The Portrait Of A Lady - Henry James

The Portrait of a Lady is not the kind of book I usually would enjoy reading because stories set this long ago are tough to relate to, and the conflicts that they surround are so archaic, that it is incredibly frustrating. However, the book turned out to be a delightful exception to this, with its writing style not simple enough to be monotonous, yet not complex enough to be distracting from the story itself. While the plot is excruciatingly slow paced, its detailed analyses of characters and their actions, along with intricate descriptions of their psyche, are interesting enough to more than make up for it. This is especially in reference to ‘our heroine,’ Isabel Archer, the epitome of what can be construed as a forthright, modern woman in the times where the story has set, to the extent that, I believe her individualistic values and ideals are as much relevant now. Isabel’s inherently curious nature, leading her to be a voracious reader, and her yearning to witness the world herself are all qualities that I have seen many of today’s youth harbour as well. Furthermore, she had a deep desire for independence, in a society that thrived on and bore the utmost value for social networking, relationships and co-dependency. Isabel’s disdain and lack of respect for these aspects of the world around her are especially evident in her motivations to turn down perfectly decent proposals of marriage from Lord Warburton and Casper Goodwood. These ideals never fitted with her version of happiness, and yet, it troubled her that she held herself, and her ultimate destiny, to such a superior standard. It would be completely unfair to minimize this simply as an act of pride, because isn’t it every humans’ right, no matter their economic class or social standing, to question whether they are made for more than what they are given?

“She liked him too much to marry him, that was the point; something told her that she should not be satisfied, and to inflict upon a man who offered so much a wife with a tendency to criticise would be a peculiarly discreditable act.”

Marriage, therefore, is depicted as a constraining, opposing force to Isabel’s freedom, which was bolstered by her rich inheritance from Mr Touchett, expanding the limits of her free will and agency further. However, her money could be categorized as both a boon as well as a bane, as it also attracted the malicious and ill intended characters into her life, leading to a union committed in bad faith.

My favourite character was Ralph Touchett. While he also admired and loved Isabel, he was always held to different standards than Goodwood, Warburton, or even Osmond by the author, due to his wisdom. He knew Isabel well, and was never proud enough (probably due to his sickness) to presume that she would reciprocate his feelings, and this differentiated him from the rest of Isabel’s admirers. Due to this, later in the novel, he became emblematic of Isabel’s unique spirit before her marriage, of which she saw less and less as the story progressed.

 “She sometimes felt a sort of passion of tenderness for memories which had no other merit than that they belonged to her unmarried life.”

Isabel’s act of defiance against Osmond in the final pages of the book, going to visit Ralph as he died, and then returning back to her husband despite finally knowing the truth about him, seemed an incredibly unsatisfactory ending for a modern audience. Her act of resistance did not seem drastic enough, and Osmond was left with no tangible consequences for his villainy. However when considering the setting and context of the story, of a society so judgemental and quick to defame and discredit, a drastic action on the part of Isabel would have been a taint on her name rather than that of her husband. Her tiny act of disobedience exists as only a prelude to their relationship dynamic for the rest of their lives, symbolic of Osmond having to co-exist with a wife he could not control, and in it becoming a large rebellion.