Critical Evaluation
It would be an Everest-sized understatement to say that James' plays have gotten bad notices from critics. Some have gone so far as to recommend would-be readers of James to skip the plays altogether, or at most to approach them gingerly after reading just about everything else he wrote.
Deprived of the interior monologue and intense analysis of consciousness that James made such a large part of his fiction, the plays in this book do seem superficial and unconvincing compared to his narratives. Although James fell under the spell of the theater from an early age, he never mastered the art of presenting vibrant characters and significant drama in dialogue-only form.
Read more about this topic: Theatricals
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“Good critical writing is measured by the perception and evaluation of the subject; bad critical writing by the necessity of maintaining the professional standing of the critic.”
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