Four Meetings written by Henry James is a simple but very touching story which hovers ambiguously between a comic and a tragic tone. As so frequently in James’s work, there is an ‘International’ element to the tale – in this case the powerful attraction which European culture had for Americans. The tension between pathos and bitter irony make it difficult to tell if the story is meant to be taken as mild satire or a form of grim and off-colour humour. 

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