The Portrait of a Lady (MAXNotes Literature Guides)

By Kevin Kelly

REA's MAXnotes for Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady MAXnotes offer a fresh look at masterpieces of literature, presented in a lively and interesting fashion. Written by literary experts who currently teach the subject, MAXnotes will enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the work. MAXnotes are designed to stimulate independent thought about the literary work by raising various issues and thought-provoking ideas and questions. MAXnotes cover the essentials of what one should know about each work, including an overall summary, character lists, an explanation and discussion of the plot, the work's historical context, illustrations to convey the mood of the work, and a biography of the author. Each chapter is individually summarized and analyzed, and has study questions and answers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Research & Education Association
• Release date: Jan 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9780738671796

Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly lives in Central New York with his wife, Rebecca, their two kids and a shaggy black dog. Kevin owns a small graphic design shop with a variety of interesting clients, and when he’s not hard at work, he’s usually busy figuring out how to finish one of Rebecca’s famously convoluted projects. Kevin and family spend their free time playing, hiking and vacationing off-the-grid in Coastal Maine—and napping.

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Bibliography

SECTION ONE

Introduction

The Life and Work of Henry James

Henry James, an American author, spent much of his life living in, and writing about, Europe. As a novelist, short-story writer, and critic, James was particularly interested in Europe’s history and traditions and the formal manners of its upper class. His tales of independent, yet naive, Americans encountering the cultivated, subtle influences of European society made him famous, although his work was not fully accepted until years after his death. Influenced by European authors such as George Eliot, Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, and Ivan Turgenev, James was a prolific writer, publishing 22 novels and over a hundred short stories. In addition, he is the author of a number of plays, autobiographical writings, and noted critical essays.

Born in New York City on April 15, 1843, Henry James traveled extensively with his parents, Henry James, Sr. and Mary Walsh James, and their four other children. Before he reached the age of 20, James had been to Europe several times, living in Switzerland, France, Germany, and England. His broad education, provided mainly by his parents and private tutors, included the study of literature, philosophy, languages, and religion. Henry, Sr., a wealthy, eccentric essayist and philosopher, knew a number of famous authors and thinkers of the day, including Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. This created a unique atmosphere, and exposed young Henry to an impressive array of intellectual and artistic ideas as he was growing up.

In 1860, James suffered a debilitating back injury while fighting a fire at the family home in Newport, Rhode Island. The injury would have a profound influence on him for the rest of his life, affecting his limited romantic relationships, and keeping him from fighting in the Civil War. Unable to participate in the war, James continued his education, studying with private tutors until he entered Harvard Law School when he was 19. His time at Harvard was not a success, however—he was unable to adapt to the rigors of formal education, and he left the school after his first year. Now James began to write seriously and he soon published a short story, anonymously, followed by a series of book reviews and other works of short fiction written under his own name. Much of James’s early work reflects his interests in the supernatural, the individual’s role in society, and the psychological influences that affect human behavior.

James traveled alone to Europe for the first time in 1869, visiting England, Switzerland, and Italy. Three years later he returned to Europe, touring with relatives at first, then remaining to write and travel on his own. He finally returned to the United States in 1874 and a year later published two books, one a collection of travel essays, and the other a book of short stories. In 1876, he wrote his first novel, Roderick Hudson. That same year, James decided to move to Europe, settling first in Rome and then Paris before moving to England where he lived until his death in 1916.

In his early work, such as Daisy Miller (1879) and The Portrait of a Lady (1881), James explored the theme of Americans encountering European culture. It was Daisy Miller, his novella about a young American innocent in Europe, that first earned him widespread recognition and would become his most famous work. In other novels, including The Portrait of a Lady, James developed similar themes and characters, but Daisy Miller would remain his most popular piece of writing, becoming something of a phenomenon both in America and Europe.

Later, in novels such as The Bostonians (1886) and The Princess Casamassima (1886), James wrote about revolution and political unrest. His short novels, such as The Aspern Papers (1888) and The Turn of the Screw (1898), brought him further acclaim, and in the early 1900s, he wrote his last novels, The Wings of the Dove (1902), The Ambassadors (1903), and The Golden Bowl (1904), works considered by many to be his masterpieces.

Although a resident of England for many years, James remained a U.S. citizen until 1915 when, as a political protest over America’s refusal to go to war with Germany, he became a British citizen. After James died in 1916, his works were largely ignored until the 1930s, when he was rediscovered in England and the United States. Even today, some readers find his work too abstract and difficult to follow, but others appreciate James’s ability to reflect deep thought and human emotion.

James is considered to be a major influence on the work of many authors, including James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner. He has long been admired for his great literary skill, and his ability to create profound and innovative psychological portraits.

Historical Background

In 1843, the year Henry James was born, the population of the United States was growing, the country’s territory was rapidly expanding, and Americans were claiming a more prominent position in world affairs. John Tyler was president, having succeeded President Harrison, who died after only a month in office, in 1841. Adventurous American and European settlers were heading into the western regions of the United States in ever-increasing numbers along the Oregon Trail, and reports of their exploits became the stuff of dime novels and exaggerated newspaper accounts, adding to the growing legend of the wild and woolly American West.

In 1845, the country elected James K. Polk the eleventh president of the United States. A year later, the U.S. Congress declared war on Mexico after hostilities erupted over territory along the Rio Grande border. The United States would eventually purchase the territory, which is now southern Arizona, in 1853 as part of the Gadsden Purchase. The term Manifest Destiny, a justification for U.S. territorial expansion, popularized in 1845, was used to defend U.S. policy during the war with Mexico and throughout the latter half of the nineteenth century as the United States acquired more territory, including Alaska in 1867.

As the United States was expanding its territory, Americans were in the midst of an intense political debate over the question of slavery, the wrenching issue that separated North from South, and it became one of the primary causes of the Civil War. In 1820, Congress had acted on the slavery question, making it illegal north of the territory acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. This action became known as the Missouri Compromise. By 1846, the question had erupted again after the Wilmot Proviso, which would have effectively eliminated slavery, was defeated in Congress after being hotly debated by parties on both sides of the issue. Meanwhile, William Lloyd Garrison, a dedicated abolitionist, was fighting for the immediate emancipation of all slaves. In 1850, in response to the growing abolitionist movement, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed, giving southern slave owners the legal right to pursue and capture runaway slaves who had escaped to free states in the North.

Over the next two decades, while James was growing up, living in both Europe and America, expansion into the American frontier would continue, and the slavery question would remain undecided until the end of the war in 1865. During this time, in the United States and around the world, the impact of the Industrial Revolution was profound. For decades, England had benefited economically from technological advances in agricultural and manufacturing equipment. In continental Europe, Belgium and France experienced industrialization during the 1820s and 1830s, and Germany soon followed, all three becoming powerful industrial nations along with other countries that were able to build and take advantage of a rapidly expanding international railway system.

America, too, was an ideal country for industrialization. In addition

Reviews for The Portrait of a Lady (MAXNotes Literature Guides)

[annesteph · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story. James captures most women at some time in their lives. I read this in college years and years ago. Never warmed much to the movies, but ate this book up. Henry James-the novelist who wrote like a psychologist. His brother, William James, the psychologist who wrote like a novelist. I always think of this statement that my history teacher, Dr. Wingo, from college used to quote.

[bookomaniac-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Magistraal in breedte en diepte, maar toch niet perfectschrijftechniek: elk hoofdstukje begint beschouwend, vanuit het auteursstandpunt of met introspectie van een van de karakters, meestal gevolgd door spitse of subtiele dialoog die nieuwe informatie toevoegt; over het algemeen lange, zeer bewerkte zinnen van hoger niveau, soms heel zware constructies; dialogen zijn van enorm hoog niveau, vooral door de dingen die niet gezegd worden of de subtiele hintskarakters: scenes met Rosier zijn niet geloofwaardig,want is te geconstrueerd in functie van de plot; aandeel seksualiteit komt nergens aan bod in de relatie Isabel-Osmond; pvallend is ook het ontbreken van een verwijzing naar de psychologische impact van het dode zoontje structuur: over het algemeen chronologische opbouw, maar na sommige essenti?le gebeurtenissen wordt er een sprong in de tijd gemaakt, zonder dat de grote veranderingen helemaal worden uitgeklaard; pas heel geleidelijk worden informatie-elementen gegeven die iets meer verduidelijken; zeker naar het einde toe zijn er enkele ongeloofwaardige passages (Rosier, vriendschap Osmond-Goodwood, slotscene met Goodwood)

[rab1953-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alright, yes, this is slow-moving, detailed and introspective. Why does anyone read Henry James if that is not what they want?But in addition to those qualities, it has wit and social satire involving real characters trying to work out their lives. Does it have less comic activity than that other wordy nineteenth century writer and satirist, Charles Dickens? Yes, but in place of Dickens? comic caricatures, we have real characters, even the women. With James, I feel that I am exploring the complex choices of a variety of women characters who could be dealing with equally difficult choices today (unlike the one-dimensional ideals of Dickens? women). The specifics of their choices may be different from contemporary conditions, but I can imagine these characters as people wrestling with modern issues.The book looks at the unusual marriage choices of a number of women ? Mrs. Touchett?s life separate from a husband she seems indifferent to; Mme Merle?s unhappy marriage which has left her in relative poverty, reliant on the generosity of friends; the Contessa?s sham of a marriage to a philandering man she despises; Henrietta?s unmarried relationship with her admiring Bantling, which she eventually transforms into a conventional marriage; and at the centre, Isobel?s initial choice to reject two attractive offers before finally accepting the worst of her options. The first part of the book is taken up with Isobel?s background and character, focusing on her independence and unconventionality. She is a clever and thoughtful young woman who does not want to be tied into the restricted domestic life of most of the women she knows. Her observations are often sharp and witty. Drawn to her ambition and independence, and at the suggestion of her cousin Ralph Touchett, Ralph?s father leaves her a large inheritance. In her naivety, or her attraction to an intelligent worldly woman, Isobel is drawn into the circle of the interesting Mme Merle as someone who seems to live a life outside of convention but still within respectable society. She is charmed by Mme Merle?s sophisticated friend Gilbert Osmond, and takes him at face value, although Mme Merle has manipulated the situation to marry Isobel to Gilbert so that he can take advantage of her money. It?s not really clear why she marries Osmond, although there is the pressure of convention, and it later appears that they deceived each other in their reliance on social conventions. Both put on their best appearances and fell for what they saw in the other.When Isobel realizes that Gilbert has no feelings for her and intends only to keep her, like his daughter, as an attractive and useful addition to his chilling collection of beautiful objects, she concludes that her only choice is to live up to the marriage vow she made and live with Gilbert in misery. This seems an odd conclusion given the many different models among her friends and her willingness to reject convention. Her generosity of spirit perhaps impels her to stay in order to support Gilbert?s daughter, and fighting convention all the time is a hard choice, particularly when the unconventional relationships of her friends appears problematic and unattractive. Perhaps this is why she finally needs the excuse of Ralph Touchett?s illness to break with Gilbert.The ending is, of course, ambiguous. After the very touching scene of Ralph?s death, Isobel returns to Rome, either to submit to Gilbert or to confront him. The strength of her connection to Ralph, and her rejection (again) of Caspar Goodwood?s demand that she go with him, lead me to believe that she is going to break finally with Gilbert. She is a strong figure, and she knows her mind. I take it that she will go her own way, as she always has, and accept the consequences.As always, a fascinating, fully absorbing study by Henry James that rewards readers who are looking for thoughtful social and psychological insight.

[leandra53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Dieses Buch habe ich f?rmlich verschlungen, so sehr war ich fasziniert von der Geschichte, vor allem aber von der ungeheuren Treffsicherheit in den Formulierungen des Autors. Die Beschreibungen der Charaktere und die herrlichen Dialoge sind voll sanfter Ironie. Dabei befasst sich James intensiv mit der Weltsicht und der inneren Motivation seiner Figuren und l?sst sie f?r den Leser lebendig werden. Besnders gelungen ist f?r mich die Figur des Gilbert Osmond, dessen herablassende Arroganz und Selbstgef?lligkeit mir bei manchen Dialogen (mit seiner Frau) kalte Schauer ?ber den R?cken gejagt hat. Mag die Welt, die Henry James beschreibt, uns zwar heute fremd sein, aber sein Schreibstil ist f?r mich sehr modern!

[schmerguls · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(some SPOILER herein)I began reading this book on, I think, abourt March 31 , 1952. My first comment on it was on April 6, 1952, when I said: " Reading Portrait of a Lady. Continues dull. Rather amazing precisely because it is so dull. Plot is insipid. Isabel Archer turns down an English lord and inherits 70,000 pounds from her uncle. She then marries an American esthete living in Italy, Gilbert Osmond, and is very unhappy. The characterization of the non-living-in-Europe Ameicans--Henrietta Stackpole and Casper Goodwood--is amazingly shallow--as if James knew nothing of such kind of people." On April 7, 1952 I said: "Reading in Portrait of a Lady. It now develops that Gilbet Osmond's daughter Pansy is the daughter of Madame Merle. Madame Merle managed the marrigage of Gilbert and Isabel Archer so thiat he'd have plenty money and so Pansy'd be taken care of. Isabel knows this now, but what her final decsion as to her relations with her husband will be is not yet known. James' characters are perfectly, if unhurriedly, drawn, except, of course, for what I mentioned yesterday." On April 8, 1952, I said: "Finished Portrait of a Lady. Isabel fights off a last wooing by Caspar and goes back to her husband, Gilbert. I didn't dislike the book nearly as much as I did, e.g., The Ordeal of Richard Feveril, which I read July 30, 1950.

[epictale · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book took me about two months to read! I read it at my son's urging. Happily, in the end, I thought it was worthwhile. I enjoyed a number of good moments and, in comparison to other "epics" (e.g. "One Hundred Years of Solitude") which I have recently tackled, the gain was worth the pain. It was quite a story! I really enjoyed the way in which James sketched the characters in terms of their motives and attitudes within the context of societal norms (both prevalent and evolving). It was too bad that the goodies were buried in tons of 19C bloated verbiage and, surely, hundreds of impossibly long (and yet so exquisitely constructed) paragraphs, And despite all of the palpable passion, the total absence of steamy sex scenes was a bitter pill to swallow. Throw us a bone, Henry James! In sum,however, the book was worth reading, and parts of the story are bound to stick with me. As an aside: I am looking forward to renting the movie version (1996) of the novel, in which Nicole Kidman plays Isabel. (Sadly, the preview looks awful!) I hope the protagonists -- for their own sake and that of the novel's dramatic integrity as a 20C interpretation --- will share at least a few moments of lust. Because that's what most people are and do. But my expectations are low.

[bookworm12_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Isabel Archer, a young headstrong American, arrives in England and everyone she meets is completely taken with her. Three separate men pursue her, but she?s unwilling to settle for a marriage without mutual love. She smart, kind and witty, but not easily swayed in her beliefs.I was in love with this book for about the first 1/3 (maybe more), but then it took a drastic turn. I loved Isabel?s character and her refusal to take the easy road in life. Unfortunately her decisions seem to lose all logic at a certain point and that?s when I lost my respect for her. I never want books to have a perfectly happy ending just for the sake of pleasing the reader, but I was heartbroken for Isabel and incredibly disappointed in her choices. I always root for characters I love, but it?s easy to feel betrayed by them if they make a choice that you wouldn?t have made. Despite the plot, James? writing is beautiful. He catches the nuances of importance in a single glance or polite conversation. He makes you question who is acting out of Isabel?s best interests, who is making selfish choices, who should you trust, etc. The book isn?t just about Isabel in the end, it?s about the delicate balance people maintain in their own lives, often choosing the lesser of two evils and settling in, even if they?re unhappy, instead of rocking the boat.I loved much about this book, but I don?t think I could bring myself to read it again now that I know how it all turns out. ?You?ve lived with the English for 30 years and you?re picked up a good many of the things they say, but you have never learned the things they don?t say.? ?The great thing about being a literary woman was that you could go everywhere and do everything.??

[amelish · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Dear god, the last three pages!!! More than make up for the rest of it. No, make the rest of it worthwhile. No, are something completely different. No, are the natural result of what came before.

The introduction makes some confusing points, I think, including the assertion that it's very American to think in "types" of people. What, archetypes? Stereotypes? Musical theater? Hollywood? Flesh it out further, please.

Finally, despite Jane Campion's tendency towards emphasizing the sexy, I can't believe she cast John Malkovich as Gilbert Osmond. The whole point is that Osmond is cold, fastidious(ly evil!), controlling, withholding, etc. and I really don't see JM as any of those. If anything, he projects overbearing sexual creepiness and belongs instead in Les Liasons Dangereuses (not an arbitrary comparison).

Wait, he *did* play Valmont (Dangerous Liasons, 1988) and wore a wig in an Annie Lennox video. So where does that leave us?

[912greens · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The only Henry James novel I've read (albeit I have not read many) in which the emotional elements cut through his thick prose and really moved me deeply. I cried at the ending-

[bookangel_a · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Portrait of a Lady is the story of an interesting woman, an attractive woman with many "theories".Isabel leaves America to travel to England with her aunt, rejecting an offer of marriage from a good and successful man. She arrives at the home of her uncle and cousin, Henry and Ralph Touchett. In no time she has captivated everyone. An English lord proposes marriage to her, and again she refuses, saying she is not interested in marriage.Henry and Ralph are intrigued by their lovely relative who keeps refusing marriage offers from these very good, suitable men. When Henry is on his deathbed, he and Ralph decide to leave Isabel a fortune. With a fortune, she will have independence and the freedom to remain unmarried if she chooses. Ralph in particular is very interested in seeing what she will do with her life.Sadly, Isabel's life is not as easy or as happy as her friends had hoped for. What will she do with her life when her "theories" don't work out?This book was my first by Henry James. It was much easier to read than I expected. HJ does write very long paragraphs, but I got used to them. I like the way HJ pulls the reader inside Isabel's mind. The more I read, the more I was determined to find out what would happen to Isabel and her friends. There are a lot of great characters here, to analyze and enjoy. This is a book to sink your teeth into.

[smiler69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"She was looking at everything, with an eye that denoted clear perception ? at her companion, at the two dogs, at the two gentlemen under the trees, at the beautiful scene that surrounded her. 'I've never seen anything so lovely as this place. I've been all over the house; it's too enchanting.'" These are the words of our spirited and lovely heroine, Isabel Archer when she arrives at Gardencourt, an English country estate which features a Tudor mansion with a long lawn sloping down to the Thames. Isabel's father had recently passed away when her aunt, Mrs. Touchett came to visit her in Albany, New York and proposed to take Isabel away with her to Europe with a first stop in England. On her arrival, Isabel meets with a trio of gentlemen which includes the ailing Mr. Touchett Senior, a retired banker with a vast fortune who is attended to by his son Ralph, who suffers from very serious lung disease, and who nevertheless possesses a warm and loving spirit, and finally Ralph's good friend Lord Warburton, who is immediately smitten with our young lady. Before long, Warburton proposes to Isabel; he is an attractive gentleman with good manners and a fine intellect, who also commands a vast estate and a seat at the House of Lords. In short, the sort of man any woman would be thrilled to take on as a husband, but not Isabel. Our heroine is a headstrong young woman who feels she must face her destiny, which she believes doesn't include a husband. Shortly thereafter, Isabel's longtime and determined admirer Casper Goodwood arrives from Boston, also to ask her to marry him, but Isabel is adamant that marriage is not in the cards for her and turns him away as well. When a longtime friend of Mrs. Touchett comes to visit at Gardencourt, Isabel immediately takes to Madame Merle, an accomplished, mature woman of many talents, who is equally appreciative of the young woman. Soon, as Mr. Touchett Senior lies on his deathbed, Ralph secretly makes an arrangement with his father so that his cousin may inherit half the fortune meant for him. Ralph adores Isabel, and believes that by making her a rich woman, she will truly be independent and will be able to accomplish great things. But of course, this being a 19th century novel, our heroine is in for her share of troubles in the form of one Mr. Gilbert Osmond, a sinister character and a poor American expatriate, who's main virtues are a love of beautiful things and a desire to secure a brilliant future for his docile young daughter Pansy.This was my first time reading a novel by Henry James. Having long believed that he was difficult to read, I had tested the waters with two short stories first, and found his prose imminently approachable. It's true that he can be verbose and that this novel plods on at a slow pace, with little action and an accent on his character's interactions and inner workings. But I found myself quite wrapped up in the rich complexity of these characters, and can fully understand why this novel is an enduring classic. I already look forward to reading it again.

[carlym_35 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I LOVE this book and have read it several times. Yes, James's sentences tend to be long and involved, but I like that--it slows down my reading and makes me pay attention to all the words.

[mthelibrarian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating to think about (and possibly disagree with) the heroine's choices throughout the book. I didn't love the ending, but I believed that Isabel would have made this choice. I didn't find this an easy or quick read; in fact, it took me most of a busy June to finish it. I started it in Modern Library edition (500+ pages) but was too overwhelmed by it and switched a to a Barnes and Noble edition that was a Nook freebie some time ago. Somehow the smaller e-page size was right for me with this book. It's fun to remember that the book originally was published in Atlantic Magazine and Macmillan's over the course of years - similar to how some Dickens novels were published. Members of book club who did not have time to read "Portrait" tackled the shorter "Daisy Miller" by Henry James instead; one of them liked it well enough to continue on to "Washington Square."

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What can I possibly add that hasn't been said?Henry James has painted a masterful portrait of the life of Isabel Archer, especially her thoughts and feelings as she comes of age in Europe. And every character is similarly well drawn, vivid and real. I read mostly comtemporary fiction, so it took me a while to get used to the flow and cadence of this book; after about 100 pages, I couldn't put it down. The writing is so beautiful, with a flair for description so many of us have lost in this screen-based culture. As in real life, it is mainly the characters who carry the story, rather than the opposite.Isabel is a young woman with opinions and a strong sense of herself; one of the great heroines of classic literature. I only with Mr. James had shared with us how Isabel decided to marry Osmond in the first place!

[caomhghin_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is Henry James? first masterpiece so the language is much less baroque than some of his later novels. It is a simple story, a reworked myth, of a Cinderella who turns down both Prince Charming and Boots, but then tragically becomes the Princess and is trapped by the Good Fairy and the Wicked Fairy into marrying the evil prince. Of course it is a complex, fascinating and involving story but there is more about ?happy ever after? time when marriage is the tragedy. On marriage we see the Touchetts at the beginning who have solved the ?problem? of marriage by distance. We see Osmond and Isabel towards the end ? a marriage made on one side for money, and on the other?? Plus Pansy who is about to be a ?child? sacrifice for marriage. Of course James is subtle. This is such a crude way of exposing his workings. He teases out character, development and points of view. The plot is a structure on which to weave the moral situations we create for ourselves. He avoids clich?s. We never see Osmond?s final proposal, Isabel?s acceptance or the early few years of their marriage. So we never see the period when Isabel believed she had made the right choice. She thinks she has found a worthy Prince Charming someone to whom her money and herself will add a lustre. She values her independence but she now wants to share it so that they can do great things together. While there is a wicked plot to entrap her, Isabel contributes to her own downfall. She, like the classic tragic figure, is flawed. From the beginning the reader is drawn to her. She is a wonderful person ? we have to like her for the story to work and we do. We see the workings of her mind, her pride in herself, her feelings that she was special, that she had something to offer the world more than a ?brilliant? marriage. This is charming because it is apparently innocuous and innocent. She is young. The slight weaknesses of character and egotism she reveals are, in fact, trifling stuff in the face of her inherent goodness and charm. But it is enough to trap her. She is ?created? as a wealthy heiress by Ralph and Mrs Touchett but she regards her own wisdom on seeing into the heart of a character as superior to theirs precisely because they are spoilt by the world. Tragically for her she does not have the time, or perhaps the inclination, to learn wisdom until it is too late.The novel starts in paradise, in Eden. We meet Isabel on her first arrival in this magic landscape and we see the effect she has on the men around her. She has two proposals and we know of the third which is never voiced because Ralph never speaks of it. Later we see the rather effete if charming Rosier too. The only man we meet who is not stricken by her is Osmond. He evaluates her, he wants to possess her and her money but you see no effect on him. Chillingly you see him as the connoisseur, the collector, who can admire his fine pieces for their style, for their origins, for their display of his connoisseurship and taste, but does not love them. Compare this with Rosier who adores his collection but sacrifices it, in vain, for love.But Isabel has an effect on the women too. Henrietta is a staunch friend. Mrs Touchett brings her to England, Madame Merle is charmed which is one of the reasons we tend to give her the benefit of the doubt at first. She obviously admires Isabel disinterestedly before she can know that she is rich. The Contessa takes to her too and Pansy loves her. So Isabel is surrounded by love and admiration from men and women. It is no wonder if perhaps it turns her head a little. Goodwood ? there?s a good solid name ? reliable, determined, obsessed he finally offers Isabel a way out. His offer is a repeat of his earlier one and in the same place. Isabel has never quite treated Goodwood right. She leaves him on hold in London. She uses him to accompany Ralph back to England. Today the choice would be simpler ? in this society it most certainly was not and James, in his inimitable way, has prepared the ground for us and Isabel. We have seen Madame Merle who chose this route and we now know the disaster that was her life. We have seen the Contessa who chose another version of it and it is not edifying. She is an amusing, slight character, a flutterby but still unhappy. We have seen Mrs Touchett who neither touches nor is touched by anyone. Isabel feels for herself and for other people ? she cannot blind herself to the situation. She can neither ignore nor pretend. Pansy is the child of evil (ie her parents are evil) but is pure good and love herself and she will suffer for it. Is she a sign that something good will come out of Isabel?s return? One doubts it. The horror of Pansy is that she shows us what Osmond wanted to do with Isabel. Evil not only begot her but is also moulding her to its own ends. Because although she has her own character it is so weak that we know being locked up in comfort in the convent is almost enough to blow her out, like a candle. But Isabel will survive. She will not be happy and her life will have been a ?waste? in her own eyes but she will remain true to herself.

[princourager · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The Portrait of a Lady. I expected more from this book than it was able to give me. True, this is my first book by Henry James, and I have not heard much of his work, but my expectations were yet high. The title was enchanting and romantic, and I could only hope that the book would be equally so. Alas.It started out well enough-romantic, interesting, and very English. But I didn't even much like Isabel. She seemed conceited and unnatural-and trying so hard to be "American." All of her suitors were too likable-except for the one she ended up marrying. Why couldn't one have them been extraordinarily repulsive, or something? I wanted her to marry Lord Warburton, Caspar Goodwood and Ralph Touchett. I could never quite make up my mind which was best of the latter two. Lord Warburton got disgustingly sentimental and selfish towards the end.And the whole outlook of the book seemed so-immoral. Not at all in the usual way-there was nothing "improper," and only one kiss-at the end. Just the attitude of it, I suppose-so independant. Isabel didn't want to get married the whole book-and when she finally did, she had to chose the wrong husband. And then they hated each other and all that . . .And the ending was unsatisfactory. Of course I couldn't help hoping she'd end up liking Caspar Goodwood-but she was still married, even though her husband's adultery was a tidy excuse for leaving him.Pshaw. Caspar and Ralph were the only good parts of the book, and they deserved better fellow characters and plot.She wasn't at all what a lady should have been-she was immature, rushed into things, had not much discretion or foresight-it would have better been titled, "A Portrait of a Girl."A disappointment. If she had not married, it would have been altogether better.

[cecrow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Isabel Archer refuses to follow a life that is too prescribed by classical romantic notions. She is determined to find and follow her own path, or remain unsatisfied. This characteristic rules her as a number of suitors make themselves known. The story is primarily about what leads to the choice she makes, and its repercussions. Several other characters are intriguing and their roles each become clear. I had trouble placing the relevancy of Henrietta's story; I believe it clarifies that James' message was not about refusing women the right to make independent choices, but about ensuring illusions are fully dispelled before a choice is made. I really enjoyed this novel for its being chock full of people who make sharp observations, if not always accurate. There is no comedy of misunderstandings here, only analysis that is either lacking or overdone. Henry James knows how to get inside characters' heads and make himself at home, offering strong, natural motives for actions and dialogue that is brilliant both for what is said and what is not. The ending is very satisfying and comes together beautifully. I'm open to reading more of James' novels, but I suspect this will remain my favourite.

[amydross · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, to be honest, I didn't read the middle 300 pages. But it's 600 pages long! And besides, it was originally serialized. I don't think it's necessary to read serialized stories in their entirety, any more than it's necessary to see every episode of a television drama in order to claim familiarity with it. Anyway, I was reading for style, not plot, and the style was wonderful. I love his way of writing all the way around a subject, instead of addressing it directly.

[updraught · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A young American lady thrown into 19th century European bourgeois society, into a balancing act between freedom and possession.Henry James takes his time in making us acquainted with the lady to be portrayed: The story unfolds rather slowly only to gain immense momentum in the final third. I especially enjoyed reading James' vivid descriptions of settings and situations and the witty dialogues. While at the end of the novel I feel I 'know' many of the book's prominent characters, the central figure, Isabel Archer, remains more complex and mysterious to some extent. A trait of her character and a fine mist on her portrait. All in all a delightful read.(By the way: I don't think the lady looks one bit like the one shown on the Wordsworth cover.)

[sanddune_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I haven't read much Henry James before (I might possible have read The Europeans previously but I couldn't swear to it, and to be honest if The Portrait of a Lady is representative then I'm not sure if I'm going to be reading much in the future. I had great difficulty maintaining any interest at all in any of the characters, even in the heroine Isabel Archer (who is supposedly a remarkable woman) and I couldn't get a sense that the characters could ever have been real people. Isabel Archer is a young American woman who is invited by her aunt to spend some time with her in Europe. Mrs Touchett has her permanent home in Florence, only visiting her husband at his house of Gardencourt, overlooking the Thames Valley in England, for a month or so each year. But it is to Gardencourt that she initially takes Isabel, to meet her husband and her invalid son Ralph. Appreciating Isabel's determination that she must do something with her life, which has caused her to reject two offers of marriage during her stay in England, he is instrumental in obtaining for her the legacy which allows her to pursue the true freedom that she craves. But Isabel's new independence takes her to Paris, Florence and Rome the freedom which she craves remains elusive...To be honest I've never come across an account of the grand European tour that has just come across as so boring! The lives that are being led just seem so stultifyingly dull. I had hoped that when the novel reached Florence it would catch my attention as I've spent a lot of time there in the past, but no! According to the blurb on the back this is 'one of the finest novels in the English language' but do fine novels have to be so dull? It's not just that nothing seems to happen for long stretches, that I can cope with, but I can't cope with the artificiality of the characters.I'm giving this three stars because it seems too well written to give it less but I can't say that I enjoyed it.

[mattviews · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Henry James published THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY in 1881 with an aspiration to scale new literary height that would surmount DAISY MILLER. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY dawns on his perception of betrayal. In this extremely poignant novel, James toys with the paradoxical idea that one can come to the full possession of his power only to realize that he really has no way out once he has lived long enough to achieve the goal. James's purpose of the novel is to show his heroine, Isabel Archer, confronting her destiny. When her aunt appears at the house and brings her to England, Isabel is in a situation to value any change that will rid her past. She is clever but not bookish; she has an immense curiosity about life and is constantly staring and wondering. Her presence at the Touchetts' residence in Gardencourt dictates an irresistible air of independence that is conducive to her strong but undemonstrative condition to control her fate. She is very fond of her liberty, as she has stated peremptorily from the very beginning, almost like an omen of her fate. The story of Isabel Archer is straightforward and nothing as complicated and melodramatic as that of the people surrounding her. The peripheral figures who supply the momentum of the plot also support the entire scaffold of the novel. Happenings of these peripheral figures construct Isabel's story. The importunate suitors whom she rejects constantly hover around her and create an effect that accentuates the assumption of a simplicity about her, whereas those who are to launch her on her destiny are relatively opaque and obscure. She is like an ideal entity that ambitiously but somewhat naively embodies a nobleness of imagination. She maintains an infinite hope that she should never do anything wrong. Her cousin Ralph Touchett almost plays the conscience of the novel as he gives up half of his inheritance to make her rich: Isabel is rendered independent in pursuing her exploration and enlightenment in life and is not put at the expense of anyone. He confronts her being obdurate in exploring something unknown and cajoles her that such persistence will only reap utter disappointment. But fate intervenes the stubborn mind in the shape of Ralph's friend, Lord Warburton, whose magnanimous offer she refuses at the revelation of her steel proof independence. Knowing his cousin's impregnable resolve to meet her destiny, Ralph wishes to make her rich and keeps her from marrying for money. He hopes he shall live long enough to see what Isabel does with herself, who lives too much in the world of her own dreams and has not enough contact with reality. Ironically her new fortune could have possibly shut her up more and bound her to a man to whose ego she succumbs and for whom she contrives to procure pleasure. His austerity, poverty, and loneliness, which Isabel associates to nobleness, interest her at first but manifest into an egotism that he takes as a personal offense of her having her own mind. In a way, Isabel's attempt to her fate ends up forfeiting it. His virtue implies a sovereign contempt for everyone. He has pointed out to her the baseness and shabbiness of life; he has opened her eyes to the stupidity, the depravity, and the ignorance of mankind. But he cannot tolerate her possession of her own mind. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY paints the picture of the unhappiest of a woman whose fruit of life-long solitary experience turns out to be discernment of her short-coming. Her enlightenment is as hopeful an outcome as her poignant marriage: she must not lose all her life simply because she has lost a part. In her lonely search with an inquiring spirit, she finds herself always at the mercy of others less scrupulous than herself and those who confront her own simplicity and naivet?.

[charlie68_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very good, although a bit dense in places. The ending a little strange as it stops almost in mid scene.

[br77rino · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

?Ralph Touchett has to be one of the saddest characters I have ever come into contact with.

[jillrhudy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Give the book its deserved five stars, but Isabel is boring. In fact, everybody in the book is boring except Ralph. Isabel and Ralph are the yin and yang of good and truth; Merle and Osmond the yin and yang of evil and deception. And who cares about little Pansy? She is simply the vapid cement bonding together the evil duo, as the blood tie bonds together the hero and heroine.

James mercifully kills off the narrative ten pages after Ralph's demise, as if he knows who the main character really is. The best part of the whole book is when Ralph calls Osmond a "sterile dillettante." You go, Ralph.

James rewards the reader's perserverance with plenty of depth. The novel is a psychological gold mine. It's only flaws are:

1. a superfluity of suitors. There is a veritable swarm of them. They come out of the woodwork; lurk in every bush. The women in the book can't sit down in the park without lighting on a hopeless suitor. It gets really old.

2. a gross, unforgiveable scarcity of Ralph.

[baswood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

American Henry James thought long and hard before putting pen to paper to write The Portrait of a Lady. He was determined to answer his critics by producing a literary masterpiece. He likened his process of writing this novel to the erection of a particularly fine building: a classical building of course. In his preface to the novel James was at pains to point out this process:?So far I reasoned, and it took nothing less than that technical rigour. I now easily see, to inspire me with the right confidence for erecting on a plot of ground the neat and careful and proportioned pile of bricks that arches over it and that was thus to form, constructionally speaking a literary monument????That solicitude was to be accordingly expressed in the artful patience with which as I have said I piled brick upon brick. The bricks for the whole counting over - putting for bricks little touches and inventions and enhancements by the way - affect me in truths well nigh innumerable and as ever so scrupulously fitted together and packed in.?This extraordinary preface prepares the reader for the long haul, but it also confidently claims that the reader will be in the safe hands of a master craftsman and storyteller, one who is blessed with a gift that can reveal aspects of the human condition to the patient reader. Patience is perhaps the supreme virtue for Henry James as the last sentence of this monument of a novel is:?She walked him away with her, however, as if she had given him now the key to patience.?Patience is what a modern reader will need for the first three quarters of this novel, but as Henry James says it will have it?s rewards. He moves his readers crablike through the first chapters where he introduces some of the main characters and sets them in a beautiful old Country House in England. His writing is delicate and fine and when we meet his central character: Miss Isabel Archer we are soon lost in admiration for her independence and wit, expressed in some splendid conversation exchanges with her hosts at Gardencourt. Miss Archer is a young American lady of exceptional talent who values her independence above all things and one can?t help feeling that Henry James imbued much of his own character in the portrait of this lady. Fine, splendid, delicate are words that we could use to describe the society that James is portraying here. These are people with independent incomes living in mid nineteenth century England, who have impeccable manners and who can call on titled individuals as their friends. Miss Archer from America can fit into this society through her intelligence and wit and because of her good American breeding. This book is about upstairs people, nobody from downstairs gets a look in.The story line of the novel follows the career of Miss Archer. She dazzles almost everybody she meets. She has offers of marriage from Lord Warburton a fine Englishman with radical ideas who is forging a career as a diplomat and also from Casper Goodwood a leading American industrialist. She rejects them both in pursuit of something finer for herself. When her protector old Mr Touchett dies, on the advice of his invalid son Ralph he leaves Miss Archer a fortune and so suddenly she is even more attractive on the marriage market. She travels to the Italian home of Mrs Touchett, where under guidance from Madame Merle she meets Gilbert Osmond, the embodiment of fine taste and culture. After a courtship she decides to accept Gilbert Osmond waiving away Lord Warburton and Casper Goodwood who have followed her to Italy. Osmond has been married before and has a young daughter Pansy who has just left the convent to live with him and his new wife. It doesn't work well for Isabel Archer, who after the first year of marriage becomes estranged from her traditionalist husband, but she soon grows to love his young daughter. It is Pansy?s prospects on the marriage market that bring Isabel Archer?s big mistake to a head and the novel?s main theme then becomes how Isabel can come to terms with her future.The novel was originally serialised in Atlantic Monthly and Macmillan?s magazine before being released as a novel a year later in 1881. The novel gains both power and depth as you read through; the almost painstaking preparatory work in the first sections of the novel reap rewards once the story starts to unfold. It is the quality of James?s writing that kept me reading; his descriptions, conversations and character building are first class and once the story gets rolling the groundwork provides an excellent reference for the characters and their actions. Henry James valued his own independence and so one feels he is speaking from the heart when he is describing Isabel Archers point of view. He never married himself and it is therefore no surprise to learn of Isabel Archer?s mistake once she falls into that trap. There may be some evidence for thinking that the author of The portrait of a lady was a misogynist. For example his heroine for all her intelligence, manners and charm has an inherent character fault: it is her pride that in the end leads her into a miserable existence. Most of the other female characters are shown as manipulative and uncaring or dull and it is only the young virginal Pansy that can claim to be good. By contrast there are plenty of good and upstanding male characters; Lord Warburton, Casper Goodwood, Ralph and old Mr Touchett, although the most evil characterisation is reserved for Gilbert Osmond.This is a slow moving novel whose storyline can be pretty well predicted, but this is not why we read Henry James. We read him for his characterisation, his brilliant descriptions and his observations on the human condition as well as his skill as a novel writer. There is no evidence of his rather mannered and tortured sentence structures that he favoured in his later novels. An added bonus for readers today is the depiction of life in mid nineteenth century England, even if it is reserved for the top tier of society. Yes James can sound snobbish and a little prissy at times and this in the end makes me think that his excellent novel is not a great novel. 4.5 stars

[jhudsui_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure why I ended up taking this book out of the pile my mom was throwing out. At the time I either thought it was important? Or I thought that she really liked it and wanted to read it because of that? I talked to her about it later and it turns out she was pretty indifferent to it, and so was I. Parts of it were well written, and I liked the ending, but 600 pages is way too long to spend on how little happens in this novel (three marriage proposals and one entirely unshocking plot twist, which is visible from miles away). Unlike Madame Bovary there was a point to the fact that nothing interesting happens; the author gives every impression of the belief that he's telling a legitimate story.

[bohemima · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book flows smoothly, gently propelled by James's magnificent prose. Not over-written, but rather a precisely-written work designed to tell a very specific story. Isabel, a young woman from New York, recently orphaned, is swept up by her aunt and carried off to England and Europe. She's a wonderfully intelligent, beautiful girl, inherits a fortune, and makes an unfortunate marriage. The unfolding of Isabel's sad decline from being an earnest, eager young woman who wants to experience everything to a much sadder but much wiser woman is amazingly done; James really understands psycology and motives. There are many well-drawn supporting characters, none of whom seems far-fetched or unreal. A most ingruing and marvelous novel.

[vonze-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What started as a Goodreads Group read, turned out to be a massive undertaking for me. A few years ago I made a resolution to finish everything I started reading...and out of all the books I've read since then, none of them came as close to forcing me to break that resolution as "The Portrait of a Lady". Tried to finish it, sat it back down several times. It's not a bad book, Henry James, the man can write...and I think that was one of the problems I had in finishing it...Henry James loves his vivid descriptions. So much so, at times, I would forget what was happening with the plot, he'd just go on and on, and not get to the point quickly enough for me. In other words, this would be the type of book I'd like to have on a desert island, if I had all the time in the world to enjoy reading all his extra little details. But with a busy life and a 2000-generation attention span, I had to set this one aside several times.

As for the plot, when you get down to it, lots of drama and secrets. However, I was really disappointed in the abrupt ending. Isabel Archer starts out as a young, wannabe-independent American woman, who happens to visit some wealthy family in Europe. After she is left an inheritance that could make her independence dreams come true, she is tricked into marrying a man with his own schemes. Based on her character's previous actions I really thought the story was building up to her leaving her husband or remaining married in name only and living as an independent woman (hey, it was her money), but I was wrong. I wouldn't feel so bad about being wrong if Henry James had used one of his vivid descriptions to explain what was going on in Isabel's mind, so I could have understood her decision.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Portrait of a Lady dispelled for me the notion that Henry James wrote impenetrable, stuffy novels. Instead, this was a beautifully written series of character studies, full of an understated humor. Isabel Archer comes to England at the invitation of her aunt, to stay at Gardencourt, where she grows close to her uncle and her cousin, the kind and sickly Ralph. She's young and full of herself (really, she's wonderfully self-involved and in love with her own charms), but she's also determined to forge her own independent path, despite her lack of means and society's expectations. To that end, she turns down marriage proposals from eligible men and plans to travel with her aunt. This book is chock-a-block with great character studies. There's Henrietta, a brash, out-spoken young woman working as a journalist. She's a comic character, but James writes of her with open affection, despite the things she says. Then there's Madame Merle, a femme fatale as calculating as any found in a hardboiled crime novel, and the character you can't (and shouldn't) look away from. And, of course, Isabel, who acts erratically and is misled, but who longs so much for freedom, even as she's uncertain of what that would look like. So, once again, I read a Victorian novel, expecting it to be a slog and finding, instead, a page turner with delicious pacing.

[jmoncton_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful Isabel Archer is an American woman who travels to Europe hoping to find adventure, excitement and live an unconventional life. She is pursued by many men for her beauty and charm, but she turns them all down wanting her life to be something bigger than settling for a typical marriage. But after inheriting a large fortune, she falls victim of a scheme by 2 American ex-patriates and marries one of them. The plot of the story seems pretty straightforward, but the motivations and personalities behind the characters are what make this book a real gem. As the title suggests, Isabel is depicted as a portrait and although her actions are described, it is not clear why she makes her choices in life. I read this book together with members of the Goodreads Victorians group and had a great many discussions over this novel. Definitely a controversial and interesting book.

I both listened and read this book. I started with an audio version narrated by Laural Merlington. If you have never heard Merlington's voice, it is beautiful - the type of voice that you hear when you are hold on the phone, or that announces messages - pure in quality and tone. But I found that a beautiful voice doesn't do the characters of this book justice. Everyone seemed very vanilla and almost sing songy. I switched to a different audio version read by Nadia May who has a much throatier and almost husky voice. Her nuances of the characters was much better. The reason I bring this up is that I didn't really like Isabel Archer until the second half of the book and I wonder if it was the narrator. She seemed flightly and superficial in the beginning and it wasn't until the end of the book that I appreciated her angst over the difficult choices in her life. Was it the narrator or the writing? Still not sure...