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The Subtext of Crime in Henry James's Fiction:The Portrait of a Lady and The Golden BowlEunmi NohHenry James's portrayal of society was exerted in a far more realist vein than he is usually credited for. Exploring the realms of the human mind and morality, James has proved to be a superb historian of his day. James's initial idealization of human possibility is constantly offset and re-examined in the context of the moral and social exigencies of life existing in reality. James sees far beyond the faces of social forms and cultures to expose the deep-seated "otherness" a society carries on within its conventions.Investigating the subtext of crime running through James's fiction, this paper aims to discuss the role of James as a cultural socialist. The Portrait of a Lady and The Golden Bowl show how consistently and how seriously James's critique on his contemporaries was carried out through his literature. James places upper middle class people in the fronts of the two novels. However, he soberly scrutinizes the moral and social transactions of his characters in a more private sphere to disclose the pervasive exploitations existing in the net of human relations. James shows that the important thing is how well one is equipped to recognize such contingencies of life.