James’s Portrait of the Writer-Critic

Abstract

Critics have assigned particular importance to the work James completed in the period 1884–1901. Often termed the ‘middle’ or ‘experimental’ period of James’s career, these years included the agony of his failure as a dramatist, the publication of much of his most brilliant criticism and theory, and the important body of fiction and criticism James wrote about the experience of writers and critics. James’s interest encompassed the impact of failure and success in the lives of people committed to the creative life and reaching toward the quality of acceptance and understanding James himself sought, as well as the artistic and intellectual values and challenges of writers and critics.