HENRY James's The American incorporates so many conventions of the novel and the romance in such a bewildering manner that critics have been understandably preoccupied with assessing the formal consequences. The “international theme” has remained just that – a theme that helps critics organize the otherwise disparate parts of a work that begins realistically, only to end with a flurry of melodramatic events. Yet, the political and historical aspects of the international theme were of considerable importance to Henry James as he began work on The American in the winter of 1875–6. Having ventured to become recognized as an international writer, James was personally concerned with exploring the national constraints that he would have to overcome.

Choosing to live in Europe, James was attempting to overcome the narrow provincialism that he imagined had limited Hawthorne's achievement. By the same token, James did not want to surrender those American qualities he considered necessary for the development of a truly international outlook.