The Portrait of a Lady

The Portrait of a Lady is one of the most famous novels by Henry James. Like many of the novels written by Henry James, it is set in Europe. The main character is Isabelle Archer, a young American who travels to Europe and soon meets two Americans in England. Her life becomes difficult because of their various schemes.

After the death of Isabel's father, Isabel's aunt, Lydia Touchett, invites her to England to stay with her aunt and her wealthy husband at their London estate. There she meets her relatives' neighbour, Lord Warburton. Soon after meeting Lord Warburton, he proposes marriage, but Isabel declines. She also rejects Caspar Goodwood, the son of a wealthy business owner.

Her uncle, Daniel Touchett, becomes ill and leaves much of his estate to Isabel upon his death. Isabel then travels around Europe and meets Gilbert Osmond, an American, in Florence. He proposes marriage and Isabel accepts. 

Isabel and Gilbert live in Rome, but their marriage soon worsens. Gilbert is very self-centred and shows little genuine interest in his wife. Isabel becomes very close to Pansy, Gilbert's daughter from his first marriage.

Pansy wants to marry Edmond, an art collector, and Isabel supports her. Gilbert, however, wants her to marry Lord Warburton, the man who previously proposed to Isabel in England. Isabel suspects that Lord Warburton may simply be pretending to be interested in Pansy so that he can get close to Isabel. This adds more tension to Isabel and Gilbert's unhappy marriage.

Isabel learns that her cousin Ralph, the son of her Aunt Lydia and Uncle Daniel, is dying. She wants to visit him at his estate in England, but her husband opposes her plan. Without telling her husband, Isabel later leaves to visit her dying cousin and remains in England until his death.

She later meets Caspar Goodwood at the estate and he begs her to leave Gilbert and be with him. In a moment of passion, he embraces and kisses her, but she flees. Caspar looks for her the next day but learns that she has returned to Rome.

The ending is not clear. One possibility is that Isabel has returned to Gilbert to repair their marriage, but the other is that she intends to rescue Pansy and leave her husband. Henry James leaves the ending to the reader's imagination.

The novel deals with the themes of personal freedom, responsibility and betrayal. Isabel is a strong and independent woman, but after she inherits much of her uncle's estate and marries Gilbert, her life changes drastically. She has financial independence, but she does not feel free.