This course will be devoted to the work of Henry James, considered by many to be the greatest novelist in English. His brilliant, demanding innovations of prose style and his acute psychological and ethical explorations mark the shift from the nineteenth-century to the modern novel. James writes about what it meant for American and European societies around the turn of the century to be mutually exposed to, and by, one another. In so doing, he raises questions about what it means to be civilized, to be smart, and to be rich. We will consider how the drama of consciousness is played out in his characters' struggles with love and conscience, and in his own preoccupation with capturing stylistically the narrative logic of the passions. We will read the novellas Daisy Miller, The Beast in the Jungle, The Aspern Papers, and The Turn of the Screw; the novels Portrait of a Lady, The Bostonians, The Ambassadors, and The Golden Bowl; and assorted critical writings. Requirements: one 5- to 7-page and one 8- to 10-page paper. Prerequisite: a 100-level English course, except 150. Enrollment limited to 25. (1800-1900/1700-1900)