Appearances are usually going to be an important theme in any novel. Authors choose every word in their books for specific reasons, and you should always assume that they're trying to tell us something in the way they describe characters from the outside. This is especially the case in The Ambassadors, where Henry James goes into long, long (did we say long?) descriptions of characters appearances. And yes, every descriptive detail has a very specific purpose.
Questions About Appearances
- What does Mrs. Newsome look like in your mind? How much of this impression is based on stuff that Strether actually says?
- What are some of the aspects of Madame de Vionnet's appearance that strike Strether as the most important? Why? What specific moments in the text show this dynamic?
- What is the overall effect of the fact that we never "see" Mrs. Newsome in this book? How does James' vagueness about her make her more or less powerful as a character?
Chew on This
In The Ambassadors, Henry James shows us that the world is a superficial place where people are judged mostly by their physical appearances.
About-face! In The Ambassadors, James shows us that you should never judge a book by its cover, since you never know a beautiful personality until you talk to someone.