Project Gutenberg 2001-07-01 Public domain in the USA. 569 James, Henry 1843 1916 The Real Thing and Other Tales Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Real_Thing_(story) Transcribed from 1893 Macmillan and Co. edition by David Price. Proofed by Nina Hall, Mohua Sen, Bridie, Francine Smith and David "The Real Thing and Other Tales" by Henry James is a collection of short stories written in the late 19th century. The narratives often explore themes of identity, perception, and the nature of reality through the lens of different characters' experiences, focusing particularly on the complexities of social roles and appearances. The opening of "The Real Thing" presents us with an intriguing scenario involving an artist who is unexpectedly visited by a couple, Major Monarch and his wife. Initially, he assumes they are models seeking to be painted and is surprised to discover that they wish to be illustrated for a book cover rather than portrayed in a grand portrait. As they describe their past life of privilege, now reduced to financial struggles, the artist grapples with his perceptions of them and their unassuming aspirations. This initial encounter sets up an exploration of authenticity versus appearance as he reflects on their suitability as models in his artistic endeavors, noticing that while they represent "the real thing" in many respects, they lack the evocative range necessary for true artistic representation. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 68.6 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en Short stories Married people -- Fiction Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction Social classes -- Fiction Artists -- Fiction Artists' models -- Fiction PS Text Category: Short Stories Category: British Literature 433772 2025-08-02T04:03:33.328526 text/html 446498 2015-02-14T04:18:21 text/html 228818 2025-08-02T04:03:40.092498 application/epub+zip 235063 2025-08-02T04:03:35.352525 application/epub+zip 235063 2025-08-02T04:03:34.079500 application/epub+zip 437770 2025-08-02T04:03:43.882460 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 413981 2025-08-02T04:03:39.333502 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 372000 2022-09-02T05:38:52.884085 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 415408 2025-08-02T04:03:32.734539 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 415476 2015-02-14T04:18:05 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19573 2025-08-02T04:03:44.049456 application/rdf+xml 14916 2025-08-02T04:03:34.647522 image/jpeg 3816 2025-08-02T04:03:34.330516 image/jpeg 155409 2015-02-14T04:20:43 application/octet-stream application/zip 159634 2015-02-14T04:20:43 application/octet-stream application/zip 225173 2025-08-02T04:03:33.369499 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia