The Silk Worm Becomes A Moth

Henry James puts forward and practices his theory on narrative perspective , which lays the foundation for the development of the modern narrative perspective theory. In James' works, narrative perspective also develops gradually and becomes more and more perfect. His works can approximately be devided into three periods. In the early period of his works, presented by Daisy Miller, the omniscient point of view often used in the traditional fictions also exists and the use of the internal focalization is not complete. Comparing to his later works, the focalizor dwells on the outside observation, but neglects the inside perception. Although his works in the middle period, presented by The Turn of the Screw, ignore the social value of the literature, they make great progress in theory. These works appear to be better use of internal focalization and have an in-depth exploration in psychology which prepare well for his later works. James' later works, presented by The Ambassadors, look very perfect in the use of internal focalization. They exist independently without the interference of the author. In addition to the outside observation, the character's self- perception reaches a considerable depth. This thesis traces the course of the development of the narrative perspective according to James' different periods of creation.The thesis is divided into three parts: Part One analyzes the development of the theory of the modern narrative perspective which lays the theoretical foundation for the thesis; Part Two concludes the course of development of the internal focalization by analyzing the narrative perspective in James' works 6f different periods; Chapter Three deals with the significance of James' innovation and experiment in the literary theory.