The Ambassadors Admiration Quotes

Way back at the beginning of this book, Strether firmly agrees with Mrs. Newsome that Chad is an irresponsible little jerk and that he has tainted Mrs. Newsome's "admirable" life by taking off to Paris. Of course, no one knows what Chad is actually doing in Paris. But at this point, Strether admires Mrs. Newsome so much that he assumes anything keeping Chad away from her must be evil in some way.

When Maria Gostrey asks him if he admires Mamie Pocock, Strether totally dodges the question and jokes that he admires all pretty young women. But what he's actually saying through his silence is that he mostly thinks of Mamie as eye candy and doesn't necessarily respect her. That'll change once he gets to know her better. But for the time being, he doesn't think much of her beyond her physical beauty.

When he first encounters Chad, Strether feels like his brain is broken. He has been so dead-set on finding Chad living a terrible life of sin that he can't even comprehend the fact that Chad has turned into a distinguished young gentleman. His admiration for Mrs. Newsome won't really allow him to accept Chad's makeover at first. But over time, Strether will learn to admire Chad even more than Mrs. Newsome.

When Strether thinks of Chad as a pagan, it's not an insult. Rather, Chad has shown Strether that his normal "Christian" way of looking at the world is totally prejudiced because it tries to fit everything into narrow categories of good and bad. Chad, though, experiences each new thing without prejudice, and it doesn't take Strether long to decide that this is simply a better way to live.

Strether's first encounter with Gloriani, the super-famous artist, gives another significant shock to his sense of admiration. He's been trained by Mrs. Newsome to reject everything he encounters in Europe. But Gloriani is so undeniably charming and talented that Strether feels himself admiring the man, even though he's pretty sure there's some immorality lurking beneath. He knows he should stay strong, but resisting someone like Gloriani is a test he might not be able to pass.

When Strether sits down with the little artist named Bilham, he can't hold back his admiration for Chad, and he goes so far as to say that he wants to be like Chad. Big switch, Streth. This is a pretty bold thing to say, since this is when Strether still considers it his mission to drag Chad back to America—but it's to a family he's starting to admire less and less.

Strether is supposed to resist liking Madame de Vionnet. But he can't help but feel gratitude toward her because of the amazing change she has brought about in Chad's personality. He also expresses his admiration directly when he tells her he knows how much Chad owes her. In fact, Strether even feels like he owes Madame something for the changes she's managed to bring about in him, too.

At first, Strether doubts that Sarah Pocock has been as impressed as he has with Chad's personal transformation. But on the contrary, says little Bilham, Sarah admires Chad way too much to ever admit it. In fact, it's because she admires him so much that she wants to bring him back home to America. She feels that the small town of Woollett deserves to bask in his charm more than the people of Paris. Take that, Paree.

Sarah Pocock does not take it well when Strether compares Madame de Vionnet's charms to those of Mrs. Newsome. Unlike Strether, Sarah will never admit to the fact that Chad's life in Paris is lightyears better than life in Woollett. Plus, Sarah is dedicated to the idea that her mother is the most admirable person in the world and that anyone who disagrees is evil. So yeah, it's kind of tough to prove her wrong when she's determined not to be open-minded.

It becomes clear from Sarah that Mrs. Newsome feels like she's been insulted by Strether's admiration for the new Chad. It's like Mrs. Newsome is telling him he can only admire one or the other—not both. In his classic way, Strether meets this accusation by saying that he has always shown admiration for Mrs. Newsome. This answer isn't good enough for Sarah, though.