The Portrait of a Lady_portraitofalady
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The Portrait of a Lady
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, a friendly invalid, 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 visits Pansy one last time, who desperately begs her to return someday, 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 paionately embraces and kies 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 confronting 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.” 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 stubbornne.The richne of The Portrait is hardly exhausted by a review of Isabel's character.The novel exhibits a huge panorama of trans-Atlantic life, a far larger canvas than any James had previously painted.This moneyed world appears charming and leisurely but proves to be plagued with treachery, deceit, and suffering.
