The Portrait of a Lady

This article is about the Henry James novel. For other uses, see The Portrait of a Lady (disambiguation).
The Portrait of a Lady

First edition (US)
Author Henry James
Country United Kingdom
United States
Language English
Publisher Houghton, Mifflin and Company, Boston
Macmillan and Co., London
Publication date
 29 October 1881 (Houghton)
16 November 1881 (Macmillan)
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages Houghton: 520
Macmillan: volume one, 266; volume two, 253; volume three, 248
ISBN NA

The Portrait of a Lady is a novel by Henry James, first published as a serial in The Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan's Magazine in 1880–81 and then as a book in 1881. It is one of James's most popular long novels, and is regarded by critics as one of his finest.

The Portrait of a Lady is the story of a spirited young American woman, Isabel Archer, who in "affronting her destiny",[1] finds it overwhelming. She inherits a large amount of money and subsequently becomes the victim of Machiavellian scheming by two American expatriates. Like many of James's novels, it is set in Europe, mostly England and Italy. Generally regarded as the masterpiece of James's early period,[2] this novel reflects James's continuing interest in the differences between the New World and the Old, often to the detriment of the former. It also treats in a profound way the themes of personal freedom, responsibility, and betrayal.

Plot summary

Isabel Archer, originally from Albany, New York, is invited by her maternal aunt, Lydia Touchett, to visit Lydia's rich husband Daniel at his estate near London, following the death of Isabel's father. There, she meets her cousin Ralph Touchett, her friendly invalid uncle, and the Touchetts' robust neighbor, Lord Warburton. Isabel later declines Warburton's sudden proposal of marriage. She also rejects the hand of Caspar Goodwood, the charismatic son and heir of a wealthy Boston mill owner. Although Isabel is drawn to Caspar, her commitment to her independence precludes such a marriage, which she feels would demand the sacrifice of her freedom. The elder Touchett grows ill and, at the request of his son, leaves much of his estate to Isabel upon his death.

With her large legacy, Isabel travels the Continent and meets an American expatriate, Gilbert Osmond, in Florence. Although Isabel had previously rejected both Warburton and Goodwood, she accepts Osmond's proposal of marriage. She is unaware that this marriage has been actively promoted by the accomplished but untrustworthy Madame Merle, another American expatriate, whom Isabel had met at the Touchetts' estate.

Isabel and Osmond settle in Rome, but their marriage rapidly sours due to Osmond's overwhelming egotism and his lack of genuine affection for his wife. Isabel grows fond of Pansy, Osmond's presumed daughter by his first marriage, and wants to grant her wish to marry Edward Rosier, a young art collector. The snobbish Osmond would rather that Pansy accept the proposal of Warburton, who had previously proposed to Isabel. Isabel suspects, however, that Warburton may just be feigning interest in Pansy to get close to Isabel again.

The conflict creates even more strain within the unhappy marriage. Isabel then learns that Ralph is dying at his estate in England and prepares to go to him for his final hours, but Osmond selfishly opposes this plan. Meanwhile, Isabel learns from her sister-in-law that Pansy is actually the daughter of Madame Merle, who had an adulterous relationship with Osmond for several years.

Isabel pays a final visit to Pansy, who desperately begs her to return some day, something Isabel reluctantly promises. She then leaves, without telling her spiteful husband, to comfort the dying Ralph in England, where she remains until his death. Goodwood encounters her at Ralph's estate and begs her to leave Osmond and come away with him. He passionately embraces and kisses her, but Isabel flees. Goodwood seeks her out the next day, but is told she has set off again for Rome. The ending is ambiguous, and the reader is left to imagine whether Isabel returned to Osmond to suffer out her marriage in noble tragedy (perhaps for Pansy's sake) or whether she is going to rescue Pansy and leave Osmond.

Major themes

James's first idea for The Portrait of a Lady was simple: a young American woman affronting her destiny, whatever it might be. Only then did he begin to form a plot to bring out the character of his central figure. This was the uncompromising story of the free-spirited Isabel losing her freedom—despite (or because of) suddenly coming into a great deal of money—and getting "ground in the very mill of the conventional".[3] It is a rather existentialist novel , as Isabel is very committed to living with the consequences of her choice with integrity but also a sort of stubbornness.

Literary significance and criticism

The Portrait of a Lady received critical acclaim since its first publication in the pages of The Atlantic Monthly, and it remains the most popular of James's longer fictions. Contemporary critics recognized that James had pushed the analysis of human consciousness and motivation to new levels, particularly in such passages as the famous Chapter 42, where Isabel meditates deep into the night about her marriage and the trap she seems to have fallen into. James made an in-depth account of Isabel's deepest terrors in his preface to the New York Edition of the novel.

More recent criticism has come at the novel from feminists. In particular, Isabel's final return to Osmond has fascinated critics, who have debated whether James sufficiently justifies this seemingly paradoxical rejection of freedom. One interpretation is that Isabel not only feels as honor-bound to the promise she has made to stepdaughter Pansy as she does to Osmond, but also considers that the scene her "unacceptable" trip to England will create with Osmond will leave her in a more justifiable position to abandon her dreadful marriage.

The extensive revisions James made for the 1908 New York Edition have generally been accepted as improvements, unlike the changes in other texts, such as The American or Roderick Hudson. The revision of the final scene between Isabel and Goodwood has been especially applauded. As Edward Wagenknecht noted, James "makes it as clear as any modern novelist could make it by using all the four-letter words in the dictionary that [Isabel] has been roused as never before in her life, roused in the true sense perhaps for the first time in her life." James's verbal magic allowed him to both obey and evade the restrictive conventions of his day for the treatment of sexuality in literature.

Critic Alfred Habegger has claimed that the main character of Portrait was inspired by Christie Archer, the protagonist from Anne Moncure Crane's novel, Reginald Archer (1871). Crane (1838–1872) may have influenced James, who Habegger claimed was interested in Crane’s female characters. In the preface to the New York Edition of the novel, James referred to several of George Eliot's female protagonists as possible influences on the Portrait. Habegger questions this claim and quotes others as doing the same.[4]

Another critical article is "Rewriting Misogyny: Portrait of a Lady and the Popular Fiction Debate" by Paul M. Hadella. The author also mentions the similarities with Crane's novel.[5]

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1884, when the actor Lawrence Barrett wanted James to turn the novel into a play, James replied that he did not think it could be done.[6] In his opinion, given in the preface to the New York Edition, the best scene in the book consists of Isabel sitting motionless in a chair.[7]

In 1968 the BBC produced a television miniseries of The Portrait of a Lady, starring Suzanne Neve as Isabel and Richard Chamberlain as Ralph Touchett.

The Portrait of a Lady was adapted in 1996 by New Zealand director Jane Campion, into a film starring Nicole Kidman as Isabel, John Malkovich as Osmond, and Barbara Hershey as Madame Merle.

Release details

References

  1. ↑ James, Henry (2009). The Portrait of a Lady, Vol. I, Preface, p. 12. Serenity Publishers.
  2. ↑ Bloom, Harold, ed. (2002). Henry James, p. 13. Chelsea House Publishers.
  3. ↑ James, Henry (1961). The Portrait of a Lady, p. 530. Dell Publishing Co. Inc.
  4. ↑ Alfred Habegger (2004) Henry James and the 'Woman Business' , Cambridge University Press
  5. ↑ Paul M. Hadella (1994) "Rewriting Misogyny: Portrait of a Lady and the Popular Fiction Debate" in American Literary Realism, 1870–1910, University of Illinois Press.
  6. ↑ James, Henry; Edel, Leon (ed.) (1980). Letters, Volume III: 1883–1895, pp. 46–47. Belknap Press.
  7. ↑ James, Henry (2009). Preface, p. 19.

Sources

External links

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