The Real Thing (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Henry James
- First Published: 1892
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The 1890's
- Setting: London
- Principal Characters: The narrator, Major, Oronte, Miss Churm
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: Class conflict, Art or artists, Success or failure
- Locales: London, England
The Story
An artist is visited one day in his studio by a middle-aged couple, Major and Mrs. Monarch. At first the artist assumes that they have come to commission a portrait, but he soon learns that they want, instead, to pose as paid models. He observes that the Monarchs, though on the edge of poverty, are an eminently respectable pair, well-mannered, immaculately poised—in effect, as their name suggests, the very embodiment of taste, refinement, and class.
Hoping that they might prove ideal subjects for a series of illustrations he is engaged in creating for a...
[The entire page is 1342 words long]
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