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The Tragic Muse

Henry James

Book Overview: 

Art or politics, this is the question Nick Dormer deals with in the course of this novel. Mirian Ruth, an aspiring actress, is the "tragic muse" of the title. Her concerns are a bit different: would proper society accept her as an actress, or would she have to choose between giving up acting and marrying well? A large and interesting cast of secondary characters accompany them along the way, for good or bad. This novel is for lovers of Trollope and Dickins, while James's sharp and keen observations and wit are there at all times. Enjoy a stroll in the park listening to this overlooked masterpiece.

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .isliked her usually found her and sometimes even a little made him believe her. The spirit of mirth in some cold natures manifests itself not altogether happily, their effort of recreation resembles too much the bath of the hippopotamus; but when Mrs. Dallow put her elbows on the table one felt she could be trusted to get them safely off again.

For a family in mourning the dinner was lively; the more so that before it was half over Julia had arranged that her brother, eschewing the inferior spectacle, should take the girls to the Théâtre Français. It was her idea, and Nick had a chance to observe how an idea was apt to be not successfully controverted when it was Julia's. Even the programme appeared to have been prearranged to suit it, just the thing for the cheek of the young person—Il ne Faut Jurer de Rien and Mademoiselle de la Seiglière. Peter was all willingness, but it was Julia who settled it, even to sending for the newspaper—he was by a ra. . . Read More

Community Reviews

Two young men, well-born English cousins, are faced with conflicts between their professional careers and their passion for the arts. One, an ambitious diplomat and amateur connaisseur of the theater, is madly in love with the young muse of the title, whom he has mentored from a gifted nobody into a

You know I did read this once but it was in one ear and out the other.

Henry James : Blah blah blah

Me : Yeah sure

Henry James loved the theatre (partially one reason why I wanted to read this overstuffed 500-pager), but his actress, Miriam Rooth (nee Roth) never comes alive; she's the least interesting among his quadrille of players. Maugham creates the best fictional actress, Julia Lambert, in "Theatre." She i

A tale of the theater, and of painting, and of politics, and of art versus love. I've read it four or more times, at least once for the pleasure of it and about three times as I adapted it into an (as yet unused) opera libretto.


Originally serialized in Atlantic Monthly and subsequently first published as a book in 1890, The Tragic Muse is one of the most highly polished, aesthetically attuned novels ever written, featuring one of the most provocative, aesthetically attuned characters in all of literature – Gabriel Nash. I

An entertaining read, once you get used to the elliptical language. But the linguistic style soon becomes part of the enjoyment, along with the droll characterizations. The world of politics and respectable society meets that of the arts, via an exemplary actress and an unlikely artist, stirred up b

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