The Figure In The Carpet Meaning

The figure in the carpet is a short story sometimes considered a novella by american writer henry james first published in 1896.

The figure in the carpet meaning. Vereker is upset because the critics fail to grasp the deeper meaning in his works. P 365 the work of a literary critic in vereker s eyes is to find the figure in the carpet. But when he meets the author in person at a social event vereker tells him that whilst the review is intelligent he has missed the hidden underlying issue which informs all of his writing. The author says that his secret is like a complex figure in a persian carpet.

The figure in the carpet plot summary an un named literary critic feels he has successfully reviewed the latest work of hugh vereker a distinguished novelist. Considered to be a self revelation of the author this is the narrative of an earnest young critic s study of the works of the brilliant novelist hugh vereker his search for the figure in the carpet which vereker tells him cryptically is the key to an appreciation of his books although no one has yet understood it. And yet the story in which the idiom was born henry james s 1896 tale the figure in the carpet refuses to open itself up to easy interpretations or analysis. Which is to say that what a literary critic and readers of literature should do is to look for a deeper meaning or context in works of literature.

In the story a magazine critic of novels meets his favorite author and becomes obsessed with his discovery that the author told him that he placed secret meaning in all his works a meaning that the critic never saw.