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Title: The Ambassadors

Author: Henry James

Synopsis: Lambert Strether is sent to Paris, France to bring back the son of Mrs. Newsome. His name is Chad and he has grown up in the atmosphere of Europe. Mrs. Newsome thinks that Chad has been corrupted and she wants him to come home to run the family business. Strether goes to Europe and gradually begins to like living in Paris. He returns home but Chad is not with him. The decision is left to Chad.

Themes: A theme of this story is that a person should have a chance to enjoy life. Another theme is that living in a foreign land does not make a person act worse.

Point of View: 3rd person

Characters/types: Lambert Strether is the protagonist. Mrs. Newsome is the antagonist.

Figurative Language/literary devices: note extensive uses as well as describing the overall effect.
In The Ambassadors, the thoughts of the characters are described in detail. The environment the characters function in is also extremely detailed. The description provides the reader with an image of Paris at the local level. It gives the reader a chance to see the events of everyday life in Paris and how it contrasts with life in the town where the characters are from.

1. Which element was the most important to the development of the novel? Explain why.
The element most important to the plot was Mr. Strether’s trip to Europe. It is the most important because the story develops from his adventures in Paris in his attempt to bring Chad back to his town.

2. Identify the elements of plot below. Justify your answer.

A. initial incident
The initial incident is when Strether goes to Europe. It is the initial incident because it sets the story in motion.

B. Climax
The climax of the story is when Strether and Chad are talking about going back to America. This is the climax because he begins to convince Chad to go back to see his mother.

3. Give example of conflict. Identify the type of conflict and how it is / why it is not resolved.
An example of external conflict is that Chad must be convinced to return to America. It is not resolved because at the end of the story Strether is leaving and Chad is still in Paris.

4. Give an example of irony from the novel. Identify the type and explain how or why it is ironic.
An example of situational irony is when Strether delays his and Chad’s return to America. This is ironic because Strether was supposed to bring Chad back home but instead he is keeping him in Paris.

5. Identify a flashback from the novel and explain the effect of the use of this device.
An example of flashback is when Strether tells his story to Miss Gostrey about why he is in Paris. It shows why Strether is in Paris and what he is trying to do.

6. Give an example of foreshadowing from the novel. Explain the effect of the use of this device.
An example of foreshadowing is when Strether realizes that Chad is not corrupted as he had thought. It made him begin to accept Paris life.

7. From what point of view is the story told? What effect does this point of view have on the reader?
The story is told from the third person point of view. The effect is that it lets the reader know what the characters are thinking and what is going to happen.

8.Describe the setting of the novel.
The setting of the novel takes place in Paris. The story is mostly set in the streets and restaurants in Paris. The setting in Paris allows the author to try and show what living in Paris is like.

9. Identify two major characters from the novel. For each character: A. Identify the type. B. Give three quotes, with page numbers, which illustrates the character.
Character one: Lambert Strether
A. Protagonist
B. “A man of five-and –fifty, whose most immediate signs were a marked bloodless brownness of face, a thick dark moustache, of characteristically American cut…”(Pg. 58)

“He would have done anything for Mrs. Newsome.”(Pg. 115)

“But it now for the time put Strether vastly at his ease to have this view of a new way.”(Pg. 146)

Character two: Chad Newsome
A. Main Character
B. “Chad behaved, looked and spoke as if he were rather heavily, perhaps even a trifle gloomily, but none the less fundamentally and comfortably free.”(Pg.175)

“Chad was brown and thick and strong, and of old Chad had been rough.”(Pg.166)

“He had therefore, further, not at that moment acknowledged the amenity added by this acceptance of his awkwardness to Chad’s general patience.”(Pg.155)

10. Give a one sentence statement of theme for the novel.
A person should live how he wants to live.

11. Identify one symbol from the novel and explain the symbolism.
A symbol from the novel are the letters sent by Strether and Mrs. Newsome. The letters symbolize the control that Mrs. Newsome has even though she is far away from Strether.

12. Identify one allusion from the novel and explain the allusion.
An allusion from the story is the reference to the Notre Dame cathedral. It shows the beauty of Paris in the form of a cathedral.

13. Identify six different types of figurative language or literary devices used in the novel. For each type: A. Identify type. B. Give a quote with page number. C. Explain the effect.

1. A. Allusion
B. “He had been to Notre Dame with Waymarsh, he had been there with Miss Gostrey, he had been there, with Chad Newsome…”(Pg. 271)
C. The effect is that they have visited Notre Dame in Paris because they wanted to see the sites in Paris.

2. A. External Conflict
B. “Mr. Chad may after all go back.”(Pg. 509)
C. The effect is that the conflict is not totally resolved.

3. A. Symbolism
B. “This morning there were letters-letters which had reached London, apparently all together, the day of Strether’s journey.”(Pg. 110)
C. The effect is that it shows that Mrs. Newsome was sending instructions to Strether.

4. A. Irony
B. “I’ve stopped him. That is for the time.”(Pg. 298)
C. The effect is that Strether is delaying his return to America so he can stay in Europe longer.

5. A. Direct Characterization
B. “Chad was brown and thick and strong, and of old Chad had been rough.”(Pg.166)
C. The effect is that it describes how Chad looks now and how it is different from what he was before.

6. A. Imagery
B. “Sudden flights of fancy in Louvre galleries, hungry gazes through clear plates behind which lemon coloured volumes were as fresh as fruit on the tree.”(Pg. 116)
C. The effect is that it describes some of the action that takes place in Paris.