room if he leaves the windows open, and it is too hot to keep them closed. In lacking streets and vehicles and having sociable pedestrians, Venice strikes the narrator as communal, even apartment-like—ironically, because the Bordereaus become no family for him. The narrator eventually discloses his intentions to Miss Tita, who promises to help him. Initially, he desires to be housed by Miss Bordeaux, however he pays roughly 10 times the value of the lodging. This begins the conversation that he hoped for. The narrator says only that he will try to sell the portrait and send her the money, and then he leaves. Juliana walks in on him as he is reaching out to search the desk where he believes that the letters are.
She mentions nothing about his being discovered by her aunt. Miss Tita and the narrator chat flirtatiously for a while longer, with Miss Tita ending the conversation by ruefully telling the narrator that she and Juliana have no life, that they stay inside all day, and that she is forced to continuously take care of and stay with her aunt. However, she bids him goodbye and tells him she had burned the letters the night before. All of his work and deception has led him to the very moment where all he needs to do is accept, but he slips. His being seen and thwarted by Juliana amounts to an ignominious retreat and an embarrassing rebuff. He tries to blame his actions on Mrs.
The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. She also pointedly rejects the narrator's deification of Aspern by referencing God, whereas the narrator often refers to Aspern as his god. Who can judge of it—who can say? Once Juliana passes away, Tita uses her devotion as leverage to try to get the researcher to marry her so he will stay once he has the papers. He discovers that Juliana is fading rapidly, and that Miss Tina is now frequently told to leave her alone. See eNotes Ad-Free Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
The Curse of Obsession While driven by his obsession, leading him to deceive and attempt to steal, the Narrator fails in the very way he feared he might upon arriving at the home. As a parting gift, she gives him the portrait of Aspern that Juliana had originally shown him. The story unwinds into the double climax of Juliana's discovery of the narrator about to break into her desk, and Miss Tita's revelation that she has destroyed the papers. He wonders that she never ventured out into the garden previously, but she reminds him that they had never been this nice before his arrival and superintendence of the garden. Although he makes little progress in his attempts to get to know Miss Tita and Juliana, the narrator remains optimistic. Are the papers the loss he IS referring to? As for the letters, Miss Tina says she prevented Juliana from burning them, but she cannot let him see them, unless he were some kind of relation. The emotional manipulation inflicted by the narrator, lifting her up above her insecurities, is in direct contrast to the emotional manipulation inflicted by her aunt, driving her down to grovel in her inadequacies.
The Aspern Papers: Summary, Theme, Character & Analysis
The narrator hesitates at first, as he has almost no money left, but Juliana reveals that she knows why the narrator is at the mansion by showing him a portrait of Jeffrey Aspern and luring him into wanting to stay in order to find out more about the poet. . GradeSaver, 14 August 2022 Web. Unlike Miss Havisham, however, Miss Bordereau has not bitterness about the past, only a severe sense of privacy. The second is the date of publication online or last modification online.
At each of these obstacles, he pays greatly or provides information about his motives and plans without gaining significant information in return. Perhaps obsession, as evidenced by the narrator, who is unable to live happily after the letters are burned and who is haunted by his constant need to know more about Aspern. The quote utilizes ironic hyperbole—exaggeration—in order to show just how extreme the narrator's love for Aspern is and how much the narrator has crafted Aspern into an ideal figure. The garden becomes edenic when Juliana, with devilish intent, encourages the narrator to tryst there with innocent Tina, who promises to help him. Miss Tita comes into the room and Juliana tells her about the deal with the narrator. Subsequently, Miss Bordeaux presents the portrait in the garden but keeps it from his possession.
She lives with her great-niece in a huge and dilapidated mansion in Venice, Italy. Analysis As the weeks drag into months during which time the narrator does not see anything of either Juliana or Miss Tina, the frustration of no progress toward his goal brings out the paranoia. And now she had the force of soul—Miss Tita with force of soul was a new conception—to smile at me in her humiliation. A unique perspective from an Italian professor of Anglo-American literature. She says that there were a great many more letters than she had thought, but she cannot give them to him. When he hears that Juliana is coming closer to death, he thinks that perhaps this is a mere ploy to get him to show his hand and reveal his true purpose for his stay. She refuses to give the researcher the papers and scolds him for even thinking of searching Juliana's room when Juliana is sick in bed.
But it would be a mistake to see The Aspern Papers simply as the story of an obsessed man trying to wrestle love letters away from an old woman. Juliana realizes that her niece is the only one who will care for her physical needs and will also be trustworthy enough to count on in the matter of the fate of those letters she has treasured all these years. He is an American literary scholar whose specialty is the celebrated poet Jeffrey Aspern a writer made up by James , who died young nearly a century before. She remains steadfast in her belief that the past should remain in the past until the very end of her life. On arriving at the door of the palazzo, he is met by his servant who informs him that Juliana has died and was buried two days previously. The narrator honestly says that he does and is currently looking for new material and hopes that Miss Tina can help him. He has learned that a woman who inspired some of Aspern's best poetry is still alive and likely possesses some love letters that he wrote to her.
