Portrait of a Lady. Henry James.

Portrait of a Lady
Henry James
New York: Literary Classics of the United States. 1881 (1985)

Why read it? Novel. Henry James studies the relationships between the American character and Europeans. In this novel, Isabel Archer visits American relatives who have lived for a long time in Britain and who have adopted the British view of belief in a stratified society with special emphasis on proper manners. Isabel's American/British relatives enjoy observing her in action, watching to see how she deals with certain situations. Isabel is manipulated by the sophisticated and socially polished Madame Merle into marrying an aristocratic, impoverished aesthete who tries to control her after they are married. At first, Isabel rebels and leaves him, but then returns because of the marriage bonds.

The relationship between Jane Austen and Henry James is unmistakable in this novel. Like Austen, James's characters do not work; they value propriety in their social relations and marriage is more of a political institution, not a love match. They both employ clever and witty dialogue. James does seem to be superior in rendering the nuances of existence and in interrelationships between people. The whole novel would seem to translate into a stage play since the essence of the novel consists of dialogue, but James's long comments on people and society prepare for the dialogue and could not be translated to the stage.

Americans try to control events; the British abide by them. James contrasts the sophisticated European character to the naive Americans who take what they see on the surface as the truth and do not understand the complex motives that sophisticated Europeans have for their words and actions.

James's "portrait of a lady" is not Isabel, but Madame Merle. She is a brilliant conversationalist, socially impeccable in manners, accomplished in crafts and music, and able to live with many different socially enviable people at no expense. She is a presence in any gathering of people but unable to attain her goal of marrying "Caesar" and plays the panderer to her former lover, introducing him to Isabel who has what he and she lack--money. Madame Merle is a "lady," socially, but personally flawed.

Some sample ideas from the novel: "What has he done? He has done nothing that has had to be undone." "That is the supreme good fortune: to be in better position for appreciating people than they are for appreciating you....the essence of the aristocratic situation." "Scenery is not my department; I always need a human interest." "He thinks I am a barbarian and that I have never seen forks and spoons." "You can't improve your mind, Miss Archer. It's already a most formidable instrument. It looks down on us all; it despises us."/ "Despises you?" /"Well, you think us picturesque--that's the same thing. I won't be thought picturesque."

Miss Stackpole: "I don't approve of you, you know; I feel as if I ought to tell you that:/ Lord Warburton: "Don't approve of me?"/ Miss Stackpole: "Yes...I don't approve of lords as an institution. I think the world has got beyond that--far beyond." / Lord Warburton: "Oh, so do I. I don't approve of myself in the least. Sometimes it comes over me--how I should object to myself if I were not myself, don't you know?"

"For everything they [the British] must ask leave. That is our system. Leave is freely granted, but they must ask it." "The young lady [Isabel] seemed to have a great deal of confidence, both in herself and in others." "It was a rule with his mother to have no regrets." "But I always want to know the things one shouldn't do." / "So as to do them?"/ "So as to choose." "But with you I never feel safe. I have a sort of sense that you are always judging people." "One would think you were going to commit a crime!" / "Perhaps I am. I wish to be free even to do that if the fancy takes me."

Quote: "Look at poor Ralph.... What sort of figure do you call that? Fortunately he has got a consumption; I say fortunately because it gives him something to do. His consumption is his career."

RayS: And so on. Henry James takes a while to tell a story but the dialogue is witty, the characters are interesting, the ending sometimes a surprise. If the essence of reading is thinking, reading Henry James makes me think and helps me to understand that people and cultures are complex. A delightful novel.