Rumination and Aspiration in Henry James’s The Spoils of Poynton

Abstract

Recently, scholarship on Victorian moralism has elaborated on the narrative and plot techniques of Victorian novels to disclose characters' moral thinking processes in various ways. In contrast to modernist authors and critics’ strong reaction against Victorian novels’ compulsive or formulaic moral themes, the moral tendency in Victorian novels fosters the characters’ evolving moral sense through a series of moral decision-making. Henry James devotes himself to elaborating on his characters’ moral thinking and the process of consciousness in most of his works, including his late novel The Spoils of Poynton. In this light, this thesis aims to focus on the moral thinking process of Fleda Vetch, the protagonist of this story of things and its war of possession. In a series of temptations and moral decision-making moments, Fleda undergoes rumination, which represents her repetitive and unwavering willingness to preserve her moral sense and loyalty to the spoils of Poynton and Mrs. Gereth. In her rumination, she not only realizes the genuine value of the aesthetic objects that transcends the mere value of possession, but also her aspiration to appreciate them even in their invisible condition. In spite of her furious desire to achieve the most precious piece of the spoils at the end, which burns with the fire, James’s aspiration to keep his protagonist’s moral sense remains after the ending.