Writers and Fantasies

Writers must have moral obligations. If writing isn't a moral act, then is there even a point? Well, maybe that depends on your idea of morality and aesthetics. I'm currently reading The Portrait of a Lady (from my list!), and I think there's a passage there that can be read as a meta-fictional discussion of the rights and wrongs of writing about rich people. Or, rather, a justification of writing about rich people, which is what James does.

Ralph is convincing his father to leave a large part of his fortune to the heroine, Isabel. Here's what he says:

"I take a great interest in my cousn," he said, "but not the sort of interest you desire. I shall not live many years; but I hope I shall live long enough to see what she does with herself. She's entirely independent of me; I can exercise very little influence upon her life. But I should like to do something for her."
"What should you like to do?"
"I should like to put a little wind in her sails."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I should like to put it into her power to do some of the things she wants. She wants to see the world for instance. I should like to put money in her purse."

Now the point of the novel, at least so far (and to judge from the title), is the creation of this wonderful character, this perfect woman. When we make these people, wouldn't we all like to put some wind in their sails? We might even come to have little influence on our own characters - after all, can you have much influence on your own ideal woman? - but we can at least change the world around them, and see how they act in it.

"I call people rich when they're able to meet the requirements of their imagination. Isabel has a great deal of imagination." [...]
"Well, I don't know," Mr Touchett answered. "I don't think I enter into your spirit. It seems to me immoral."
"Immoral, dear daddy?"
"Well, I don't know that it's right to make everything so easy for a person."
"It surely depends upon the person. When the person's good, your making things easy is all to the credit of virtue. To facilitate the execution of good impulses, what can be a nobler act?"