Silent Love Hidden in the Pagoda: Defiance of Social Mores in <i>The Golden Bowl</i>

DOI

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • パゴダに隠された沈黙の愛―『黄金の盃』における道徳規範への挑戦―

Abstract

<p>The plot of Henry James’s The Golden Bowl (1904) explores the process of Maggie Verver’s gradual realization of and struggle toward the adultery between her husband, Prince Amerigo, and her schoolmate Charlotte Stant. Hidden behind their adultery issues, however, a more deep-rooted problem underlies the plot—Maggie’s incestuous love for her father. Previous studies also regarded her love for her father as incestuous. In particular, this novel’s denouncement is interpreted as the dissolution of the incestuous situation. Mr. Verver and Charlotte depart for America, leaving behind Maggie and the prince in Europe. Although the distance prevents them from having a love affair, more investigation of the representations of Maggie’s pagoda, which was built in her heart when she got married, shows how she disguises incestuous love as family affection. Furthermore, her attitude toward the hidden incestuous love is intertwined with the treatment of their adultery. This paper analyzes this intertwinement to reveal her silent defiance of social mores. At the end of the novel, she allows herself to keep the love inside of herself and never abandons it.</p>

Journal

Details 詳細情報について

  • CRID
    1390858752001332480
  • DOI
    10.20802/eibeibunka.53.0_23
  • ISSN
    24242381
    09173536
  • Text Lang
    ja
  • Data Source
    • JaLC
  • Abstract License Flag
    Disallowed

Report a problem

Back to top