Virginia Llewellyn Smith Knihy

Published in 1904, this novel is Henry James's last completed work. It follows the widowed American Adam Verver and his daughter Maggie, who are wealthy and deeply connected to European art and culture. Maggie, embodying the innocent charm of James's young heroines, is engaged to Amerigo, an impoverished Italian prince who needs to marry for money. The titular golden bowl, first seen in a London shop, symbolizes the characters' relationships and the world they inhabit, being gilded crystal that conceals a flaw. Maggie is oblivious to the fact that her old friend Charlotte Stant, a charming and independent woman, is in love with Amerigo. After Maggie and Amerigo marry and have a son, their emotional distance grows, and Maggie feels her father has lost something due to her marriage. She decides to find him a wife, choosing Charlotte, who continues her affair with Amerigo. When Maggie finally possesses the golden bowl, the flaw—and the truth about Amerigo and Charlotte—are revealed. Fanny Assingham, aware of the truth, breaks the bowl, marking the end of Maggie's innocence. Rather than becoming a victim, Maggie takes control, seeking to establish a genuine marriage with Amerigo while banishing her father and Charlotte to America.