Great blogs this week, thanks. Your reactions range from "burning hatred" to a tiny sliver of enjoyment -- above all I appreciate your thoughtfulness and honesty. Makes for much more productive, authentic conversations!
A few of you have speculated on James's own position regarding women's rights. This is a tricky question -- it's easy to assume that he and Basil speak with one voice, but it's safer to assume that James keeps himself (as much as possible) out of the text. Fact is, James views regarding women were a little troubling. At one point he opposed, fairly openly, giving women the right to vote. On other occasions he did redeem himself, and many of his characters (Olive, Isabel Archer among them) represent a power and intensity that can hardly be read as critical.
The end of the book with enrich your understanding of The Bostonians' stance on women's empowerment. It's a little disturbing.
Good work on the blog this week - I'd say this forum will be especially important as we work through the Bostonians. Feel free to vent (productively).
Note: the class web calendar is finally updated
