The use and significance of the matchmaker in representative novels of Henry James

Abstract

As a writer concerned with the obligations and responsibilities of the individual in his society, Henry James frequently dwells on the consequences of delinquent moral behavior. In order to represent the moral shortcomings of modern society, he often resorts to character types to illustrate his judgments and evaluations of the human condition. Since the novelist deemed human relations an essential element in his development of theme and meaning, one such role that seems especially appropriate in this respect is the matchmaker, or one who arranges marriages. As a device to illustrate one facet of moral blindness, the matchmaker proves an excellent example throughout James's novels, and, at the same time, reveals his increasingly complex style.

A study of the Jamesian matchmaker reveals first, the use of the matchmaker as a device for discovering meaning and interpreting moral values in James's fiction; and second, the changing attitude towards this character and the increasing significance that the matchmaker assumes in the chronological development of the novelist's work. In James's fictional world of highly sophisticated people, the matchmaker demonstrates the capacity for evil and human destruction, evident even in those with the greatest potential for good.