The Aspern Papers
Suspicions of Miss Bordereau
In Henry James The Aspern Papers, the narrator attempts to disguise himself in order to stay at Miss Bordereaus old palace, hoping to obtain the literary remains of Jeffery Aspern, one of the most brilliant and handsomest poets of his days. The narrator uses Miss Tina, Miss Bordereaus niece, to get more information on the whereabouts of the papers. Throughout the story, Miss Bordereau is suspicious of the narrator and creates several traps for him to fall into.
When the narrator first meets Miss Bordereau, he asks if he can rent a few rooms. During their first encounter, Miss Bordereau already seems suspicious of the narrator. The narrator says that he loves flowers, so Miss Bordereau asks, “If youre so fond of a garden why dont you go to terra firma, where there are so many far better than this” (62). Miss Bordereau begins to wonder why the narrator is so eager to stay at her old palace. Nobody ever comes by the palace. It is old and almost seems deserted. Miss Bordereau tells the narrator that she has not been on a gondola for many years and the narrator
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