- A middle-aged, bachelor scholar from Massachusetts travels to Europe at
the behest of his patron, a wealthy widow, in order to persuade her son
to abandon Paris, where he has what may be an indelicate attachment,
and to return to run the family business. While in Paris, the scholar
enjoys the sophisticated conversation and company of an expatriate
American woman. He comes to see that the young man has been much
“improved”by Paris and by his“education”at the hands of a somewhat
older French-woman. Initially unclear about the relationship between
this woman and the young man, the scholar comes to see that it is fully
sexual. He nonetheless continues to regard the young man’sexperience
as improving for him. The young man tells the scholar he will follow
his advice, whatever it is. The scholar must then decide whether, as
commissioned, to advise the young man to return to Massachusetts
or to continue life in Paris. (If the scholar successfully arranges a
return, it is understood that his patron will marry him and make his
life comfortable.) He must also decide whether himself to return to
America, either as a success in his mission or as a failure. If he stays in
Paris, he may continue to enjoy the company and further affections of
his woman friend, and he may also enjoy the company and affections
of the son’s French lover, with whom he is himself perhaps somewhat
in love.^3
Each of these cases solicits an emotional response. Over half a million televi-
sion viewers were moved to try to affect the fate of Larry, for better or worse.
The birthday greeting card invites gratitude and satisfaction in shared recog-
nition of the value of time spent together. The narrative (at least in its full
version) generates curiosity, apprehensiveness, a wish that the protagonist
should manage his difficult situation well, and sympathy with his efforts to
move through uncertainties.
But there are important differences as well. While numbers of people
were moved to do something about Larry, it is by no means clear that they
reflected on and became clearer about their emotional responses. Perhaps
numbers of viewers did reflect on their social roles as viewers, on live versus
taped performance, and on art versus provocation, but it seems likely that
(^3) As I hope is evident, this is a summary (my own) of much of the plot of Henry James’The
Ambassadors.
Art and emotion 201