n  Four Portraits of a Noveln

An Interview with Sigmund Freud circa 1911

Vell, zis book by zis man--vhat vas his name? Henry James--vas very very interesting. He is obviously a deeply conflicted individual. Quite clearly an invert filled mit self-loathzing, desiring ze men und at ze zame time hating himself for doing zo. Ve haf ze heroine of ze novel, Isabel Archer, who is pursued by two men: both of zem handsome, manly (vun of zem is efen called Goodwood) and very rich. Both of zem prepared to gif her her freedom after she marries zem. Zis kind uf man, he does not exist in ze 19th century. Zey are razther ze product of James’s fantasies of ze men zat he desires but cannot haf.

Zo she rejects zem for an artiste, Gilbert Osmond. But vat does she find? Zis artiste is effete und in love mit all zings beautiful und artistic. He is not a real man, but only a simulacrum of vun. James vud haf us see zis effete artiste (so very like James, no?) as evil. He seeks to destroy Isabel, zis woman who can attract zese beautiful men, by crushing her under ze veight of convention. He vants her to be ze perfect vife, to behave exactly as ze rules of society demand. He is ze superego crushing her id.

She tries to escape him but ven her suitor comes for her, ven he embraces her and kisses her, she fears him, or rath-zer Goodwood’s “hard manhood”. Of course, James’s inverted desire cannot be fulfilled, zo, completing ze zircle of self-loathzing desire, she runs back to her effete husband.

An Interview with Bruno Bettleheim circa 1977

Well, this novel is quite clearly a fairy tale, and has all its classic hallmarks. We see the young heroine, Isabel Archer: the youngest of three sisters, and the prettiest and cleverest of the lot. Her father dies and so she sets off on a journey to find her fortune. She is assisted in this by her aunt, Mrs Touchett (playing the role of the fairy godmother).

On her journey, she meets a witch, Madame Merle (it is no surprise that her name sounds like that great wizard of legend, Merlin). She also meets three suitors: Caspar Goodwood (On one level, he is bronze for he is described as brown. On another, he represents money: “Caspar” means treasurer or keeper of the treasure), Lord Warburton (Both silver, and power-–“burton” meaning “fortified tower”), and Gilbert Osmond (Gold--he is described as a gold coin; while poor, as an artistic soul he is able to see beyond surface appearance).

Like all fairy tale heroines, Isabel has to make a choice among the three, and as in all classic fairy tales, she chooses the gold. As in all classic morality tales, she chooses that which is the least superficial. However, in her choice, she is influenced by Madame Merle, our witch, who helps Osmond to appear more attractive to Isabel.

All fairy tales are, as I discuss in my book, n  The Uses of Enchantment The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Talesn, to teach children valuable life lessons. James himself refers to his novel as a fable in his preface. But what is the lesson to be learnt? The ending certainly makes us think that it is not that Isabel’s desire for flight, for independence is a good thing, since flying too close to the hot Caspar Goodwood, she feels herself burnt. Is the lesson then not to want too much independence? To accept the strictures of the upper class? Is this why James says that it is after all her suffering, she finally becomes a lady?

An Interview with Robin Leech circa 1985

Welcome to Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Today, we visit the lovely Italian home of rich American heiress, Isabel Archer. Located in sunny, fabulous Rome, Isabel’s home is decorated with only the most stylish and tasteful of things. Isabel and her husband, Gilbert, host the most sought after soirées among the rich set. Paris Hilton eat your heart out. And what does it take to live like this? A stunning US$7 million!

An Interview with yours truly circa 2009

Meh. When all’s said and done, while this portrait of a lady may certainly have depicted Isabel in all her enigmatic glory, like a Carravaggio or a Rembrant, the background landscape is so dark and blurred with smufato that she seems to exist in a vacuum. The other characters are practically caricatures, and the patriarchal society of the 19th century is completely absent. Ultimately, this depiction of an heiress was just airless. Wharton’s n  The Age of Innocencen does a far better job of depicting the marriage market and the corrupting and stifling effects of rigid social convention at the fin de siècle. So, yeah, meh.

(And, yes, no need to point out that Paris Hilton was no celebrity in 1985. It's called artistic licence. LOL!

I'd give it two stars, but the depiction of Isabel's thoughts was a true tour de force, especially considering how innovative this was when it was written. So, that brings it up a notch to three.)

While reading The Portrait of A Lady, I kept thinking, this is a book that should be illustrated by John Singer Sargent. There is an opulence, a lushness and attention to detail here so in tune with the painter's work, and, too, there is a distance, a slight chasm between the subject and the audience.

I won't summarize the plot, but for such a long book, I have to say, I was engaged and interested the whole time. Despite several characters' slight frostiness, the scenery was almost a character in itself, and I was fascinated to read about the expats in Italy and England, and enjoyed James' descriptively fluent language. Ralph was by far my favorite character, and I definitely think James did his best work in developing him and fleshing him out. I heard that in this novel, James was trying to accurately portray the way a woman felt, really considering her psyche and not just her veneer. In this, I am not certain he succeeded, as Isabelle never truly felt developed to me. Complex, yes, but somehow not quite like a real person. This book really raises interesting questions about the roles of women, cultural differences, and significantly, distinctions between the classes, particularly for women. He does a nice job in showing us characters from different generations and backgrounds and pushing them all together on one stage. It's one of those books I think will stay with me for a long time. The way everything was described, the nuances and attention to details just painted such an intense image.

This was only my second book by Henry James, but I have already bought The Europeans and The Wings of the Dove, which is probably the most telling testament regarding my reception of this novel. Like Edith Wharton, it's sort of a slow burn, but one I won't be quick to forget.

Find more reviews and bookish fun at http://www.princessandpen.com

I really don't understand why this novel has gotten so many positive reviews as I personally found it dull and completely lifeless. The main character, Isabel Archer, is apparently such an amazing woman that three men fall completely in love with her, two of which never stop. She manages to choose the worst one to marry and, although in love at first he grows to hate her because she doesn't adore him and do everything he says without question (great love story right?). As James didn't really touch on Isabel's personality, thoughts, or beliefs too much I failed to see what was so extraordinary about her that made these men fall madly in love?

The only character I did like was Ralph, who was clever and observant, and knew so much more than anyone guessed. He tries to help Isabel at the end by helping her to see that there is a way out of the darkness and into the light, but his words (once again) fall on deaf ears. I have no sympathy for Isabel as she created her own despair and lacked the strength to try and fix it.

It strikes me that one's experience of reading "Portrait of a Lady", which in my edition clocks in at 630 pages, is likely to be colored by one's previous experience with James, and the resulting predisposition. Since my unlikely conversion upon reading "The Ambassadors", I am quite favorably predisposed. Thus, when instead of telling us that "the three people enjoying tea on the lawn were all men", Henry instead delivers himself of this sentence:

"The persons concerned in it (the tea party) were taking their pleasures quietly, and they were not of the sex which is supposed to furnish the regular votaries of the ceremony I have mentioned",

I just smile to myself and think, "O, Henry!" (no, not that one, you know perfectly well what I mean).

But this sentence, right there on the first page, is a good indication of what's to come. So you should either give yourself over and let Henry's orotund phrasing wash over you in all its florid glory, or if you don't have the patience for such verbosity, you should quit at once, because it's not going to be any different for the upcoming 600 pages.

Me - right now, I've got the time, and I am happy to discover that I find James's style in this book (which, the cover informs me, is a masterpiece of his middle period ) much easier reading than that in "The Ambassadors". As he's still got the same fascination with the psychological nuances of his characters' interactions that got me hooked in "The Ambassadors", I think that I'm going to enjoy Isabel Archer's story.

We'll see how it goes.

I'm not sure why it took Henry James 3x as many pages to tell a very similar story here to the one he told in Washington Square. Basically: give a woman her freedom and she will choose poorly.

"Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it."
----- G.B.Shaw

With no offence to men at all, I quoted the above because of its relevance with this work by Henry James.

Essentially written about the idea of freedom / liberty, its assertion and realization, in the wake of limits imposed by conventions or moral ideals, specifically in case of women, is at the heart of this work. A beautiful Portrait, a work of art. An art work not because the protagonist is looked upon as an object by other characters, but also because one can look upon the portrait, marvel at the depth of her character and contemplate what her final gesture meant.

While Ralph, her cousin, is amused by her and helps her to inherit a fortune, if only to witness what the liberal woman would make of it, a reader looks upon her, empathetically. While Madam Merle orchestrates (arranges) her meeting with Osmond and make sure that she marries him, the reader is appalled at the apparent innocence on her face. While Osmond thinks of her as a material to work with, thereby decorating his house with her, the reader is apprehensive about her next step. While Mr. Goodwood never looses interest in her life and come back again and again to see how she is living, the reader is curiously stirred by mere thought of a passion.

So everyone, including the reader, look upon her, judge her decisions and contemplate her steps.

But this work by James is not mere that. It is a reflection upon the ideal of freedom and its execution in a woman’s life; an action, struggle and the consequent decisions taken, by choice. This is what James has achieved with this work; that liberty is not only an ideal but a responsibility too. Though the reader may not approve of her step at the end, keeping in mind the betrayal of trust brought about by Madam Merle and Osmond, but it is to kept in mind that her decision at the end is her own will too. A will which comes not merely from the limitations imposed but also from the vow to remain true to oneself. In Isabel’s case, it must be attributed to her choice to remain present in Pansy’s life.


P.S.A star less because of the apparent infatuation of H.James with aristocracy; big houses, paintings, idle ways, travels and interestingly, no one seemed to be doing anything of importance whatsoever other than taking an interest in Isabel’s life.

Old. Dead. White. Gay? Why should it even matter, you say? Well, I think it does and it doesn’t. Any of the above distinctions matter in a sense of circumstance, because certainly a rich white person living in the late 1800s and early 1900s had a day-to-day life that was much, much different than a poor, newly-freed slave living in the American South, for example. It’s also, I believe, a mistake to discount one’s superficial descriptors completely when it comes to their art—even down to one’s prose style (and James’ is of the highest order). It doesn’t matter in the sense that, in my belief, the best books speak to universal human traits.

Portrait of a Lady is most definitely one of those books. So why mention any of his “superficial” traits at all? I do this because it seems too often the classics are relegated in estimation to the privileged ramblings of Old Dead White Men. But what happens when you throw something like Gay into the mix? Colm Tóibín, distinguished gay novelist and author of the above-referenced article, says of James that, “[the revelation of James’ homosexuality] removed him from the realm of dead white males who wrote about posh people. He became our contemporary.” How fortunate, that after years of revisionist history (James’ family sought to hide his romantic leanings from the public for years), a writer like James could be championed by the LGBTQ community. But isn’t it also a shame that it took something besides the book itself to do this? To think that a book as rich and emotionally astute as Portrait of a Lady should be missed out on, by anybody, because of superficial—and incomplete—biographical details, is heartbreaking. Not least so because “outsiders” such as Tóibín, or any other “marginalized class of society”, are precisely the type that can appreciate James’ mastery the most. And if I want to be thorough, I’d say that everyone can benefit from a book like this.

I was not, however, so willing to take this attitude for the majority of my life. It wasn’t so much that James belonged to the group of Old Dead White dudes, but more so because of his obvious—to me—inclusion into the group of writers for which I have coined the term “Victorian Chick Lit.” Anything remotely resembling TV shows like “Avonlea” or “Downton Abbey” for me was literary anathema. I read Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey a few years ago and found myself cringing with hatred as I endured another trip to the Pump Room for coffee and trinkets. If I had to sit through another labored account of Mrs. Piccadilly frolicking amongst the tea kettles I was gunna puke. It was only after reading Jeffrey Eugenides’ brilliant The Marriage Plot and listening to his remarks on writing it, that I decided to take a deep dive into what I thought I hated the most. What I found was a veritable GOLD MINE.

Where to begin. I was captivated from the very beginning by James’ prose. In today’s world, in America, it’s easy to forget that English is a language from England and was once practiced with something like pride. That’s not to say that emoji and meme culture is horrible in itself, but it is a very nice experience to be around someone that speaks as eloquently as Henry James. It is a kind of rest for the brain to have things expressed with such care and nuance. Sure, sometimes you want heavy metal, and sometimes you want trap music—those things aren’t “bad.” But sometimes it is very good to have a bit of classical in the afternoons, as the early-Spring light falls through the windows. James is this brand of sonic-literary mood.

The psychological traits associated with this kind of music include social insight par excellence, and deep questions about what it means to be happy in a capitalist-consumerist society. The questions of how and why we choose our mates—and friends—are no less important now than they were in 1881 when this book was first printed. Do we challenge ourselves or do we settle? Can it be construed as a sin to let romantic companionship slide in hopes of achieving something greater, especially if that ideal is nebulous and undefined? My eminent teacher and literary critic Harold Bloom had this to say about the titular Lady, Ms. Archer’s, complex psyche:

She is the archetype of all those young women, in fiction or in actuality, who are pragmatically doom-eager, because they seek complete realization of their potential while maintaining an idealism that rejects selfishness.

Whoa. Replace “She” with “He” or “They”, and how many people come to resemble our heroine Isabel? What does that even mean in a moral sense? Should we be more selfish? How can one bridge the paradox of being self-reliant but selfless? That’s a question that peers into all of our souls, and the soul, for me, has never had superficial traits that can be defined in terms of gender, race, sexuality, etc.

Henry James in Portrait of a Lady doesn’t give us any answers. He doesn’t tell us why people do things, and would never seek to tell us that we should do anything at all. His refinement instead illustrates crucial enigmas of the human soul through the lens of social interaction. Everyone should read this book for one’s own benefit. Reading this allows us to ask ourselves if we aren’t in fact doom-eager. Above all, what is possibly the greatest gift this book can give us, is a warning—to not give ourselves completely to others that do not appreciate us, and avoid at all costs those who would feast on our life-force like a vampire chugging blood.

There are some classics I read and do not like but still am grateful for having read. I do not think this is one of those. My gut reaction to concluding this book is definitely:



and



butttt I won't give it one star for two reasons.

1. I loved Ralph. Any moment with him was a moment I was happy.

2. I feel so emotionally frustrated with this book that I recognize there has to be something to this story. It didn't bore me. It made me mad but it didn't put me to sleep so I guess it has that going for it.

Overall, though, ridiculously flowery and not much of a plot. Some intriguing characterization, though. Glad I'm done.

best thing for a portrait to be of

Another entry into my classsic Insomnia Series. I was interested in the first half of this looooong book, when the lady in question is young, vibrant and well, interesting. The second half, when she gets married to the wrong man, is a real snoozer. Mission accomplished.

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
3+ out of 5 stars for The Portrait of a Lady, a classic story called the "Great American Novel," written by Henry James in 1881. I adore Henry James and found great enjoyment in his literary works when I began reading him in my freshmen year at college. As an English major, I was exposed to many different authors, but I felt a strong connection with him and this literary period. American realistic works spoke to me above any of the other "classic" books I had been reading. As a result, I chose Henry James as the primary focus of an independent study course I'd taken in my senior year. I read 6 or 7 of his books during those 3 months and am going back now to provide quick reviews, as not everyone finds him as enjoyable as I do. I also don't want to bore everyone with a lengthy review on how to interpret him or his books.

The Portrait of a Lady tells the story of a young woman who years to have her own life and make her own mark on the world. She doesn't want to be contained by marriage or the structure in place at the time in the late 19th century. She has different characteristics coming from American, English and continental European female archetypes. She has strong moral and ethical values. She knows who she is, yet she does not know all. As she moves through life, she makes choices that are not easy for her to execute. What I loved about this work is its deep exploratory view points, beautiful language and unparalleled characters. Though I only give it a 3, when compared to some of this other works, I would recommend you read a few chapters or sections, just to see if it is something you could find yourself getting lost in.

The impact you feel upon reading this book is questioning what is the true view of a lady, how is she different from generation to generate, location to location and societal class to societal class. James knows women. He is very accurate on many levels... wrong on a few, too. But to put out his thoughts, in a huge tome, at a time when women were beginning to get more rights... and be able to cross genres and genders... is amazing. It's less about what he says and more about how he says it. And that's why I enjoy reading him... but even I admit, I can only take 1 book every few years! :)

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

It's tempting to think that very little happens in a Henry James novel. However, in terms of the Isabel Archer's moral development and growth in awareness, there is a wealth of material. This is a beautiful, but tragic novel. I sometimes wonder if Gilbert Osmond (the most memorable character) is a blackened self-portrait of James - fastidious, tasteful, brilliant, and yet entirely empty and wicked. I also wonder whether there is a feminist bent to this novel, as Isabel Archer is a beautiful and brilliant woman who is ultimately trapped by her grasping suitors. James is a wonderful novelist, though certainly not for everyone.