Abstract
Abstract Chapter 7 acts in part as a conclusion. It shows how The Golden Bowl not only codifies but also extends the impressions of the previous two novels. Maggie Verver uses cognitive impressions to discover that her husband, Prince Amerigo, is unfaithful. She then uses performative impressions to manipulate him. Like Milly Theale, then, she employs impressions as both critic and artist. Again, like those of Milly, her performative impressions refute empiricist recognition by adhering so tenaciously to deceptive, aesthetic surfaces that they become a reality. But, unlike Milly, Maggie is always aware of the depth she glimpses through recognition, and so does not become seduced by the surfaces of her own impressions: she manipulates them in a pragmatist manner, not to create a brittle artefact, like Densher’s love for Milly’s memory, but to save her marriage. Unlike in the previous two novels, Maggie’s performative impressions impose a composition that is both moral and aesthetic.
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