Modernism in Crisis: The Rainbow

Abstract

On 5 August 1914 Henry James registered his shock that the preceding “treacherous years”, “during which we have supposed the world to be, with whatever abatement, gradually bettering”, had instead led to “this abyss of blood and darkness”. In refuting the claims to progress of capitalism, imperialism and industrialisation, the outbreak of war also proved false the values of the novel since the nineteenth century, of civilisation’s progress through individuals. James later pondered on this:

The subject-matter of one’s effort … has become itself utterly treacherous and false — its relation to reality utterly given away and smashed. Reality is a world that was to be capable of this — and how represent that horrific capability, historically latent, historically ahead of it? How on the other hand not represent it either — without putting into play mere fiddlesticks?

James set the writer an intimidating task: he must deal directly with the war, analyse how civilisation had led to it; otherwise his art was trivial. Resigned to the situation as “too tragic for any words”,¹ he could only declare his affiliation to the British cause by naturalising in 1915.