Talk:The Altar of the Dead

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Untitled[edit]

I've partially reverted the most recent changes. There's no question that James intended a Catholic church. The story specifies that the church is a "temple of the old persuasion," and James wasn't talking about Zoroastrianism. The Notebooks entry also specifies a Catholic church. The sentence about Stransom suspecting that Hague had wronged the unnamed woman friend also doesn't need qualification. The woman herself says that she has "forgiven" Hague and that "Women aren't like men. They can love even where they've suffered."

I've reworded the qualification on Stransom's final readiness to forgive Hague. The last section of the story very strongly hints that the memory of Mary Antrim's charity and kindness have inspired such forgiveness. But there's room for a little doubt, because the story ends before Stransom can actually add a candle to the altar for Hague. Casey Abell 13:44, 30 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Dissent[edit]

Accordingly, I think the vagueness in both of the entries you've changed should remain. If James wanted it to be Catholic (Notebooks aside--the Notebooks are not the story), he would have said "Catholic," and as you say, Hague is never forgiven. This said, I won't change anything back to the way I wrote it, because you'll just change it again. But I think your changes are dishonest to the story in trying to pin it down in such a way.-Brian Becker

Not to get into a big argument, but what else could James mean by "a temple of the old persuasion" except a Catholic church? Combined with the Notebooks entry, this is convincing evidence. The referenced books by Edward Wagenknecht and Robert Gale also matter of factly refer to the Catholic church where the altar is located, and I'm not aware of any critic who has disagreed. The unnamed woman friend explicitly says that she has forgiven Hague, and I see no reason to doubt her word because she's always presented as completely honest. The story even makes it emphatic: "'I've forgiven him!' she declared." As to whether Stransom is ready to forgive Hague in the final scene, the story does end somewhat ambiguously—this is Henry James, after all. But the article accurately notes the strong suggestion that Mary Antrim's memory has opened the possibility of forgiveness. Casey Abell 15:55, 2 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]