Article Title

Denied Expectations

Authors

Ann Ellsworth, University of Northern IowaFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Henry James manipulates his readers unmercifully in "The Figure in the Carpet.” There are always lures, always tentative hopes that the secret, which is variously and curiously described, will in the end be made plain. In spite of the narrator's dashed expectations and waning enthusiasm to know what Vereker thought was the essential feature of his work, we readers still wonder. This paper will examine some of the ways that James arouses our desire for knowledge and meaning. By thwarting this desire, James tosses the gauntlet at our feet. It is the reader's task, not the writer's, at this point to struggle with indeterminacy and to discern meaning.

Publication Date

1987

Journal Title

Draftings In

Volume

2

Issue

1

First Page

29

Last Page

34

Comments

No cover/title page date shown on piece.

The article includes a section titled "Postscript: A Weaver's Note on How Figures Get Into Carpets"

Copyright

©1987 by the Board of Student Publications, University of Northern Iowa

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Ellsworth, Ann (1987) "Denied Expectations," Draftings In: Vol. 2: No. 1, Article 8.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/draftings/vol2/iss1/8