Dec 20, 2009

The Altar of the Dead | The Altar of the Dead

At a glance:

Author: Henry James
First Published: 1895
Type of Plot: Psychological
Time of Work: The late Victorian period
Setting: London
Principal Characters: George Stransom, The young lady, Mary Antrim, Acton Hague
Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction
Subjects: Emotions, Obsession, Death or dying, Funeral rites or ceremonies
Locales: London, England

The Story

Fifty-five-year-old George Stransom is obsessed with observing the anniversary of his fiancee Mary Antrim's death, a fact that leads him to expand his commemorative pantheon to include all the other departed friends who live on in his memory. Imbued from an early age with what he terms “the religion of the Dead,” he decides to provide a material sign of his remembrance in the form of a private altar in a church, which he endows on the condition that he be allowed to stipulate the number of candles to be lit there.

Stransom, after a time of worshiping...

[The entire page is 1398 words long]

The Altar of the Dead | The Altar of the Dead

At a glance:

The Story

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