The Birthplace
| "The Birthplace" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Henry James | |
| Country | United Kingdom, ：）United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Better Sort |
| Publication type | Anthology |
| Publisher | Methuen & Co., London Charles Scribner's Sons, New York City |
| Media type | Print (Hardback and Paperback) |
| Publication date | Methuen: February 26, 1903 Scribner's: February 26, 1903 |
"The Birthplace" is a
Plot summary
Morris Gedge is a librarian at a dull provincial library in England that is "all granite, fog and female
Once installed as the custodian, Morris begins to doubt the chatter he is forced to give to tourists who visit the home. He starts to qualify and hesitate in his spiel. This brings anguish to his wife and a warning from the shrine's proprietors. Gedge finally decides that if silliness is what's wanted, he'll supply it abundantly. The last section of the story shows him delivering a hilarious lecture on how the child Shakespeare played around the house. Of course, receipts from tourists increase and Gedge gets a raise.
Major themes
This story is a superbly humorous play on James' common theme of how the imaginative "children of light" inevitably find trouble in the real, unforgiving world. Morris is something of an exception in that he triumphs over the world's attempts to grind him down...by giving the world exactly what it wants. The story illustrates T. S. Eliot's dictum that humankind cannot bear very much reality.
But the story does not read at all as a grim reminder of how people would rather hear sweet fiction than sour
Critical evaluation
Some critics have seen Morris' compromise not as the development of an artist but rather as the prostitution of an honest man. To some extent this view has validity because Gedge is forced to sacrifice scholarly scruples in favor of a more entertaining presentation. But the story's light touch indicates that James probably admired Morris' ability to construct a clever and detailed fantasy. After all, that's what James himself did in his own fiction.
Most critics agree that the story is delightfully told, no matter what the verdict may be on Gedge's intellectual integrity. Morris' final lecture is particularly memorable for its brilliant satire of tourist-trap hucksterism:
- Across that threshold He habitually passed; through those low windows, in childhood, He peered out into the world that He was to make much happier by the gift to it of His genius; over the boards of this floor...His little feet often pattered; and the beams of this ceiling...He endeavoured, in boyish strife, to jump up and touch.
References
- The Tales of Henry James by Edward Wagenknecht (New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co. 1984) ISBN 0-8044-2957-X
- A Henry James Encyclopedia by Robert L. Gale (New York: Greenwood Press 1989) ISBN 0-313-25846-5
