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Product Details
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Product Description
Product Description
When Isabel Archer, a beautiful, spirited American is brought to Europe by her wealthy aunt Touchett, it is expected that she will soon marry. But Isabel, resolved to enjoy the freedom that her fortune has opened up and to determine her own fate, does not hesitate to turn down two eligible suitors. It is only when she finds herself irresistibly drawn to the cultivated but worthless Gilbert Osmond that she discovers that wealth is a two-edged sword and that there is a price to be paid for independence. With its subtle delineation of American characters in a European setting, Portrait of a Lady is one of the most accomplished and popular of Henry James's early novels.
About the Author
Born in New York of Irish and Scottish ancestry and educated in New York, London and Paris, Henry James is best known for his cosmopolitan and often haunting portraits of European and American life. He was also a prolific writer of literary criticism and shorter fiction. James settled in England in 1876, where he spent most of the rest of his life and completed his best-known work. Geoffrey Moore was General Editor for the works of Henry James in Penguin Patricia Crick teaches Modern Languages
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First Sentence
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
"The real offense was her having a mind of her own at all.",
By Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Penguin Classics Portrait Of A Lady (Paperback)
When Isabel Archer, a bright and independent young American, makes her first trip to Europe in the company of her aunt, Mrs. Touchett, who lives outside of London in a 400-year-old estate, she discovers a totally different world, one which does not encourage her independent thinking or behavior and which is governed by rigid social codes. This contrast between American and European values, vividly dramatized here, is a consistent theme in James's novels, one based on his own experiences living in the US and England. In prose that is filled with rich observations about places, customs, and attitudes, James portrays Isabel's European coming-of-age, as she discovers that she must curb her intellect and independence if she is to fit into the social scheme in which she now finds herself.Isabel Archer, one of James's most fully drawn characters, has postponed a marriage in America for a year of travel abroad, only to discover upon her precipitate and ill-considered marriage to an American living in Florence, that it is her need to be independent that makes her marriage a disaster. Gilbert Osmond, an American art collector living in Florence, marries Isabel for the fortune she has inherited from her uncle, treating her like an object d'art which he expects to remain "on the shelf." Madame Serena Merle, his long-time lover, is, like Osmond, an American whose venality and lack of scruples have been encouraged, if not developed, by the European milieu in which they live. James packs more information into one paragraph than many writers do in an entire chapter. Distanced and formal, he presents psychologically realistic characters whose behavior is a direct outgrowth of their upbringing, with their conflicts resulting from the differences between their expectations and the reality of their changed settings. The subordinate characters, Ralph Touchett, Pansy Osmond, her suitor Edward Rosier, American journalist Henrietta Stackpole, Isabel's former suitor Caspar Stackpole, and Lord Warburton, whose love of Isabel leads him to court Pansy, are as fascinating psychologically and as much a product of their own upbringing as is Isabel. As the setting moves from America to England, Paris, Florence, and Rome, James develops his themes, and as Isabel's life becomes more complex, her increasingly difficult and emotionally affecting choices about her life make her increasingly fascinating to the reader. James's trenchant observations about the relationship between individuals and society and about the effects of one's setting on one's behavior are enhanced by the elegance and density of his prose, making this a novel one must read slowly--and savor. Mary Whipple
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glad I returned to James,
By
This review is from: Penguin Classics Portrait Of A Lady (Paperback)
I vaguely remember encountering Henry James in an American Literature course when I was in high school. At the time, I recalled the short stories by James as long-winded and I wearied of the descriptions of meaningful looks and various brocades and expansive gardens. I returned to Henry James and chose Portrait of a Lady based on an online review I read. I was instantly absorbed in the tale and those once exhausting passages only pulled me in further into the time period. I would also like to recommend the Nichole Kidman film as a companion -- it stays remarkably close to the story. Brew some tea and then indulge in the captivating tale of an independent woman and the society that represses her spirit.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Long, but rewarding,
By "californiasunray" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Portrait Of A Lady (Paperback)
The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James, tells an intricate tale of lust, greed, revenge and corruption. It is a timeless story dealing with the clashes of cultures and the timeless struggle for individuality and independence. Isabel, the main character within this anecdote, is thrown into a world where everything she thought she knew is false. As she explores her new world in England and Italy, she learns about misrepresentation of the European culture in America and American culture in Europe. Her trust in people disintegrates as she is betrayed by a person she has trusted and confided in. She learns the true meaning of love through the understanding and acceptance of hate. "She was morally certain now that this feeling of hatred, which at first had been a refuge and a refreshment, had become the occupation and comfort of his life." (413) To love this book, is to love conflict and all of the intrigues that are parallel to it. For me, it is the deception and plots within Isabel's life that captured my interest. For other people it might be her struggle for independence, or her search for a self indentity. While the book begins slowly, it ends with a rapid succession of events, each being an important piece of the final portrait of a young lady from the United States.
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