Seplveda, Valds 1

Stephanie Seplveda, Gloria Valds.

The Art of Fiction: Daisy Miller and the Construction of the novel.
The process of writing a novel is not an easy matter. According to the essay by
Henry James, The Art of Fiction, the creation of a text is similar to that of painting a
canvas. That is one of the analogies that makes the author relate Literature with Art,
stating that the novel has to be written in a detailed manner in order to represent reality
in the most accurate way possible - though not ignoring the fact that the author might
lose some features regarding descriptions and, therefore, the notion of exactness
might be lost at some point-. However, one of the most noticeable relations is the one in
which writing a novel is closely linked to the experience of the author itself. This is to
say that he can write a story based on the events he lived or observed, allowing him to
create a more realistic atmosphere - though not ignoring the fact that the writer can also
refer to his own elements of imagination in order to construct a whole new world and,
also, to historical events which, even if he was not there to live the experience, it can be
useful in terms of knowledge to create a reality closer to the one of the readership-. It is
for this reason that novels exist, because it does compete with life (James, 2007: 2),
along with History. But regarding Art and Literature, the analogy between both is rather
accurate: as the picture is reality, so the novel is history (James: 2).
Based on the last idea, it can be said that Henry James followed his principles to
the letter, as his style of writing is rather detailed, especially when it comes to
description of characters and places on his novella, Daisy Miller. This allows the
readership not only understand the story in a more comprehensive manner but, as well,
builds a world in the mind of the readers, full of characters with their inherent features,
and very defined landscapes, constructing - or rather, painting- a mental picture so
defined that there is practically no need for watching a photo of the place, or recreate
the image of the character in concrete terms.
In contrast with the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe, in
which the main character is not able to describe his reality in Terra Incognita - and not

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being able to describe objects and animals in full detail-, Henry James creates an
illustrative narrator who is very conscious of the reality of the story, and the people who
live in it. This can be seen when the narrator describes Randolphs physical appearance
according to Winterbournes perception:
Presently a small boy came walking along the pathan urchin of nine or ten.
The child, who was diminutive for his years, had an aged expression of
countenance, a pale complexion, and sharp little features. He was dressed in
knickerbockers, with red stockings, which displayed his poor little spindleshanks; he also wore a brilliant red cravat. He carried in his hand a long
alpenstock, the sharp point of which he thrust into everything that he approached
the flowerbeds, the garden benches, the trains of the ladies' dresses. In front
of Winterbourne he paused, looking at him with a pair of bright, penetrating
little eyes (James, 2000: 163).
The description of Randolph is realistic in the sense that it not only achieves the
physical aspect of the boy - his complexion and his clothes-, but also his personality - or
at least, traces of it-, remarking his curiosity by means of his penetrating little eyes, as
well as his fidgety character - when he is thrusting into people and objects-. Both
features are seen later as the story goes on.
In relation to places, the description of the town where the story occurs - Vevey,
Switzerland-, is similar to the description of a photograph in terms of details. The
landscape appears as a very countryside-like place in which people can rest, with the
influence of a specific people in the text:
At the little town of Vevey, in Switzerland, there is a particularly comfortable
hotel. There are, indeed, many hotels, for the entertainment of tourists is the
business of the place, which, as many travelers will remember, is seated upon
the edge of a remarkably blue lakea lake that it behooves every tourist to visit.
The shore of the lake presents an unbroken array of establishments of this order,
of every category, from the "grand hotel" of the newest fashion, with a chalkwhite front, a hundred balconies, and a dozen flags flying from its roof, to the
little Swiss pension of an elder day, with its name inscribed in German-looking

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lettering upon a pink or yellow wall and an awkward summerhouse in the angle
of the garden (James: 161).
It also can be seen that the description of the facade of the hotel where the events
of the story occur allows for a better construction of images when reading the novella,
and although it might be thought that those features are not of interest, it is necessary to
admit that what Henry James attempted to achieve - and in a successful manner-, was
the creation of realistic places and characters, giving an emphasis on the physical aspect
of them. It is not only for the sake of artistic creation but it is for sake of fulfilling the
main function of the novel: to create and produce the illusion of life. (James: 5).
As a conclusion, it could be said that James used fiction not in terms of fantastic
creation, but as a sort of trigger for the creation of the plot a story. In terms of
descriptions, however, the author used realistic elements in order to illustrate the reality
of the story by means of meticulous definitions and extensive paragraphs describing
characters and places. Therefore, the notion of illusion of life is fulfilled, along with
the function of the novel, creating the feeling of reading a book based on real life,
instead of a fictional work, giving the readership the chance of getting into the story,
not only because of the authors style of reading, but because the places where the plot
happened actually exists. So even if the reader might not know the place, he can, in a
way visit it through the book.

Bibliography:

James, Henry. Daisy Miller. The Turn of the Screw and Other Short Stories.

New York: Pocket Books, 2007. 1878. 161-237. Print.