The problem of representing “truly” in Henry James's The Tragic Muse

Abstract

Summary In The Tragic Muse (1978) Henry James offers a study of the ways in which acting and portraiture are unseated from a locus of transcendental signification by the fact that they are irretrievably and problematically cut off from origin and self‐authenticating presence. Both Miriam Rooth's performances and Nick's portraits fail to bridge the “spacing” that divides imitation from that which it represents. Jacques Derrida's essay “Signature Event Context” (1982) proves to be particularly apposite to a consideration of the narrative and thematic permutations thrown up by the problem of deferred origin in The Tragic Muse. The notion of iterability is central to Derrida's essay: iterability is a function of différance which refers to a sign's effective operation in the absence of a producer or addressee; as such it is especially pertinent to a discussion of imitation and representation in James's work.