The Jamesian Material Self: Show Me Your House and I Will Tell You Who You Are!

Abstract

The major purpose of this study is to analyse the aspects and the role of the Material Self present in the novel The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. The Material Self is a constituent of the Empirical Self which William James (Henry James‘s brother) defines in his theoretical work The Principles of Psychology. Therefore, the representation of the Material Self in Henry James‘s works is much more interesting when compared with the representation of the Self in William James‘s theory. According to William James, one of the core elements of the Material Self is the  'house‘. The 'house‘ is carefully selected by Henry James as a tool for creating the images of his characters from The Portrait of a Lady; the analogical relation between setting and character helps Henry James build indirect characterisation. The houses he drafts represent in detail the appearance and character of their masters. Moreover, the hierarchy of the constituent parts of the Material Self suggested by William James in his theory is somehow reshaped by the major character in The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.