A Weberian Reading of Henry James’s The Ambassadors

Abstract

Summary This article discusses the intriguing intersection of the literary work of prolific American writer, Henry James and the theories of German sociologist, Max Weber. In James’s oeuvre, The Ambassadors, stands out for depicting the impacts of ascending consumer capitalism in the early twentieth-century in a similar manner to Weber. Through the character representation, the novel symbolically engages with ideas of strict work discipline, moral devotion of Puritanism, and anti-Puritanical worldview. Furthermore, the embodiment of the controversy between supporters of the Puritanical order and the modern lax way of life are explored and represented in James’s work. Drawing on this relationship, this paper argues that The Ambassadors shares many of Weber’s arguments and ideas concerning the trinity of Puritanism, Protestantism, and capitalism, in spite of the fact that Weber’s magnum opus was published two years after The Ambassadors. I intend to bridge the works of Weber and James by exploring how James’s fiction forecasts Weberian approaches to Puritanism and the emergence of the capitalist spirit.