Although later critics have often disagreed with James' particular judgments of individual writers or works, almost all acknowledge that James helped to make narrative fiction discussable as one of the fine arts. Partial Portraits contains some of James' most memorable and comprehensive essays on his fellow writers, and with grace and style he took their works seriously as artistic efforts of the first importance.
A personal note is the essay on Constance Fenimore Woolson, a woman who played an important if still uncertain role in James' life. This is the only essay in Partial Portraits on a writer of minor significance, and it has provided grist to the mill of biographical speculation.
