The Europeans
1878
Two European travelers arrive in Boston to visit cousins they barely know, one seeking escape, the other seeking something brighter. Eugenia, a morganatic princess cast out by a German court, needs a new life before her prince divorces her for a royal bride. Felix, her easygoing artist brother, simply wants to paint happy pictures. Their staid New England relatives the Wentworths have never met anyone like this: people who find American reserve strange, who speak of love and passion without apology, who treat American money with a fascination that is somehow both flattering and unsettling. What follows is a graceful comedy of incompatible sensibilities, where everyone misreads everyone else, and where the real question is not who will marry whom, but whether authenticity can survive in any society that demands conformity. James called this a comedy, and it is, though its wit carries an edge: Eugenia's predicament is genuinely dire, and her European knowingness may be the only thing that can crack the Wentworths' impenetrable decency. It remains his sunniest novel, a small gem of transatlantic irony.
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“If this was love, love had been overrated.””
— Henry James
“When I am wicked I am in high spirits.””
— Henry James
“There were several ways of understanding her: there was what she said, and there was what she meant, and there was something between the two, that was neither.””
— Henry James
“The Baroness found it amusing to go to tea; she dressed as if for dinner. The tea-table offered an anomalous and picturesque repast; and on leaving it they all sat and talked in the large piazza, or wandered about the garden in the starlight.””
— Henry James
“Nothing exceeds the license occasionally taken by the imagination of very rigid people.””
— Henry James
“Well, I am rather afraid of that visit," said Clifford. "It seems to me it will be rather like going to school again."The Baroness looked at him a moment."My dear child," she said, "there is no agreeable man who has not, at some moment, been to school to a clever woman--probably a little older than himself. And you must be thankful when you get your instructions gratis. With me you would get it gratis.””
— Henry James
“You see, I believe greatly in the influence of women. Living with women helps to make a man a gentleman." (Chapter 7)””
— Henry James
“A narrow grave-yard in the heart of a bustling, indifferent city, seen from the windows of a gloomy-looking inn, is at no time an object of enlivening suggestion; and the spectacle is not at its best when the mouldy tombstones and funereal umbrage have received the ineffectual refreshment of a dull, moist snow-fall.””
— Henry James
“The young man looked at her a moment. 'You are very much changed,' he said.'I am glad to hear it,' Gertrude declared.'I am not. I have known you a long time, and I have loved you as you were.''I am much obliged to you,' said Gertrude. 'I must be going home.'He, on his side, gave a little laugh. 'You certainly do avoid me - you see!''Avoid me, then.' said the girl.He looked at her again; and then, very gently, 'No, I will not avoid you,' he replied; 'but I will leave you, for the present, to yourself. I think you will remember - after a while - some of the things you have forgotten. I think you will come back to me; I have great faith in that.'This time his voice was very touching; there was a strong reproachful force in what he said, and Gertrude could answer nothing. He turned away and stood there, leaning his elbows on the gate and looking at the beautiful sunset. Gertrude left him and took her way home again; but when she reached the middle of the next field she suddenly burst into tears. Her tears seemed to her to have been a long time gathering, and for some moments it was a kind of glee to shed them. But they presently passed away. There was something a little hard in Gertrude; and she never wept again.””
— Henry James
