The Real Thing - another lit. analysis piece

“The Real Thing?”

The “real thing” as seen by Henry James is really the opposite of what it may seem. Major and Mrs. Monarch are two main characters that James describes as the “real thing.” In a name, James has already said so much. “Monarch” has the connotation of royalty or superiority in some sense. However, as one reads on in his piece one realizes that the “real thing” is really a mutable persona. It turns out that the “real thing” really is an ideal that only imposters can simulate well. The fact that the servants become what inspires the artist proves this. The royalty doesn’t impress the artist once he tries to illustrate them. The real thing has nothing to do with what a person is, but what he or she can become.

James describes major and Mrs. Monarch as the “real thing.” However, despite their natural ability to appear like upper class, no matter how often the artist tries to draw them, the pictures always lack something. Although they may be the “real thing” in person to the artist or to society; it isn’t always who a person is, but what that person can pretend to be. The Monarchs lack the creativity of knowing or understanding anything other than what they already know. They are who they are and in a very simplistic way they may be superior depending on who is speaking. One can justify their superiority by the fact that their name is Monarch. By choosing such a royal name, Henry James places them above, not only in appearance and stature, but by name. It then becomes ironic that they are now poor having lost everything that they owned. This forces humility upon them. So by name they are royal, but in reality they are no longer the wealthy, high class individuals that they once were. “They evidently wished to be discreet- to take care not to swagger because they were gentlefolks.” James states right here that they are humble, even if they are the “real thing.” The artist thinks that he wants them as his models because they are the characters that he wants to create. However, the artist wants to invent an illusion, not a direct representation of what is. That’s why something is always missing from their pictures.

As time goes on, the artist and the Monarchs realize that the only reason they are working for him is that he knows they are in dire need of work. They do the best that they can to fulfill what he wants, but are never as successful as the artist’s other models. It is a crucial moment when the Monarchs first witness Miss Churm, his other model. “She was only a freckled cockney, but she could represent everything from a fine lady to a shepherdess; she had the faculty, as she might have had a fine voice or long hair. She couldn’t spell, and she loved beer, but she had two or three ‘points,’ and practice, and a knack, and mother-wit, and a whimsical sensibility, and a love of the theatre . . . ” As we can see, Miss Churm is the complete opposite of Mrs. Monarch. She is unmannered and common and yet she can become anything that the artist wants her to become with the utmost of grace. Mrs. Monarch is completely put off by her at first, and she can’t believe that Her employer would want to paint her at all, and even less likely to want to paint her as a Russian princess. To Mrs. Monarch it is obvious who the real princess is. Only Mrs. Monarch doesn’t want to comply with the scenario. James mentions that she probably has known some Russian princesses in her time and does not want to emulate one. So again, James says that Mrs. Monarch is the “real thing,” and yet she can’t play the part at all.

Orante, the Italian butler, is another important character to mention proving that the “real thing” is not what it seems. It also seems that beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. He is a short man with a lot of charisma in contrast to the statuesque Major Monarch. He isn’t anything special, but his natural humble ability and common lifestyle make him another good character for the artist. At first, the artist keeps his drawing Orante a secret because he doesn’t want his new models to be offended. However, he has much more success working with Orante than he ever had working with the “real thing.”

It all comes to a head as the story comes to a close, when the ultimate in role reversal occurs. James so cleverly made the truth so painfully obvious that the so-called real things become the servants. When Major and Mrs. Monarch first catch a glimpse of their boss drawing Miss Churm and Orante, they are shocked, but within seconds they accept their failure. However, they refuse to be defeated and take on the role of servants to the new models. The whole symbolism of Mrs. Monarch fixing Miss Churm’s hair is an incredibly climatic moment. Not only has she accepted her failure, but she wishes to help the winner to make it better. So it becomes apparent that she does in fact know what the real thing is, she just can’t produce it.

James is making a very bold statement in this piece that makes us all wonder what the “real thing” is or if in fact there is any concrete definition for the phrase. He makes us realize that just because things appear a certain way, it doesn’t mean that it is better. Appearances can be quite deceiving and the “real thing” is usually in the place that the average person would look last. It is true that no matter what we are, whether it’s real to us or to anyone else, it’s never clearly defined as what society wants or expects us to be. As for the real thing, it’s only what society defines as correct, but still lies in the eyes of the beholder. We can all become something we are not, but being real to our own ideals is what is most important. All our lives we spend pretending to be something we are not. Apparently in our society that is what dictates the real thing from the wrong thing. It’s all a matter of who does it the best.