The Sacred Fount
Sacred Fount, The,novelette by Henry James, published in 1901.
The narrator, whose temperament and interests resemble those of the author, is a guest at an English weekend party, where his excessively refined curiosity becomes absorbed in studying Guy and Grace Brissenden, the husband not yet 30, and the wife in her middle forties, who after a few years of marriage seem to have exchanged physical and mental ages. He derives from their case a “law” that, in such uneven matches, the older partner always draws energy, youth, and wit from the “sacred fount” of the other's personality, which becomes correspondingly depleted. Then he attempts to apply his law to another guest, Gilbert Long, who seems to have exchanged his character of a stupid though handsome young man for that of a witty and understanding man of the world. The narrator's prying mind seeks to discover the mistress who must have given Long this new power. Rejecting the bright,...
[The entire page is 271 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
