Hauntings in James Ivory’s Howards End

Abstract

Despite its apparent claims to modernity in style and subject, James Ivory’s Howards End can be viewed in terms of a deconstructionist approach that pays attention to the presence of themes and figures of spectrality. First seen as an opposition between characters who embody contrasting existential attitudes, spectrality also—above all—governs their mode of presence and presentation on screen. Ultimately, this reveals Ivory’s subtle way to intimate the elusive nature of his own creation as mere projection.

Keywords

• ghosts
• spectrality
• cinematic apparatus
• Ivory (James)
• Derrida (Jacques)
• deconstruction