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Nona Vincent

"Nona Vincent" is a short story by Henry James, first published in the English Illustrated Magazine, February-March 1892. It was first collected in The Real Thing and Other Tales, published by Macmillan in 1893. The story concerns a playwright struggling to get one of his plays produced and, later, its lead actress to play the role as he imagines it should be played. It reflects James's concern with the nature of artistic performance and his own efforts to become a successful playwright.

Plot Summary

The story begins in the London parlor of Mrs. Alsager, a wealthy patron of the arts, speaking to Allan Wayworth, a twenty-eight year-old journalist and would-be playwright. Wayworth met Mrs. Alsager at a dinner party and was impressed by her ability to detect perfection in works of art--what Wayworth calls "the artistic chord." His writing encouraged by Mrs. Alsager, Weymouth visits her on Christmas Day and reads Nona Vincent, his newly-finished three-act play, aloud to her; Mrs. Alsager loves the play and insists that they find a producer. When she remarks how much she likes his creation of Nona Vincent, the play's heroine, Wayworth confesses that she is based upon Mrs. Alsager, who laughs and says she sees no resemblance.

Months later, Mrs. Alsager sends a telegram to Wayworth, telling him that she has found a theater and director; an actress named Violet Grey will play the title character. Wayworth is excited, yet has reservations about whether Violet Grey can adequately play Nona Vincent. After weeks of rehearsals, Wayworth asks if Mrs. Alsager might spend some time with Violet Grey to help her better understand the role. Mrs. Alsager declines, but eventually speaks to Violet at another theater and tells Wayworth that Violet is in love with him. Wayworth shrugs off this news. He later sees Violet at rehearsal; she tells him that Mrs. Alsager is in love with him. As the date of the premiere draws closer, Mrs. Alsager tells Waywirth that if Violet Grey is successful in the play, Wayworth will love her.

On the night of the premiere, Wayworth is too nervous to watch the play and instead arrives at the theater just as it is concluding. He hears applause and the director, Mr. Loder, tells him that the audience liked the play but that Violet Grey has "failed." Waywirth learns that Violet Grey has left the theatre, presumably from embarrassment, and goes to Mrs. Alsager's home for a reception. Mrs. Alsager tells Wayworth that Violet Grey doesn't "see" Nona Vincent but that the play "sha'n't go to the dogs."

The next day, Wayworth reads reviews of Nona Vincent, all of which praise the play but also note that Violet does not have the skill to play the title role. Wayworth goes to Violet Grey's apartment, which she shares with an aunt, to console her; Violet refuses to see him and her aunt tells Wayworth that Violet us "given all she has got" but "doesn't know what's wanted." Wayworth returns home and, while dozing by his fire, dreams that Nona Vincent--the character, who resembles neither Mrs. Alsager nor Violet Grey--visits him and, through a series of gestures, consoles him about the success of his play.

That night, as Wayworth dresses for the dinner at his club, he receives a telegram from Violet Grey, asking him to see her performance this evening but not to talk to her until it is over. Wayworth obeys her and finds that Violet Grey's performance is exactly as he had wished: she inhabits the role, the audience adores her, Mr. Loder calls her "devilish good," and the theatre manager offers to run the play for six months. Wayworth joins Violet Grey and her aunt for supper; while her aunt is preparing the food, Violet Grey tells Wayworth that her performance was a "miracle" because she had "a revelation." Wayworth is stunned, thinking that the image of Nona Vincent that visited him also visited Violet Grey, but she tells him that the visit she had was from Mrs. Alsager, who by speaking an afternoon with Violet Grey, showed her the way that Nona Vincent should be played. The next day, Wayworth seeks out Mrs. Alsager, only to find that she is in Torquay, visiting an ill relative. In the final sentences, the reader learns that Nona Vincent ran for over two hundred nights, Wayworth married Violet Grey, and that, while his plays are often successful, Violet no longer acts in them. Mrs. Alsager frequently attends them.

Major Themes

"Nona Vincent" concerns the nature and struggles of artistic production, a theme found throughout James's work. Wayworth, Mr. Loder, and Violet Grey are frustrated in their attempts to bring Nona Vincent to life and the play only succeeds one Violet Grey meets the real-life inspiration for the character. The story also draws upon James's own interest in the theatre, an interest that he shelved after his failed attempt to bring his play Guy Domville to the stage in 1895.

Critical Evaluation