Little Bilham is a loyal friend of Chad’s, and he assumes significance in the novel because it is he who tells Strether that the relationship between Chad and Madame de Vionnet is virtuous, thus influencing the movement of the story. Strether likes and admires Bilham, and much of the older […]
Read more Character Analysis Little BilhamCharacter Analysis Waymarsh
Waymarsh, a lawyer friend of Strether’s from America who had come to Europe to forget his personal problems, is entirely “joyless.” Unlike Strether, he is not affected by the exciting atmosphere of Europe, and he is eager to return home. He is introduced in the beginning of the novel soon […]
Read more Character Analysis WaymarshCharacter Analysis Mrs. Newsome
Although Mrs. Newsome never appears in person in the novel, her character is well defined. She represents the opposition, so to speak, and is a kind of world in herself — the world of Woollett and all for which it stands. She is imposing and strong and always gets her […]
Read more Character Analysis Mrs. NewsomeCharacter Analysis Sarah Pocock
Sarah Pocock, Chad’s sister, arrives in Paris under instructions from her mother, Mrs. Newsome, to convince Chad that he should return to America. She functions as the second “ambassador,” supplanting Lambert Strether. Sarah resembles her mother, though she “inclined to the massive” and her mother was “much handsomer.” Strether “had […]
Read more Character Analysis Sarah PocockCharacter Analysis Maria Gostrey
Strether meets Maria Gostrey in the first chapter of the novel, and she appoints herself as his “guide” to Europe. We soon find she is very much his guide (and the reader’s), as after each vital occurrence in the novel, Strether goes to her and they discuss the incident. Through […]
Read more Character Analysis Maria GostreyCharacter Analysis Chad Newsome
Though Strether finds Chad Newsome to be much different than the young man who left Woollett, Paris has only changed Chad superficially. A polished and refined gentleman on the outside, he does not live up to the ideal person that Strether believes him to be. This character dominates the story, […]
Read more Character Analysis Chad NewsomeCharacter Analysis Madame de Vionnet
We first see Madame de Vionnet through the eyes of Lambert Strether as a kind of idealized romantic character. She does not turn out to be the disgraceful woman he was expecting when he left Woollett, and Strether goes to the opposite extreme in his evaluation of her. This beautiful […]
Read more Character Analysis Madame de VionnetCharacter Analysis Lambert Strether
Lambert Strether serves as the “central consciousness” of the novel, and the events and personalities in the story are filtered through his mind; everything is seen from his point of view. Strether is a man fifty-five years old, of “middle height,” with “a thick dark moustache . . . a […]
Read more Character Analysis Lambert StretherSummary and Analysis Book 12: Chapter V
Summary Strether has one more separation to face and sends a word to Maria to ask if he might come for breakfast. When she tells him she wishes he would continue to make her home a “haven of rest,” he says, “It wouldn’t give me — that would be the […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 12: Chapter VSummary and Analysis Book 12: Chapter IV
Summary Concerned by Chad’s unlikely disappearance, Strether goes to the young man’s apartment to see if he has returned. Chad is there, having in fact just returned from a trip to London, and he greets Strether warmly. As they talk, it occurs to Strether that he could stay in Paris […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Book 12: Chapter IV