How did Henry James use a limited point of view in What Maisie Knew?

In What Maisie Knew (1897), Henry James employs a limited point of view by centering the narrative on the perspective of Maisie, a preadolescent girl caught in the turmoil of her parents' divorce and subsequent remarriages.1

By restricting the point of view to Maisie’s vantage point, James avoids the intrusive, omniscient narration common in earlier 19th-century fiction, which he believed could undermine the illusion of reality. Instead, the reader experiences the complex, often adult-driven conflicts of the novel through the intuitive but limited understanding of a child. This technique allows James to explore the psychology of his characters and the impact of external events on an individual’s consciousness, a hallmark of his transition toward Modernism. Because Maisie is not omniscient, the narrative presents a markedly partial view of events, forcing the reader to interpret the adult world through her developing awareness and her search for emotional stability with her governess, Mrs. Wix.231