The Beast in the Jungle by Henry James, first published in 1903, centers on the relationship between John Marcher, a man haunted by the premonition that his life will be defined by some catastrophic event, and May Bartram. James’s narrative dissects the psychological effects of fear and anticipation by focusing on his characters’ inner lives and existential musings. The tale is an internalized ghost story wherein Marcher’s fears become self-fulfilling prophecies of loss. The third-person narration underlines the degree to which Marcher remains alienated not only from those closest to him but also from himself. His life, as James represents it, is characterized by unmet potential and missed opportunities that affect May Bartram as well. Ultimately, John Marcher seals his fate with the true “Beast”: the devastating realization that he has failed to appreciate his own life while waiting attentively for some phantom calamity.

This guide refers to a 2020 independently published edition of The Beast in the Jungle, which is based on the original text.

Plot Summary

The Beast in the Jungle begins at a country house, where civil servant John Marcher encounters May Bartram, a woman he vaguely recognizes. When they speak, he claims that he remembers her well, describing having met her in Rome eight years before. May is pleased that he remembers who she is but points out that they actually met in Naples 10 years ago. She goes on to describe their encounter in far more detail than Marcher remembers. Although they do not speak of it, both May and Marcher are attracted to the other person.

After recalling further details about Italy, May reveals that she remembers the secret Marcher told her. After a moment of confusion, Marcher realizes what she means. He had told her then that he has always held a deep-seated belief that some significant event—what he calls the “Beast in the Jungle”—awaits him in his future. Surprised that he had been so candid, Marcher admits that he continues to hold this belief. He refutes May’s suggestion that the Beast represents the “familiar” danger of falling in love, claiming that his experience of that event has not been “overwhelming.” Marcher then invites May to join him in waiting to see what the event will be, and she accepts his offer.

After inheriting money from her aunt, May buys a house in London. She and Marcher meet regularly for many years, endlessly discussing what the great event could be. Sometimes, Marcher suspects that May knows what is coming and that she is refusing to tell him because it is too terrible. May repeatedly denies that this is the case. As the years pass, Marcher realizes how much his fixation occupies May’s life and how much she sacrifices for him. Guiltily, he realizes that May is not only the one person who knows why he behaves so strangely but also the person who spends her time making him appear less strange, even though it makes her look a little strange herself as a result. Recognizing her significance to him, Marcher worries about what he would do if he lost her. When May contracts a blood disorder, Marcher frets that she might die before she finds out what the great event is. Perhaps, he worries, her death might be that event. Finally, he worries that he is too old, and the event might never happen.

On one visit to May, who has grown very sick, Marcher declares that she knows something that he does not and implores her to reveal it. May refuses to tell him and, moving close to him, says that it is never too late. Despite May’s condition, Marcher remains focused on himself and still largely relates to May only in terms of what assurances or respite he might get from her. At a later meeting, when May is clearly dying, she explains to him that the event has already happened. He will never be aware of what the event was and should simply make his peace with this fact. Marcher feels distraught that the event has passed him by.

When May dies, Marcher finds himself displaced by her distant family; because they were not married, others cannot fathom the significance of their relationship. He becomes increasingly obsessed with trying to decipher exactly what May believed the great event to have been. He visits May’s grave, seeking some kind of revelation from the place, but receiving no message and reaching no conclusions. Throughout his subsequent world travels, he continues to find his life empty and lacking. He still feels that he is different from everyone else, but he no longer has the justification for this feeling that his prediction of the great event had once provided.

When he returns to London, Marcher visits May’s grave every month, gaining a vague sense of being alive by knowing that he used to live his life with her. On one visit, he encounters a man returning from visiting a different grave. The man’s obvious mourning stuns Marcher to the recognition that he has never felt such passion. As a result, he had never managed to love May as he might have done. Throughout their long relationship, Marcher had loved May because she knew his secret. He had only loved her in relation to himself and never for who she was. With this insight, Marcher finally sees that his “Beast in the Jungle” was his failure to pursue the opportunities life had laid before him in favor of chasing an ill-defined destiny. Even when May explicitly told him that it was not too late, he still missed his chance because of his egoism. In a desperate bid to feel alive, he tries to experience the full horror and pain of this sudden understanding, but he still cannot fully embrace such a passionate thought. The story ends with Marcher breaking down, despairing, on May’s grave.