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Widely regarded as Henry James’s greatest masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady features one of the author’s most magnificent heroines: Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American who becomes a victim of her provincialism during her travels in Europe.
As the story begins, Isabel, resolved to determine her own fate, has turned down two eligible suitors. Her cousin, who is dying of tuberculosis, secretly gives her an inheritance so that she can remain independent and fulfill a grand destiny, but the fortune only leads her to make a tragic choice and marry Gilbert Osmond, an American expatriate who lives in Florence. Outwardly charming and cultivated, but fundamentally cold and cruel, Osmond only brings heartbreak and ruin to Isabel’s life. Yet she survives as she begins to realize that true freedom means living with her choices and their consequences.
Richly complex and nearly aesthetically perfect, The Portrait of a Lady brilliantly portrays the clash between the innocence and exuberance of the New World and the corruption and wisdom of the Old.
Gabriel Brownstein is the author of a collection of stories—The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt 3W—which won the 2002 PEN/Hemingway Award. His essays, reviews, and criticism have appeared in the Boston Globe, the New Leader, Scribner’s British Writers, and on Nerve.com.
The Portrait of a Lady is often discussed as a novel of manners, a sociological study of the contrasts in mores and styles of Americans and Europeans. It's also described as a psychological novel, charting the complex interplay between the minds of its major characters and exploring relentlessly and finely the consciousness of its heroine, Isabel. But these characterizations, while not entirely mistaken, obscure a central characteristic of the novel: The Portrait of a Lady is a fairy tale, or as James put it in the 1906 preface, a "fable". With whatever authority he presents the psyches and social milieus of his Europeans and Americans and Europeanized Americans, and however carefully observed the locales—and the authority and care are absolute—the project of The Portrait of a Lady is about as close to a work of social science as it is to a conventional potboiler. Americans and Europeans, in the novel, are types: As Leon Edel, James's great biographer and critic, has it, "In James' fiction, Americans are often presented as if they still possess the innocence of Eden;" and furthermore, "it is striking how often the adjective 'corrupt' precedes the word 'Europe'" (article in Scribner's American Writers, Vol. 2, pp. 320-323). As they appear in The Portrait of a Lady, these representatives of the old and new worlds are rendered vividly, and they may feel to the reader momentarily real, but in the end they are figures in a novelist's dreams and meditations; they are as conceptual as they are concrete. Similarly, "American girl" is not a category of mind or state of consciousness; it is a kind of representational ideal. In the author's terms, the phrase "American girl" is almost redundant. Both the words conjure innocence and (in their way) beauty. Both words also auger doom. If, as Edel argues, America is an Eden, then a fall will come, as surely as a girl will become a woman or die. The phrase "American girl" also carries with it a hint of contradiction, a fight between the two words: While an American is liberated, a girl is subject to all kinds of boundaries and limits. "American girl," then, is a phrase that conjures a story, a cheerful two words that together gather storm clouds. American girls are doubly doomed among the limits of European society; an American girl going to Europe is a pure white lamb bound to be ruined.
The Portrait of a Lady bears the details and precision of psychological and social realism, but the novel is structured like a kind of old-fashioned legend. We have an ordinary girl, Isabel, who on venturing into Europe becomes a sort of princess, an heiress related to her uncle, the banker Daniel Touchett, who in his kindness, power, and benevolence is as good as a king. Once in this strange land, Isabel is wooed by two Princes Charming, paragons of American and British manhood: Caspar Goodwood, the inventor-athlete-businessman, and Lord Warburton, the nobleman-politician-reformer. But she marries neither and is instead entranced by Madame Merle, a kind of witch—an evil sorceress of society and good manners—who marries her off to the "sterile dilettante," as Ralph Touchett puts it, Gilbert Osmond, an ogre of high aesthetics, who in the end does not find Isabel's beauty up to the mark. This story is beauty and the beast in its most primitive form: the princess enslaved by a monster. But the monster in The Portrait of a Lady is a monster of aesthetics; Osmond is a painter, a collector of fine things, a disparager of vulgarity. And Isabel is no ordinary beauty: She has beauty based in character, in potentiality, in innocence, and in liberty of mind—in her being an American and a girl. This novel is not just a beautiful story; it is a story about beauty, a story in which the destruction of beauty is threatened by beauty's great admirer.
The book opens with a meditation on a kind of perfect scene, Ralph and Daniel Touchett, along with Lord Warburton, taking tea on the lawn of Gardencourt. The time of day is aestheticized, "the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon," which the narrator tells us "could be only an eternity of pleasure." The house is aestheticized, even its brick face, "with the complexion of which time and the weather had played all sorts of pictorial tricks, only, however, to improve and refine it." Daniel Touchett, for his part, has an "aesthetic passion" for Gardencourt, and even Touchett's "beautiful collie dog" gets into the rapture, "watching the master's face almost as tenderly as the master took in the still more magisterial physiognomy of the house." This sort of highly aestheticized contemplation and pictorial scene-setting is replete throughout the novel, notably at the introduction to Osmond's villa in Florence, where the narrator describes "a small group that might have been described by a painter as composing well." The windows of Osmond's place, we are told, are "extremely architectural." Osmond's beard is "cut in the manner of the portraits of the sixteenth century," and he is described as a "gentleman who studied style." Not only are the settings beautiful, but these beauties are contemplated by a narrator whose precision and delicacy and aesthetic passions are rivaled only by his characters'.
Mariposa
Posted July 25, 2009
I approached the book with trepidation because of what I recalled of James' writing style. I was totally surprised how easily I got used to it and became totally engaged with the book. I loved every word. The characters came alive for me. I thought it would be stilted and dated. Instead it was fascinating and also provided so much material for conversation. Highly recommended.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Classic literature at its best. Henry James is a master craftsman who delves deeply into the layers of the human consciousness. It is very detailed and requires considerable effort on the part of the reader if you are to gain full enjoyment and connection with the story. This book is worth the time and effort. It can stand multiple readings even in close succession due to the plenitude of detailed descriptions of setting and characters. It spans such a range of human emotion. It is full of intelligent characters and touches upon important themes such as marriage, love, female freedom, social constraints, wealth, etc, etc.
This is an excellent choice for a book club and for those who enjoy immersing themselves in a long and detailed story.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 28, 2008
I love Henry James but found this one a bit boring. The actual events of the book were well written and at times I did find it to become a page turner but all in all I found it to be just okay.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 16, 2007
Beautiful. That's all I can utter, it was so unfathomably beautiful. I would recommend this to anyone who loves old books, and has an imagination. It takes a certain person to really appreciate this work of art. Mr. James is an excellent poet. I will always keep this one next to my heart.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 18, 2010
This is not a Romance novel...but a study in narcissitic tendencies and how they attract and find each other in the heroine Isabel Archer. I read this book in one week. Saw the DVD with R. Chamberlain, awesome. I had to get the book even though the DVD had a copy on it. There are some memomorable quotes I extracted and actually did some journaling simultaneously to excavate my painful feelings of having psychological battle with a control freak. There are delightful characters of various layers, not a smut read, but intellectually stimulating and surprising ending. Only wish someone could write a second part to see how Isabel's marriage turned out, if she went back that man! Best fiction I ever read! Recommend for late teens and up
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 8, 2010
:)
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 29, 2009
Heroic as the Occasion Demands
The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, takes place in late 18th century England. The exposition occurs at an estate known as Gardencourt, the home of the Touchett family. As the novel begins, we are introduced to Mr. Touchett, his son Ralph, and a visitor named Lord Warburton. Mr. Touchett is an American expatriate who is much derided for his nationality, but has adapted well to his new land; he has become very rich through his various businesses and is aging without apparent detriment to his mental state. We soon find that Mrs. Touchett is about to arrive from a trip to America with her niece, Isabel Archer, in tow. Isabel is soon described as the heroine of the novel, and is a very spirited, clever, and independent young woman for her time. Much time is spent describing her character, often in a fourth-wall-breaking manner; the narrator refers to her directly as the heroine of this novel and explains his intent in writing certain of her actions.
Isabel is visiting temporarily from Albany, New York and is hosted at Gardencourt. She becomes intrigued with what she views as the picturesque way in which the English lead their lives, and befriends the Touchetts as well as Lord Warburton. Mrs. Touchett is shown to not care very much for her husband, and she never really did. They live entirely separate lives. Lord Warburton is a self-contradiction; he holds revolutionary views but is, in fact, a noble and would be greatly harmed by a revolution. Warburton takes great interest an Isabel and for a time tries to court her, but she rejects his advances. She is also courted by a wealthy man from Boston named Caspar Goodwood who travels to England solely to see her. Caspar is very much in love with Isabel, but she demands that he return to America and stay out of contact with her for two years as she has no intention of marrying. Her relationship with Mrs. Touchett is pleasant, though their personalities seem designed to come to a point that they may become enemies later on. Mr. Touchett is becoming quite old; perhaps there will be some bitter dispute over inheritance.
The main theme of the novel seems to be Isabel's heroic search for her identity and her desire to be a good and independent person. She wants to think well of herself and equally wants to truly be good; she trembles at the thought of causing harm to anyone and Isabel dreams of someday being put in a difficult position so that she can "be as heroic as the occasion demands," finally able to prove herself in some way. By the end, this novel truly becomes a "portrait" of Isabel Archer as a whole, with her character fully fleshed out and grown to completion through her experiences.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 17, 2007
Henry James illuminates his main character so well, you will want to know more, even after 600+ pages, a very well done composition!!!
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Posted June 27, 2006
I read this book for a project and I thought it was pretty good. The story is great but the passages get really long and boring sometimes.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 22, 2005
I really liked the book. The wit in the book is very subtle and will make you laugh out loud when you finally understand the pun. I felt very proud of myself for completeing such an involved book. It was very interesting, however not altogether thrilling. The length is so long that the slow sections of the book really drag down the wonderful charm of other sections. IF you have serious time and want a challenge then i recommend this book to you!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted December 9, 2004
i read this book for class. i myself dont like this book. it was not my fav. i loved 'valley of the dalls' do
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 11, 2004
I would recommend The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James to young adults and adults who seek to read the classics and enjoy romance and suspense at the same time. This book is a complicated read and much of this reading involves thinking. Because of the way James wrote this book, things are not specifically stated in the story and you must interpret these things the way you see them. The story of Isabel Archer is told by her cousin, Ralph Touchett. When Isabel first visits her cousin in Europe she is lively and seems as though she doesn¿t wish to be tied down. Her desire to be free from the bonds of marriage is expressed many times throughout the book. When she meets Gilbert Osmond and his daughter everything changes. Osmond tells Isabel what she wants to hear to encourage a possible marriage. Isabel¿s life suddenly has lost its vitality and becomes miserable when she marries Osmond. Osmond begins to control Isabel¿s life but she continues to stay for love of her stepdaughter. The end of this book leaves you in suspense with no final conclusion. Although this book¿s plot develops slowly, its suspense keeps you from putting it down.
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Posted July 6, 2003
In A Portrait of a Lady, Henry James displays his brilliant understanding of human nature. Isabel is one of the most compellingly real female characters created by a male author. James not only focuses on the strengths of his heroine, but also on the weaknesses, making the characterization more intriguing. The plot is much slower than in most popular modern books, and it therefore may take a bit of patience for many readers.
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Posted July 29, 2002
This book was blood chilling. How some humans can calculatingly make others lives miserable without so mach as twitch amazed me. I think that Isabel really loved Ralph but couldn't admit it. It was a very well written book and I thought it worth reading. But I liked Wurthering Hights better.
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Posted January 30, 2002
This book truly touched me as an incredible insight into the female spirit. Never have I read such an articulate and accurate account of how women struggle in their decsions relating to love and how those choices can shape your life. I came away from this book with a wealth of inspirational quotes that remind me of the female strength and what it truly means to be a lady - inspired and hopeful. This book has become my all time favorite, simply for its reference quality. You can pick it up at any time, read a few pages and be given a refreshed outlook on your womanhood. It is truly a beautiful piece.
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Posted April 30, 2001
its a good story on the whole but the writer has lengthened it a lot.At some times i couldn't understand the deep philosophys of Henry James about human nature and of the whole world .If at some places it would be less philosophical and more sentimental it would be better.Its ending though tragic but in my opinion is well.
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Posted December 30, 2010
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Posted December 26, 2012
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Posted September 12, 2010
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Posted August 25, 2010
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