The Bostonians | The Bostonians

At a glance:

Author: Henry James
First Published: 1885
Type of Work: Novel
Type of Plot: Psychological realism
Time of Work: Early 1870’s
Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, and New York City
Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
Subjects: New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Nineteenth century, New York City, Social issues, New England, Reformers, Women’s rights, Hypnotism
Locales: New York, NY, Boston, MA

Characters Discussed

Olive Chancellor, the portrait of the Boston lady. She is won over to the cause of the suffragists but exercises poor taste in attempting to accomplish their goals.

Adeline Luna, her sister. She is a worldly woman who does not subscribe to the concept of the “new woman.”

Basil Random, her cousin from Mississippi. A lawyer practicing in New York City, he falls in love with Verena Tarrant’s voice, if not her ideas, and is able to persuade her to marry him. He believes that people must excel within their appointed stations in society.

The Bostonians | The Bostonians

At a glance:

Characters Discussed

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