Chapters in a short story

Sometimes a Short-story is divided, as it were, into chapters. The divisions are marked by a row of asterisks, by Roman numerals, or simply by breaks in the pages. Although they appear in many good stories — in those of Henry James almost without exception — they are usually to be avoided. Where there seems to be a complete change in scene and a full break in the line of thought, they are excusable. The break would be all the more evident were one to reach it with- out a warning signal. In Mrs. Knollys, the divisions represent complete stages in the life of the main character; hence the breaks do not seem to jar
or to interfere with the story's totality. If the divisions represent only passage of time, they retard the movement and are in most cases worse than useless. Time intervals can generally be bridged over by a phrase or a sentence; sometimes they may be simply ignored. If a story can be built without chapters, it is a sore mistake to divide it. Even the stories in which a visible break is • necessary seem thereby to lose force. They tempt the reader to take a rest; for if the story is in no hurry, why should he be? The divided story is, at least, liable to fail of producing a single impression.