Themes and Criticism
James thought this storyline of scrupulous renunciation involving the Catholic priesthood would succeed with a London audience of the 1890s. However, although the play offered many finely written lines, the whole concept was too remote and unappealing for much of the audience.
The play did manage to run for five weeks but never recovered from the boos of the first night. James cut his losses, returned to his fiction, and eventually consoled himself that his playwriting attempts helped make his narratives more dramatic. Critics have disagreed about whether James' efforts as a playwright actually helped his fiction or were just a waste of time.
Read more about this topic: Guy Domville
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