The Ethics of Literary Scholarship
A central question in The Aspern Papers is that of the ethics surrounding literary scholarship. What boundaries should the literary scholar or biographer respect when seeking out information? What kinds of things is it acceptable for a biographer to do in pursuit of information? This theme is manifested in the morally dubious nature of the unnamed narrator, who goes to lengths that some may view as unethical in his quest to access Aspern's letters, lying and manipulating Juliana and Miss Tita and taking advantage of Miss Tita's naiveté. James based The Aspern Papers on an incident involving letters exchanged between the poet Lord Byron and his former lover, Claire Clairmont, who was also the subject of the plot of a fan (Captain Edward Augustus Silsbee) to obtain letters exchanged between the two in order to learn more about his poet-idol of choice, Byron's close friend Percy Shelley.
Romantic Idealization of the Past
The narrator is deeply attached to the Romantic ideals that Jeffrey Aspern, an "American Byron" figure, represents. The fictional Aspern belongs to the same school of Romantic poets as Lord Byron, whose work is often cited as representative of the Romantic poets. The Romantics reacted against the rationalism of the Enlightenment, and much of their poetry focuses on themes of nature, melancholy, and the "sublime," a feeling that leads one beyond earthly experience. The narrator frequently references Aspern's poetry as a product of a better time, and romanticizes the Romantic past that Aspern writes about. The narrator's devotion to Aspern's Romanticism creates a level of irony in the story, as the narrator himself seems unable to rise into any form of "sublime" experience and becomes weighed down by his obsession with the past.
American Expatriate Identity
The narrator, Juliana, Miss Tita, and Jeffrey Aspern are all Americans who reside or have resided in Venice. The narrator admits that he was initially drawn to Aspern's poetry for its ability to embody an American perspective on nature and literature, and is motivated to seek out Juliana in part to understand why Aspern would abandon his homeland and venture to Europe. The narrator, Juliana, and Miss Tita all also represent different ways of navigating a foreign land as an expatriate—someone who has settled outside of their native country. The narrator, for example, uses his American identity to try and gain Juliana and Miss Tita's trust, appealing to them as a fellow American expatriate. Much of James's work is notable for its focus on transcontinental figures and expatriate communities in Europe.
Idolization of the Artist
Both the narrator and John Cumnor idolize Jeffrey Aspern as a kind of deity. The narrator routinely uses religious language to refer to Aspern, calling him a god and explaining how he worships Aspern's work, as does John Cumnor. The two men have devoted their lives to the life and work of Aspern, substituting formal religion with a deep devotion to the poet figure. The Aspern Papers pushes the reader to consider the effects of such a substitution. Should the artist be worshipped? What consequences can worship of a once-living person like Aspern lead to? Perhaps obsession, as evidenced by the narrator, who is unable to live happily after the letters are burned and who is haunted by his constant need to know more about Aspern.
Familial Loyalty
As the narrator tries to infiltrate the Bordereaus' privacy in order to get to the letters, Miss Tita is forced to confront her loyalty to her aunt, Juliana. Miss Tita must consider whether she wants to remain isolated within her family unit or help the narrator with his search for the letters, thus betraying her aunt. Over the course of the novella, she goes back and forth and often voices her uncertainty aloud in short bursts of dialogue that manifest her internal conflict to the narrator. In the end, she remains loyal to the memory of her aunt and retaliates against the narrator by burning the letters.
Unreliable Narration
The Aspern Papers uses first-person perspective, giving the reader direct access to the narrator's manipulation of the story as it unfolds. For example, as the novella progresses, the narrator shifts how he describes his attitude towards Miss Tita, growing more and more disgusted with her and alleging that he has always felt this way, despite at first viewing her through a more positive lens. As she stands between him and the letters, the narrator begins to grow disenchanted with her and attacks her personal appearance. The first-person narration also allows the reader to fully inhabit the narrator's ethics and logic as he attempts to get the letters. The reader witnesses how the narrator treats lying as a necessary part of his endeavor and views Miss Tita as a pawn within his overall plot, rather than as an individual person—a flaw that then backfires after she burns the letters, asserting her agency.
The Protégé vs. The Master
Throughout many of James’s works, one can often identify the theme of a new, younger, abrasive individual juxtaposed with an older, experienced teacher. In The Aspern Papers, this theme is complicated by the narrator's status as a non-poet. Although the narrator venerates the poet Jeffrey Aspern, he himself is not a poet; instead, he writes biographies. The text often contains ironic references to the narrator's writings, his inability to make a living writing, and his lack of published material that he has finished. The narrator becomes a figure of a failed writer who turns to worshipping a real writer in order to retain a relationship to art, although as the reader witnesses, this relationship is a parasitic one that leads the narrator into near-worship of Aspern with little to show for it.
