Biographical Elements in Henry James’s ‘‘The Middle Years’

The Middle Years is a short story for the American-born British writer Henry James (1843-1916). It depicts the suffering of a writer during his attempt to achieve his career. As it portrays the life and suffering of writers, so it involves some aspects of Henry Jamess own life. The paper argues that Henry Jamess The Middle Years has autobiographical aspects which can be discovered through a close reading of the story by comparing it with his own life. James is presented in the story through the character of Dencombe, as there are some parallels between the writer and the storys main character. The paper also argues that the character of Dencombe mirrors Henry James in many aspects such as the writing career, personality, age, concerns, hope, achievement, frustration, negative attitude to woman and sexual orientation. Hence, the paper investigates and analyzes the autobiographical aspects in this story by connecting them to the writer himself.