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dashausfrau 's review for:
The Bostonians
by Henry James
There is absolutely no way to rate this book using "stars." On the one hand, this would be a great choice for students looking for illustrations of the way society might have viewed women, as a sex, & may still at some level. I'm not sure what James was aiming for in the writing. He may have changed his mind a couple of times. He seems to equally dislike and pity the "dried up" feminist old maid, her young protegee who seems to change her mind depending on whoever has the strongest will in her circle, and the cynical Southern gent, recently out of the civil war, who is devoted to chivalry as long as women understand that they are ultimately obligated to be what men want them to be.
What I hated most about this book was the depiction of the Young Woman just needing a man with a "firm hand." She says that she hates all of what's-his-name's beliefs, but yet she adores the man himself. However, none of the dialogue indicates that there is anything to the man beyond his opinions. He takes apart the girl's cause simply by mocking it & laughing (politely) at all of her efforts. James seemed to think (& there is plenty of support for him, then & more recently) that females don't really know what they want, or they want the opposite of what they say, or they really want somebody (a cute guy) to take charge of them & tell them what they want. I don't know how to label this without using the word "misogyny," but then, I suppose that's a word I'm just parroting.
....screw you, Chivalry.
What I hated most about this book was the depiction of the Young Woman just needing a man with a "firm hand." She says that she hates all of what's-his-name's beliefs, but yet she adores the man himself. However, none of the dialogue indicates that there is anything to the man beyond his opinions. He takes apart the girl's cause simply by mocking it & laughing (politely) at all of her efforts. James seemed to think (& there is plenty of support for him, then & more recently) that females don't really know what they want, or they want the opposite of what they say, or they really want somebody (a cute guy) to take charge of them & tell them what they want. I don't know how to label this without using the word "misogyny," but then, I suppose that's a word I'm just parroting.
....screw you, Chivalry.