Henry James and the Quest for the Holy Grail: Victorian Medievalism and Modern Criticism

Lustig

Abstract

This article offers two case studies. The first examines James’s encounters with medieval buildings in his early travel writings. The second takes as its starting point James’s involvement in The Quest of the Holy Grail, a text which accompanied an 1895 exhibition of paintings by Edwin Austin Abbey. Whilst James’s knowledge of medieval architectural forms seems both confident and coherent, his awareness of medieval literary forms seems more tentative and even sketchy. Reasons for this disparity are considered, but medieval romance motifs are nevertheless found to inform James’s conception of criticism from the outset of his career.

Citation

Lustig. (2023). Henry James and the Quest for the Holy Grail: Victorian Medievalism and Modern Criticism. Henry James Review, 44(1), 79-99. https://doi.org/10.1353/hjr.2023.0004

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 10, 2022
• Publication Date: Jan 28, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 10, 2022
• Journal: The Henry James Review
• Print ISSN: 0273-0340
• Electronic ISSN: 1080-6555
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 79-99
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hjr.2023.0004
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/422346
• Publisher URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/879109#info_wrap