The Golden Bowl is a 1904 novel by Henry James. The novel explores the intricacies of marriage and affairs in the early 19th century through the affair of Amerigo and Charlotte, who were once in love but too poor to marry. Amerigo instead marries Maggie, and Charlotte marries Maggie’s father, a wealthy American museum curator. While Amerigo is at first happy with his new wife, the time she spends with her father creates an opportunity for Amerigo and Charlotte to renew their affair without suspicion. Maggie, however, sees a cracked golden bowl while shopping, and the seller later reveals that years earlier, he saw Amerigo and Charlotte talking over the bowl, revealing their affair to Maggie. Maggie devises a plan for her father to return to America with Charlotte, and Amerigo, impressed by his wife, devotes himself to her. The Golden Bowl has been adapted for both film and television.

This guide uses the 2009 Oxford University Press edition.

Content Warning: The source material uses cultural, and antisemitic slurs, which are replicated in this guide only in direct quotes from the source text.

Plot Summary

Amerigo is an aristocratic Italian prince. Though he is related to popes and famous explorers, his family is no longer wealthy. Amerigo is set to marry, Maggie, the daughter of wealthy American museum curator Adam Verver. Adam is a widower, traveling through Europe with his daughter. He collects art pieces, which he wishes to display in his hometown museum. Maggie is Adam's only child, and they are a devoted father and daughter. As the preparations for the wedding begin, Amerigo visits a woman named Fanny Assingham. Fanny was instrumental in introducing Maggie to Amerigo when both were in Rome. In Rome, Amerigo had a brief but serious relationship with a young American woman named Charlotte Stant. They ended their relationship because they were both too poor to marry. Now, Charlotte is visiting London and staying with Fanny and her husband, Bob Assingham. Maggie and Charlotte are long-time friends who have grown apart. Maggie does not know about Charlotte's past with Amerigo. As they meet in Fanny's house, Charlotte asks Amerigo to help her select a wedding present for Maggie. Amerigo agrees.

Amerigo and Charlotte visit a small shop, where they speak to one another in Italian. Interrupting the private conversation, the storekeeper reveals that he also speaks Italian. He shows them a special piece: a golden bowl, which is marred by a near-invisible crack. While Amerigo is unimpressed, Charlotte is intrigued by the item. She examines it closely but cannot afford it. She leaves the store with Amerigo.

Amerigo and Maggie marry and have a child, whom they nickname Principino. After the wedding, however, Maggie begins to spend more time with her father. She feels guilty for abandoning him to spend time with her husband. As a solution, she suggests that her father remarries. She suggests that he invite Charlotte to spend time with him, and Adam soon proposes to Charlotte. Though she is reluctant, as she is still very poor, Adam convinces her to accept his proposal. Even after his marriage, however, Maggie and her father often spend time together, and their respective spouses are left alone together. Charlotte and Amerigo frequently attend social events together after both Maggie and Adam withdraw from society. Charlotte and Amerigo renew their love affair. They take a day trip to Gloucester after a weekend away with friends. The extent of their affair remains ambiguous, but they seem devoted to one another. Fanny Assingham notices their renewed intimacy but, though she is concerned about Maggie, does not feel that she can intervene.

Over time, Maggie becomes increasingly suspicious of her husband and stepmother. While searching for a gift for her father, she visits the same store that Charlotte and Amerigo visited in search of a wedding present. She is also struck by the golden bowl and purchases it. However, the storekeeper feels ashamed of the high price that he charged Maggie for the flawed item, so he visits her house to apologize. While there, he notices the photographs of Amerigo and Charlotte. He recalls seeing them several years earlier, which reveals to Maggie that Charlotte and Amerigo had a prior relationship that they renewed—unbeknownst to her—after the wedding. When Maggie shares her concerns with Fanny, Fanny smashes the golden bowl. Amerigo walks into the chaotic scene and speaks to Maggie. He maintains his innocence, but Maggie remains suspicious. Since she still loves her husband and does not want to disappoint her father, she devises a plan.

Maggie, Amerigo, Charlotte, and Adam stay at the family house in the country. While they are entertaining guests, Maggie tells Charlotte that she does not harbor any grudges, hiding her knowledge of the affair. Maggie convinces her father that he and Charlotte should return to America as soon as possible, which he does, separating Maggie and Amerigo.

The success of the plan impresses Amerigo. He previously considered such cunning to be beneath his wife, who he now sees in an entirely new light. Adam and Charlotte leave for America, unaware of Maggie's knowledge of the affair. Amerigo devotes his full attention, at last, to Maggie.