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E-book
Author Jottkandt, Sigi, 1965-

Title Acting beautifully : Henry James and the ethical aesthetic / Sigi Jottkandt
Published Albany : State University of New York Press, ©2005

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Description 1 online resource (xvii, 177 pages)
Series SUNY series in psychoanalysis and culture
SUNY series in psychoanalysis and culture.
Contents Portrait of an act: representation and ethics in The Portrait of a Lady -- "A poor girl with her rent to pay": The Wings of the Dove -- Lighting a candle to infinity: "The Altar of the Dead."
Summary "What is the matter with the women in Henry James? In The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, and his short story "The Altar of the Dead," one woman returns to a monster of a husband, another dies rather than confront the truth of her lover's engagement, while yet another stakes her all on having a candle lit for a dead lover, only to promptly reject it. Exploring these strange choices, Sigi Jottkandt argues that the singularity of these acts lies in their ethical nature, and that the ethical principle involved cannot be divorced from the question of aesthetics. She combines close readings of James with suggestive tours through Kantian aesthetics and set theory to uncover the aesthetic underpinning of the Lacanian ethical act, which has been largely overlooked in the current drive to discover a Cartesian origin for the subject as the subject of science."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 147-171) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject James, Henry, 1843-1916 -- Criticism and interpretation
James, Henry, 1843-1916 -- Aesthetics
James, Henry, 1843-1916 -- Ethics
SUBJECT James, Henry, 1843-1916 fast
James, Henry 1843-1916 gnd
Andrae, A. gnd
James, Henry. swd
Subject Didactic fiction, American -- History and criticism
Conduct of life in literature.
Ethics in literature.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- American -- General.
Aesthetics
Conduct of life in literature
Didactic fiction, American
Ethics
Ethics in literature
Ethik
Ästhetik
Roman
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 1423747836
9781423747833
0791465578
9780791465578