Ines Belkahla The Real Thing Henry James

The Representation
Dilemma in Henry Jamess

The Real Thing in Contrast
with Platos Theory of
Forms
Ines BELKAHLA
The perception of authenticity is relative. Sometimes representations

of reality are of a higher value than reality itself. Being a pioneer of
American realism, Henry James problematizes the notion of representation
in his short story entitled The Real Thing. Throughout this story, we are
put before a well established framework that contains two facets of the
notion of reality and its representation. This very context of Jamess story
recalls the first theory related to reality that is found in Platos
metaphysics. In this paper, I will draw a parallelism between Platos theory
with his sense of valorizing the original state of things and Jamess
perspective relating to representation.
Reality and representation have always been an issue of debate.

Since the eve of philosophy, thinkers have been giving thought to the
origins of things. Before I go forward and show the contrast between the
different conceptions of reality, Id like to introduce Platos theory of forms.
The latter consists of a paradigm that is basically founded on two levels;
the first one is the thought universe and the second one is the physical
universe. Plato believed in a creator who is pure thought. According to his
philosophy, this creator or god has made copies of the things, forms or
ideas that exist in the thought universe.
As a matter of fact, this is the origin of the word ideal. Following his
logic, the representations of the forms that exist in the thought universe
are simply copies whereby they cannot be perfect. Everything that exists
in the physical world is a representation of an idea that exists in the
creators mind. Accordingly, ideas are perfect and eternal whereas their
representation is imperfect and fallacious.
It is obvious therefore that Plato favors the original state of being of

things over their representation in the world. Relatively, the beauty of
things is of a higher quality when they are intact. However, being
ephemeral, representations or copies are inevitably of less significance
and of a lower beauty. The difference of peoples shapes and other natural
beings are in fact the core of Platos conviction of the existence of a
perfect thought world. The latter contains complete, non-distorted ideas
which are far more beautiful thaN their incomplete roughly made
reproductions.
At this level, we are acquainted with the earlier conception of reality
and representation. This is actually considered to be a reference within the
thought scope. In fact, this particular conception trigged my curiosity while
I was reading Jamess The Real Thing. In this short story, the reader
grasps an abundance of ideas concerning the value of authenticity and
representation.
The Real Thing is a story that, on the superficial level presents a
number of events related to the protagonist. In scrutinizing the narrators
words, one gets different points of view on appearance, reality and
representation. To start with, it is important to note that Jamess short
story is loaded with instances of verisimilitude such as the acute
description of characters and their moves. This indeed emphasizes Jamess
concern about the representation of real things which is a principle of
realist thought.
James posits a problematic about reality and artifice. The narrator,
who is a painter, becomes more and more convinced, as the story
develops, that reality is simply a reference to create an artwork that is
more beautiful and more important than reality itself. With the visit of the
two guests, Major and Mrs Monarch, who hope to sit for a painting, the
artist is stricken by his inability to perfectly represent them on canvas. The
Monarchs, though well shaped with their gentlemanly and ladylike figures,
are not beautifully represented and portrayed by the skillful artist. This
idea is illustrated by the affirmation of the artist that they are the real
thing, but always the same thing.
The artist in Jamess story is faced with a complex and strange
situation as he tries to represent The Monarchs. For these sitters prove to
be of a rigid stagnancy that prevents the creativity and the special touch
of the artist. However, with the entering of Mrs Churm and Oronte the
painter finds himself immediately inspired. These characters are in fact
simple and poor subjects from the working class. Unlike The Monarchs,
they provide the painter with the amount of inspiration he needs. At a
certain level of the story, the narrator confesses:Arrange as I would and
take the precautions I would, she always, in my pictures, came out too tall
landing me in the dilemma of having represented a fascinating woman
as seven feet high, which, out of respect perhaps to my own very much
scantier inches, was far from my idea of such a personage.
Therefore, James sets a clear problematization of the notions of
reality and authenticity and their value. This problematization is conveyed
through the dilemma of representation in from which the artist cannot
escape. As soon as the story begins, the painter discovers that he cannot
make new characters out of The Monarchs the way he does with Mrs
Churm. Thus, Jamess painter favors representations over the original
thing they represent.
Consequently one can see clearly the differences of Platos and
Jamess perspectives on reality. While Platos metaphysics focus on the
value of things original state of being, James seems to advocate the
importance of the representation of things. Accordingly, copies which are
seen as defective by Plato are reconsidered by James and given a higher
value. Throughout The Real Thing, the narrator evaluates people
according to their potential to be represented. The aptitude of things to be
metamorphosed on canvas represents their true value according to
Jamess thinking. That is to say, the copy determines the value of the
authentic thing and not the other way round as in Platos theory of forms.
The accurate representation of things is not conceived of as

advantageous in Jamess view. In the story, the artist comes to terms with
his rejection of the exact representations of the real things. In this very
context, the narrator says: But after a few times I began to find her too
insurmountably stiff; do what I would with it my drawing looked
like a photograph or a copy of a photograph.1
To sum up, Platos theory of forms is par-excellence the first welldeveloped quest for the origin of things. The presumptions related to this
pursuit of reality establish an inflexible approach to seeing the world. This
approach stands for the duality of the physical universe and the thought
universe and how the latter is a defective copy of the former. In contrast
with this line of thought, Henry James establishes through The Real
Thing a simple plot to suggest that representations or copies can have
more considerable value than their originals. Jamess point of view seems
to be rigorously illustrated with the story of the painter who meets with
different situations while portraying people from different social
backgrounds.
Works Cited
cw.routledge.com/.../plato/platotheoryforms.pdf
http://suite101.com/article/american-realism-the-real-thing-byhenry-james-a281950
1 Page numbers are not mentioned for the lack of the hard copy of the work. This
paper should be updated in the most brief delays.

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The Representation

Dilemma in Henry Jamess

The perception of authenticity is relative. Sometimes representations

Reality and representation have always been an issue of debate.

It is obvious therefore that Plato favors the original state of being of

The accurate representation of things is not conceived of as

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