75 pages 2 hours read

Henry James

The Bostonians

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1886

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Book First: Chapters 1-3 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book First: Chapter 1 Summary

Basil Ransom, a young man from Mississippi, waits in a Boston drawing room for his cousin Olive Chancellor, whom he has never met. Olive’s unabashed older sister Mrs. Luna joins him and informs him that Olive frequently attends “weird meetings” attended by “roaring radicals” (7). Basil is dismayed to learn that Olive is a feminist but figures he should not be surprised considering she lives in Boston, “the city of reform” (7).

Mrs. Luna asks Basil if he has been to Europe. He does not “go out much, except to the courts” (8)—Chapter 2 will reveal that he has moved from Mississippi to New York to begin a law practice. Mrs. Luna notes that she and her sister “disagree so much” (8). Mrs. Luna lived in Europe for years, but after the death of her husband a month ago, she came home to New York with her son Newton. She is currently visiting her sister.

Olive enters the room and greets Basil. Mrs. Luna leaves for a theater party and tells Olive to inform Basil that she is “a painted Jezebel” (9).

Related Titles

By Henry James

SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Henry James
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Henry James
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Henry James
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
STUDY + TEACHING GUIDE
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Henry James
Guide cover placeholder
SuperSummary Logo
Study Guide
Henry James
Guide cover image
SuperSummary Logo
Plot Summary
Henry James
Guide cover placeholder