Henry James`s last completed novel, The Golden Bowl, is the story of two flawed marriages. The lives and relationship of Maggie Verver and her widowed American millionaire father, Adam, are changed and challenged by the beautiful and charming Charlotte Stant, who is the former lover of Maggie`s husband, the impoverished Italian, Prince Amerigo. The narrative is underpinned by complex symbolism. The gilded crystal bowl with its almost invisible flaw is the vehicle which James crystal bowl with its almost invisible flaw is the vehicle which James subtly uses to reveal past misdemeanors and make his characters face their own defects in this classic tale of redemption.