James: her opening so straight down

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

I'm not quite getting this:
"her [Sarah] opening so straight down, as it were, into her mother,
and that, given Mrs. Newsome's profundity, the shaft thus sunk might
well have a reach;"

I understand it has some connection with Sarah being a true daughter
of Mrs. Newsome, i.e. a tough woman herself.

Is this related to her being "deep?" And does "deep" mean "wise? or
"unfathomable?"

---
[Sarah's Mrs. Newsome daughter, and seemingly as tough as her mother.
She's come to Paris to check up on Stether's, her mother's initial
"ambassador" there.]

By the time he had explained to her why his impressions, though
multiplied, still baffled him, it was as if he had been familiarly
talking for hours. They baffled him because Sarah—well, Sarah was
deep, deeper than she had ever yet had a chance to show herself. He
didn't say that this was partly the effect of her opening so straight
down, as it were, into her mother, and that, given Mrs. Newsome's
profundity, the shaft thus sunk might well have a reach; but he wasn't
without a resigned apprehension that, at such a rate of confidence
between the two women, he was likely soon to be moved to show how
already, at moments, it had been for him as if he were dealing
directly with Mrs. Newsome. Sarah, to a certainty, would have begun
herself to feel it in him—and this naturally put it in her power to
torment him the more.

Henry James, The Ambassadors, p. 250
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/432/432-h/432-h.htm
---
--
Thanks.
Marius Hancu

[Pat Durkin]

"Marius Hancu" <marius...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:410e66a1-2089-4040...@p36g2000vbn.googlegroups.com...
Hello:

I'm not quite getting this:
"her [Sarah] opening so straight down, as it were, into her mother,
and that, given Mrs. Newsome's profundity, the shaft thus sunk might
well have a reach;"

I understand it has some connection with Sarah being a true daughter
of Mrs. Newsome, i.e. a tough woman herself.

Is this related to her being "deep?" And does "deep" mean "wise? or
"unfathomable?"

I think the reference is to the openness and transparency of Sarah, to
the point that her resemblance to her mother is obvious. Her very
personness is identical to her mothers personality, so that in dealing
with her (Sarah), the narrator can't separate his relations with her
from his relations with her mother (using "relations" as I think James
used it).

He identifies Sarah with her mother, and feels that she now has the
same power over him that her mother had, and Sarah is aware of this.

[Marius Hancu]

On Nov 21, 4:59 pm, "Pat Durkin" <durki...@msn.com> wrote:

>> I'm not quite getting this:

> >"her[Sarah] opening so straight down, as it were,into her mother,

>> and that, given Mrs. Newsome's profundity, the shaft thus sunk might
>> well have a reach;"
>>
>> I understand it has some connection with Sarah being a true daughter
> >of Mrs. Newsome, i.e. a tough woman herself.
>>
> >Is this related to her being "deep?" And does "deep" mean "wise? or
> >"unfathomable?"
>
> I think the reference is to the openness and transparency of Sarah, to
> the point that her resemblance to her mother is obvious.

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

[CDB]

Marius Hancu wrote:
> On Nov 21, 4:59 pm, "Pat Durkin" <durki...@msn.com> wrote:
>
>>> I'm not quite getting this:
>>> "her[Sarah] opening so straight down, as it were,into her mother,
>>> and that, given Mrs. Newsome's profundity, the shaft thus sunk
>>> might well have a reach;"
>>>
>>> I understand it has some connection with Sarah being a true
>>> daughter of Mrs. Newsome, i.e. a tough woman herself.
>>>
>>> Is this related to her being "deep?" And does "deep" mean "wise?
>>> or "unfathomable?"
>>

The latter, I think, although maybe also "powerful and possessed of
great resources", from the rest of the excerpt you supplied; but the
former might be the reason for it.

>
>> I think the reference is to the openness and transparency of
>> Sarah, to the point that her resemblance to her mother is obvious.
>

Another possibility is that James is saying Sarah is deep partly
because she has her mother's depths to supplement her own. A version
of "standing on the shoulders of giants", as you might say.