This type of manipulation begins with the narrator and the very reason for his visit. The manipulation continues as the narrator ingratiates himself to Tita and her aunt. He is very calculating and he does not seem to mind admitting this. He may be sad about the aunt's death, but it does not take him a long time to get on his original track. Leon Edel contend that the novel moves, "with the rhythmic pace and tension of a mystery story; and the double climax - the unmasking of the 'publishing scoundrel' and the proposal made to him by the middle-aged niece, that he marry her and receive the Aspern papers as a 'dowry'" (Edel) give the story "high drama" (Edel). The drama is surprising and that makes the story more believable and even shocking.

Daniel Schneider notes that the Aspern Papers is about "life and liberty vs. death and enslavement" (Schneider 47). This is true and certainly something we see unfold by the end of the novel. None of the characters, save the aunt, actually get what it is they want. The narrator begins on a search that may give him life but he only becomes a victim of death and enslavement - all brought on primarily by the aunt. Tita is enslaved as well because she cannot have what she wants even with the most precious bargaining chip she owns.

The Aspern Papers illustrates the complexity...

It is wise to operate under the assumption that something else is going on. The narrator, Tita, and her aunt are three characters that possess their own motive and they will not budge in regards to this. These characters demonstrate that relations among people can be very complicated because people let their selfish desires and needs get in the way. In short, what we learn from this novel is that people cannot be trusted - even we think we can trust someone, we should be wary. While this is not a nice commentary on man, it is accurate and should be taken to heart because people rarely change.
Works Cited

Brown, Ellen. "Revising Henry James: Reading the Spaces of the Aspern Papers." EBSCO Resource Database. www.searchepnet.com Site Accessed April 04, 2008.

Edel, Leon. Henry James. Scribner's Literary Resource Database. http://www.infotrac.galegroup.com Site Accessed April 04, 2008.

James, Henry. The Aspern Papers. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library Online. http://etext.virginia.edu Site Accessed April 03, 2008.

Schneider, Daniel. The Unreliable Narrator: James's "The Aspern Papers" and the Reading of Fiction." EBSCO Resource Database. www.searchepnet.com Site Accessed April 04, 2008.