American and European women in the fiction of Henry James

In the works examined here, James demonstrates a broad and detailed knowledge of how custom often dictates the behavior of women in America, England, and the Continent. Not only do these works reflect how three different cultures shape women, but they reveal a wide variety of individual responses to cultural roles. Women characters shaped by American culture may be as fresh as Daisy Miller or as narrow as Mrs. Newsome. Women shaped by English culture may be as snobbish as Lady Barbarina or as gracious as the Misses Molyneux. Women shaped by Continental culture may be as manipulative as Madame Merle or as charming as Madame de Vionnet. For the most part, the characters portrayed in the later works are increasingly complex.