“The Jolly Corner” is an unusual ghost story in that the entity haunting the titular home is not dead. Rather, it is Spencer Brydon’s alter ego—someone who never existed. The story is therefore, in large part, an exploration of The Fear of Missed Opportunity, and many of the details of its exposition establish this theme. Chapter 1 follows Brydon as he returns to New York after decades abroad. He is in his mid-fifties and therefore poised to begin looking back on his life, and the clear contrast Henry James draws between Europe and the US delineates two distinct life paths: the leisurely decadence of his travels overseas, which he describes as a “selfish frivolous scandalous life” (Chapter 1, Paragraph 26), versus industrious accumulation of wealth as a Gilded Era businessman. His reunion with Alice Staverton and her obvious romantic interest in him also introduce the possibility that he might have married if he stayed in the US.

While Brydon insists that he does not like modern American culture, he quickly becomes obsessed with how life in New York City might have shaped him. His fascination likely stems in part from real dissatisfaction with how he has led his life; his references to his time in Europe are consistently disparaging and hint at behavior he is ashamed of.