With its ironic examination of the relationship between representations and reality, “The Real Thing” can serve as an excellent jumping-off point for a discussion of realism as an artistic movement. The story serves as a kind of fable about the artistic production of realistic representation. The reader, along with the artist in the story, comes to realize that it is precisely because the Monarchs represent British aristocratic values that they fail as models of the type. Artistic inspiration seems to depend on artificiality and pretense (figured by the lower-class models) and is hampered by the stifling presence of the “real thing.”
- Think about the implications of James’s fable about the making of realistic art.
- What is the relationship between the artist and reality?
- What seems to be the goal of the “realist” art object?
- What is the relationship between the artist in the story and Henry James, the writer?
http://www.henryjames.org.uk/realth/RTtext.htm
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