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Johnson, Roy. "The Real Thing - a Tutorial, Study Guide & Critical Commentary." Mantex The Real Thing Comments. Mantex, 25 Jan. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2015.
James, Henry. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 2. New York:
W. W. Norton, 2013. 366-383. Print.
"The Real Thing"
James plays on the the meaning of "the real thing" throughout the story. The Monarchs may be the the real thing when it comes to higher society ordeals but Miss Churm and Oronte are the real deal when it comes to portraying higher society in images.
Irony
The Monarchs fall from their aristocratic position more than by simply losing their money. In the end, they become the narrator's servants thus losing their graces as well.
The narrator, an unnamed illustrator and painter, hires a genteel couple as models, after they have lost most of their money and must find some line of work. They are the "real thing" in that they perfectly represent the aristocratic type, but prove inflexible for the painter's work. He relies much more on two lower-class subjects who are more capable.
The narrator must get rid of the Monarchs after his friend and fellow artist, Jack Hawley, criticizes the work in which the Monarchs are represented. Hawley says that the pair has hurt the narrator's art, perhaps permanently. In the final line of the story the narrator says he is "content to have paid the price—for the memory."