What does “the publicity implied by such privacies” mean in chapter 1 of The Wings of the Dove?
The “publicity implied by such privacies” has a paradoxical meaning. The statement issued by Henry James’s omniscient narrator in the first paragraph of the novel appears incompatible. If something is private, it's not public. Likewise, if something is public, it’s not private. However, James’s statement reconciles these two ostensibly opposite states.
The merger of the public and private seems linked to Kate Croy’s surroundings. Think about the context of the line. Prior to its arrival, the narrator was detailing Kate’s living situation. Terms like “shabby,” “sticky,” and “sallow” do not point towards a pleasant domicile for Kate. These words create an image that’s sickly, rundown, and oppressive.
To try to get away from her “vulgar little room,” Kate goes on the balcony. The view provided by the balcony offers “scant relief.” Like the room, the street is categorized as “vulgar.” A street is a public place. Anyone, hypothetically, can...
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walk down a public street. Rooms in which people live aren’t public places. It’s against the law for someone to enter someone’s living space uninvited. A person’s room, unlike a street (Chirk Street, in Kate’s case), is a private realm.
For Kate, the crassness of the street communicates the charmlessness of her room. One needn’t see her private space to deduce that it’s not very lovely. All they have to do is observe her street. The unpleasant display of the public street implies that her private living situation is equally unbecoming.
What is the literal meaning of "the publicity implied by such privacies" in the opening paragraph of "The Wings of the Dove"?
"the publicity implied by such privacies"
Publicity comes from the French term publicité, which, in turn, links to the English word public. When someone or something receives publicity, they’re experiencing public attention. In this context, publicity could also refer to the act of being out in a public space.
Implied means that something is suggested but not explicitly expressed. Thus, the publicity in the sentence is hinted at, alluded to, but not the result of a direct confrontation.
Such, as the question notes, indicates that the privacies were previously documented. In Henry James’s long sentence, such plays the role of determiner; it shapes and determines the meaning of the privacies. Such privacies recall the "sallow prints on the walls," the "lonely magazine," and the rest of the unbecoming elements in Kate's private space.
Privacy is when one isn’t under the spotlight, the opposite of publicity. They’re not being looked at or talked about by the general public. They can live their life free from the rhetoric or prying eyes of other people.
Perhaps James turned privacy into privacies to emphasize the plurality of factors that make up Kate Croy’s disenchanting realm. Privacy can be read as a plural noun. James could have used privacy, but privacies arguably give the sentence a dramatic flair.
While the vulgar street doesn’t directly draw attention (publicity) to the crassness of her room, the fact that the street is vulgar strongly hints at (implies) that her private room and all that it composes (suchprivacies) is vulgar as well.
If this part of the sentence remains somewhat hard to fathom, consider why James might have purposefully crafted a thought that’s not easy to pin down. As a creative writer, it’s possible that James is more interested in playing around with words and sentence structure than in composing a sentence—or a part of a sentence—that can be understood without much effort.