"What Maisie Knew"

Term Paper # 99708

English > Analysis
Literature > American
Psychology > Freud

"What Maisie Knew"

An analysis of the Bildungsroman theme and Freud's theories of sexuality and gender as they apply to the Henry James novel "What Maisie Knew".

3,648 words () | 14 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper presents an in-depth study of a Bildungsroman (coming-of-age) theme and Freud's theories of sexuality and gender as they apply to the Henry James novel "What Maisie Knew." The paper discusses the basis of Sigmund Freud's theories on the development of infantile/childhood sexuality and relates this to the novel. The paper presents examples from the story to support the discussion.

From the Paper:

"What Maisie Knew is a complex tale with a central coming-of-age theme, indicating the presence of both Freudian theories on sexuality and gender, and various components of a Bildungsroman novel. These classifications can be directly correlated with the detailed development of Henry James' title character, whom author Thomas Jeffers describes in his book Apprenticeships: The Bildungsroman from Goethe to Santayana, as "a sort of Alice who, if she were totally luckless, could become a sort of Lolita" (Jeffers 106)."

Sample of Sources Used:

James, Henry. What Maisie Knew. New York: St. Martin's, 1998.
James, Henry. Henry James: A Life in Letters. London: Allen Lane, 1999.
Jeffers, Thomas. Apprenticeships: The Bildungsroman from Goethe to Santayana. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.
Freud, Sigmund. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1962.
Freud, Sigmund. "Family Romances." Standard Edition (1909): 235-241.