ABSTRACT
Henry James formed an immense, but not uncritical admiration for Balzac. He wrote extensively about the author he considered his 'master', beginning with an article for an American periodical in 1875 and claimed to have learnt more from reading Balzac than from reading any other novelist. James's discussion of Balzac for an English and American readership reveals considerable familiarity with the lines along which Balzac's merits as a writer had been debated in France. James was ready to concede that Balzac was capable of writing arrant nonsense. Ostensibly, he belongs to the ranks of those troubled by Balzac's works on moral grounds, though it is possible to detect a sneaking admiration on his part for the way the author of La Comedie humaine was willing to confront certain taboos. It is the opinion of many of Balzac's admirers, and it was the general verdict of his day, that in all this the greatest triumphs are the characters of women.
