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The Aspern Papers
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Plot Summary of The Aspern Papers
"Another of the prolific Henry James' many masterpieces, The Aspern Papers is set in Venice and is the story of the struggle of a scholar of a poet named Aspern (Byron, in reality) with Aspern's old lover and her daughter over the ownership of Aspern's love letters. The scholar manipulates the lonely and sensitive daughter, professing love for her, to win influence with them so that he can access the coveted letters - the result is both sad and satisfying. Another psychological gem from the master of the genre."
Kelly Whiting, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Aspern Papers
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story - 19th century
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Internal struggle/realization? Yes
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - scholar
Age: - 40's-50's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Female
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - unemployed
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
Europe Yes
European country: - Italy
City? Yes
City: - dirty, grimy (like New York) - wealthy
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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Henry James Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Jack Goodstein  

SCHOLARS:
Cindy Dashnaw  Danielle Taylor  


Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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