Description

Here is one of the most famous novels in the English language: a story of betrayal, evil, and freedom, played out against the conflict between America and Europe. Isabel Archer is the spirited and independent American heroine who journeys to England and later Italy in search of her destiny. Once there, she attracts attention and admiration, receiving several marriage offers, but she rejects proposals by Lord Warburton and Caspar Goodwood out of a desire to protect her freedom. But while in Florence, Isabel meets another American expatriate, Gilbert Osmond, to whom she is drawn. Her friend Madame Merle encourages the relationship, but Merle has her own motives for furthering the match. Not only has Merle lavished attention on Isabel ever since Isabel came into a large fortune, but Merle has her own complicated past relationship with Osmond. Despite the disapproval of others, Isabel marries Osmond, sealing her own doom. Her husband turns out to be egotistical, manipulative, and arrogant, and a despairing Isabelle realizes too late that her treasured individuality and independence is being crushed. Yet her pride prevents her from leaving Osmond and from recognizing that she has fallen prey to an elaborate, mean-spirited scheme. As Isabel comes to terms with her actions, the novel illuminates the deep tension between individuality and social convention, which, for Isabel, cannot be reconciled.

About the Author

Henry James (1843-1916) was born in New York City to a wealthy and prominent family. His father was a well-known writer and thinker, and James’s parents offered their son a solid education and frequent travel to Europe. James began to write as a young man, publishing his first novel, Watch and Ward, in 1871. Over the next several years, James produced a wealth of short stories, novels, plays, and non-fiction prose, among them such celebrated titles as The Portrait of a Lady, Roderick Hudson, The Bostonians, and What Maisie Knew. Living most of his life abroad, James moved in many prominent intellectual circles, befriending many of the great artists, writers, and thinkers of his day. In a move that shocked many, James took British citizenship in 1915 in order to express his disappointment with the United States for not yet having entered the First World War. Feeling more at home abroad than in America, James spent the rest of his life in England. To this day, he is known as “the Master” for his intelligent, intricate writing that explores the dramatic psychological machinations beneath even the simplest of human interactions and events.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

"The Portrait of a Lady" was, like "Roderick Hudson," begun in Florence, during three months spent there in the spring of 1879. Like "Roderick" and like "The American," it had been designed for publication in "The Atlantic Monthly," where it began to appear in 1880. It differed from its two ...