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【Abstract】 Isabel Archer, the protagonist of Henry James's most acclaimed work "The portrait of a lady", is a character of lots of contradictions. She defies everything so as to keep her sense of freedom. Concerning her final decision to return to Rome, there are many different viewpoints: consisting of both praise and criticism from the critics. Though her innocence and naivety can rouse our sympathy, her nuptial tragedy mainly lies in defects in her character and her faulty sense of freedom. This article will focus on Isabel's ambivalent character and draw a conclusion that her return to Rome is the best demonstration of her character.
【Key words】 ambivalent character; sense of freedom; nuptial tragedy
1 Introduction
Henry James was born in New York City on April 15, 1843. His father was an eccentric, independently wealthy philosopher and religious visionary; his elder brother, William, was the first notable American psychologist. As a child, James was shy, delicate, and had a difficult time mixing with other boys. He spent his spare time reading and writing to build the castle of his own. Being unmarried in all his life, he devoted himself to writing: in four decades of his writing career, he produced nearly 100 books, including such classics as The Golden Bowl, The Wings of the Dove, and the immortal ghost story The Turn of the Screw. He died on February 28, 1916, shortly after receiving the English Order of Merit for his dedication to the British cause in World War I.
The portrait of a lady is often considered as one of Henry James's greatest works, and Isabel archer as his greatest heroine. There is no doubt over James's affection for her, because she is a more highly developed character and it is generally agreed that her morals reflect James's own.
This article focuses on the analysis of Isabel archer's view of freedom and her failure in the fulfillment of her view of freedom. Isabel cherishes freedom and independence and she wants to have freedom of choice and freedom of consciousness. The ambivalence in her view of freedom will be analyzed as well. While she quests for freedom and knowledge, she is not against the conventional virtues and moral norms imposed on women. There are some fatal flaws in her character, which causes her failure in the fulfillment of her view of freedom. This paper is intended to discuss the root of Isabel's failure in the light of her character.
2 The ambivalences of her character
Isabel Archer is a young woman of many theories, but she does not know how to practice them. She wants to have a full perception of the world, but deceived by the evil of it; she pursues self-independence, but has to depend on her husband's likes and dislikes; she wants to break the social bondage which puts money and social status above everything, but is taken advantage of her own privileged condition.
Isabel Archer is introduced in the novel as a woman with strong and uncompromising convictions. The first glimpse of Isabel shows that she is quite independent. This early description sets expectations for her character. She insists on having not only freedom of choice, but also freedom of consciousness. She should have room and time for her intellectual freedom which she believes to be the essence of human emotion. Her actions reveal her keeping with the views of the changing times regarding freedom. She is endowed by the author with almost all the good qualities of a woman: beauty, charm, intelligence and wealth. Above all, she is a woman who values her liberty to the utmost. She believes strongly in her own opinion and cherishes the right to evaluate independently any person or situation around her, which makes her vulnerable to people with ill intentions.
2.1 Self-confidence vs. complacency
Isabel Archer's pride makes her think well of herself and she tends to put an air of being different from other people. Mrs. Touchett, on first seeing her in Albany, observes, "It's her general air of being someone in particular that strikes me" (James, Portrait 48). A few days after her arrival at Gardencourt, her cousin, Ralph Touchett, observes her haughtiness: "Charming as he found her, she had struck him as rather presumptuous" (James, Portrait 53).
Isabel tells Ralph in her first few days at Gardencourt, "I like so much to see people and I'm very fond of knowledge" (James, Portrait 52). This, together with her assertion of love for liberty, fascinates Ralph so much that he takes great interest in seeing the spectacular scene she will display in front of him. He says, "I have the thrill of seeing what a young lady does who won't marry Lord Warburton" (James, Portrait 137). Instead of rolling up his sleeves and acting as a spectator, he tries to clear the possible obstacles off her way by persuading his father to offer half of his own bequest to Isabel. Armed with wealth, her confidence increases exceedingly. Deep in her heart, she wants to be treated as superior to others, but her knowledge and experience of life is rather poor. "She had no talent for expression and too little of the consciousness of genius; she only had a general idea that people were right when they treated her as if she were rather superior." (James, Portrait 51).
2.2 Independence vs. arbitrariness
As Isabel tells Ralph, "It's not absolutely necessary to suffer; we are not made for that" (James, Portrait 53). At the bottom of her heart, she takes for granted that she is meant for something better. Since she cherishes such a high expectation of life, she should have known better what kind of life she is looking for. Only in this way can she make effort to approach her goal and finally achieve it. But she never has a clear picture in her mind about what an ideal life looks like. In fact, her knowledge about many things is just left vaguely perceived, and she seldom sets a consistent norm for her to follow. This can be easily seen from Isabel's change in her views about marriage. She once makes her declaration about female celibacy to Ralph by saying, "I don't see what harm there is in my wishing not to tie myself. I don't want to begin my life by marrying. There are other things a woman can do. ［…］But I really don't want to marry, or to talk about it at all now. I shall probably never do it——no, never" (James, Portrait 137, 142).
2.3 Innocence vs. ignorance
Isabel Archer has few noticeable flaws. Asides from her limited knowledge of the European civilization, her failure in her marriage is largely due to her ignorance and innocence of the dark side of the human nature. She takes a fancy of a world which is independent of the reality and stubbornly acts on her own perception of the living circumstances and people around her. It is her weakness like this that makes Madame Merle and Osmond's tricky so easily worked out. Or rather, they do not need to elaborate on their plan so much only if Osmond pretends to the ideal choice for Isabel, who takes things for granted and easily falls victim to vicious hands.
As an innocent and na?ve girl with great fortune, Isabel is liable to fall prey to sophisticated fortune-hunters. But this is not inevitable if Isabel is not so proud and ignorant. Later when Isabel gets acquainted with Madame Merle, she makes her ignorance of wealth well perceived by the sophisticated widow in their debate:
What Isabel makes clear in this debate is her utter opposition to materialism. In her opinion, all things are limits and her idea of a pure self exists apart from all materiality. Here Merle is justified in saying that it is necessary for one to possess things first before he could establish and experience a self.
3 Isabel's Final Decision to Return to Rome
Isabel Archer, when bestowed with a great fortune, she is not as ecstatic as it should be. Instead, she considers the bequest as a burden for her. She desires to "transfer the weight of it to some other conscience, to some more prepared receptacle" (James, Portrait 365). After their marriage, she awakens to the fact that "she loved him not for what he really possessed, but for his very poverties dressed out as honors" (James, Portrait 299). When it is brought to light by Countess Gemini to Isabel that Osmond and Madame Merle had affairs long before their marriage and Pansy is their illegitimate daughter, her misery reaches the summit.
Isabel' final decision to return to Rome is so controversial that critics have various theories about it. Dorothea Krook points out, "Isabel Archer takes a sacramental view of marriage as a sanctified union which is to be regarded as indissoluble" (Krook 41). This theory bears certain truth as it seems to shed light on Isabel's flight from Goodwood's embrace and his kisses which "was like white lightening, a flash that spread again and stayed" (James, Portrait 499).
From the analysis of Isabel's character, it can be seen that she is one with painful flaws in her view of the people and the world around her. Isabel's decision to return to Rome is triumph in her own eyes, but it has nothing too much to do with duty. As is made clear in the novel, Isabel used to be a girl who takes a restricted view of life. She has an inclination never to look at the unpleasant things in life. It is her perversive knowledge of people and life that leads to her tragic marriage.
4 Conclusion
As a young American girl, Isabel has learned a great lesson in Europe. Her American innocence has been totally destroyed by the European sophistication. Her aunt's generosity has given her a great chance to explore a whole new world, but at the same time it brings her great sorrows. Different cultural background makes it hard for her to fully engage in the new society. What's worse, her character is of some deadly flaws which make her an easy victim of vicious people like Osmond and Madame Merle. Even after she knows that her husband has made use of her, she is still unwilling to change her character and stubbornly goes back to her husband. She makes every decision on her own and declines any of her friends' suggestions. It seems unreasonable that she chooses to continue her painful marriage and refuses Goodwood's true love again. It's mentioned in the Introduction that the subject of the novel is "the conception of a certain young lady affronting her destiny". Isabel does not believe in tragedy. She wants pleasant things out of life. But her fight against her destiny is doomed to fail, and she is in a real tragedy.
References
［1］ James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady, With Introduction and Notes by Lionel Kelly.
［2］ Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics, 1999.
［3］ Freedman, Jonathan. Ed. The Cambridge Companion to Henry James. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
［4］ Krook, Dorothea. The Ordeal of Consciousness in Henry James. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1962 .
［5］ The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume 2, 4th edition. W.W. NORTON ＆ COMPANY .
［6］ James, Henry. The Complete Notebook of Henry James. London: Oxford University Press, 1987.
［7］ 盛宁，《二十世纪美国文论》北京：北京大学出版社，1994.
［8］ 崔少元.从民族主义到世界主义：亨利.詹姆斯国际题材小说文化研究. 学位论文，1999.
［9］ 常耀信，《美国文学简史》，天津：南开大学出版社，2003.
【Key words】 ambivalent character; sense of freedom; nuptial tragedy
1 Introduction
Henry James was born in New York City on April 15, 1843. His father was an eccentric, independently wealthy philosopher and religious visionary; his elder brother, William, was the first notable American psychologist. As a child, James was shy, delicate, and had a difficult time mixing with other boys. He spent his spare time reading and writing to build the castle of his own. Being unmarried in all his life, he devoted himself to writing: in four decades of his writing career, he produced nearly 100 books, including such classics as The Golden Bowl, The Wings of the Dove, and the immortal ghost story The Turn of the Screw. He died on February 28, 1916, shortly after receiving the English Order of Merit for his dedication to the British cause in World War I.
The portrait of a lady is often considered as one of Henry James's greatest works, and Isabel archer as his greatest heroine. There is no doubt over James's affection for her, because she is a more highly developed character and it is generally agreed that her morals reflect James's own.
This article focuses on the analysis of Isabel archer's view of freedom and her failure in the fulfillment of her view of freedom. Isabel cherishes freedom and independence and she wants to have freedom of choice and freedom of consciousness. The ambivalence in her view of freedom will be analyzed as well. While she quests for freedom and knowledge, she is not against the conventional virtues and moral norms imposed on women. There are some fatal flaws in her character, which causes her failure in the fulfillment of her view of freedom. This paper is intended to discuss the root of Isabel's failure in the light of her character.
2 The ambivalences of her character
Isabel Archer is a young woman of many theories, but she does not know how to practice them. She wants to have a full perception of the world, but deceived by the evil of it; she pursues self-independence, but has to depend on her husband's likes and dislikes; she wants to break the social bondage which puts money and social status above everything, but is taken advantage of her own privileged condition.
Isabel Archer is introduced in the novel as a woman with strong and uncompromising convictions. The first glimpse of Isabel shows that she is quite independent. This early description sets expectations for her character. She insists on having not only freedom of choice, but also freedom of consciousness. She should have room and time for her intellectual freedom which she believes to be the essence of human emotion. Her actions reveal her keeping with the views of the changing times regarding freedom. She is endowed by the author with almost all the good qualities of a woman: beauty, charm, intelligence and wealth. Above all, she is a woman who values her liberty to the utmost. She believes strongly in her own opinion and cherishes the right to evaluate independently any person or situation around her, which makes her vulnerable to people with ill intentions.
2.1 Self-confidence vs. complacency
Isabel Archer's pride makes her think well of herself and she tends to put an air of being different from other people. Mrs. Touchett, on first seeing her in Albany, observes, "It's her general air of being someone in particular that strikes me" (James, Portrait 48). A few days after her arrival at Gardencourt, her cousin, Ralph Touchett, observes her haughtiness: "Charming as he found her, she had struck him as rather presumptuous" (James, Portrait 53).
Isabel tells Ralph in her first few days at Gardencourt, "I like so much to see people and I'm very fond of knowledge" (James, Portrait 52). This, together with her assertion of love for liberty, fascinates Ralph so much that he takes great interest in seeing the spectacular scene she will display in front of him. He says, "I have the thrill of seeing what a young lady does who won't marry Lord Warburton" (James, Portrait 137). Instead of rolling up his sleeves and acting as a spectator, he tries to clear the possible obstacles off her way by persuading his father to offer half of his own bequest to Isabel. Armed with wealth, her confidence increases exceedingly. Deep in her heart, she wants to be treated as superior to others, but her knowledge and experience of life is rather poor. "She had no talent for expression and too little of the consciousness of genius; she only had a general idea that people were right when they treated her as if she were rather superior." (James, Portrait 51).
2.2 Independence vs. arbitrariness
As Isabel tells Ralph, "It's not absolutely necessary to suffer; we are not made for that" (James, Portrait 53). At the bottom of her heart, she takes for granted that she is meant for something better. Since she cherishes such a high expectation of life, she should have known better what kind of life she is looking for. Only in this way can she make effort to approach her goal and finally achieve it. But she never has a clear picture in her mind about what an ideal life looks like. In fact, her knowledge about many things is just left vaguely perceived, and she seldom sets a consistent norm for her to follow. This can be easily seen from Isabel's change in her views about marriage. She once makes her declaration about female celibacy to Ralph by saying, "I don't see what harm there is in my wishing not to tie myself. I don't want to begin my life by marrying. There are other things a woman can do. ［…］But I really don't want to marry, or to talk about it at all now. I shall probably never do it——no, never" (James, Portrait 137, 142).
2.3 Innocence vs. ignorance
Isabel Archer has few noticeable flaws. Asides from her limited knowledge of the European civilization, her failure in her marriage is largely due to her ignorance and innocence of the dark side of the human nature. She takes a fancy of a world which is independent of the reality and stubbornly acts on her own perception of the living circumstances and people around her. It is her weakness like this that makes Madame Merle and Osmond's tricky so easily worked out. Or rather, they do not need to elaborate on their plan so much only if Osmond pretends to the ideal choice for Isabel, who takes things for granted and easily falls victim to vicious hands.
As an innocent and na?ve girl with great fortune, Isabel is liable to fall prey to sophisticated fortune-hunters. But this is not inevitable if Isabel is not so proud and ignorant. Later when Isabel gets acquainted with Madame Merle, she makes her ignorance of wealth well perceived by the sophisticated widow in their debate:
What Isabel makes clear in this debate is her utter opposition to materialism. In her opinion, all things are limits and her idea of a pure self exists apart from all materiality. Here Merle is justified in saying that it is necessary for one to possess things first before he could establish and experience a self.
3 Isabel's Final Decision to Return to Rome
Isabel Archer, when bestowed with a great fortune, she is not as ecstatic as it should be. Instead, she considers the bequest as a burden for her. She desires to "transfer the weight of it to some other conscience, to some more prepared receptacle" (James, Portrait 365). After their marriage, she awakens to the fact that "she loved him not for what he really possessed, but for his very poverties dressed out as honors" (James, Portrait 299). When it is brought to light by Countess Gemini to Isabel that Osmond and Madame Merle had affairs long before their marriage and Pansy is their illegitimate daughter, her misery reaches the summit.
Isabel' final decision to return to Rome is so controversial that critics have various theories about it. Dorothea Krook points out, "Isabel Archer takes a sacramental view of marriage as a sanctified union which is to be regarded as indissoluble" (Krook 41). This theory bears certain truth as it seems to shed light on Isabel's flight from Goodwood's embrace and his kisses which "was like white lightening, a flash that spread again and stayed" (James, Portrait 499).
From the analysis of Isabel's character, it can be seen that she is one with painful flaws in her view of the people and the world around her. Isabel's decision to return to Rome is triumph in her own eyes, but it has nothing too much to do with duty. As is made clear in the novel, Isabel used to be a girl who takes a restricted view of life. She has an inclination never to look at the unpleasant things in life. It is her perversive knowledge of people and life that leads to her tragic marriage.
4 Conclusion
As a young American girl, Isabel has learned a great lesson in Europe. Her American innocence has been totally destroyed by the European sophistication. Her aunt's generosity has given her a great chance to explore a whole new world, but at the same time it brings her great sorrows. Different cultural background makes it hard for her to fully engage in the new society. What's worse, her character is of some deadly flaws which make her an easy victim of vicious people like Osmond and Madame Merle. Even after she knows that her husband has made use of her, she is still unwilling to change her character and stubbornly goes back to her husband. She makes every decision on her own and declines any of her friends' suggestions. It seems unreasonable that she chooses to continue her painful marriage and refuses Goodwood's true love again. It's mentioned in the Introduction that the subject of the novel is "the conception of a certain young lady affronting her destiny". Isabel does not believe in tragedy. She wants pleasant things out of life. But her fight against her destiny is doomed to fail, and she is in a real tragedy.
References
［1］ James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady, With Introduction and Notes by Lionel Kelly.
［2］ Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Classics, 1999.
［3］ Freedman, Jonathan. Ed. The Cambridge Companion to Henry James. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
［4］ Krook, Dorothea. The Ordeal of Consciousness in Henry James. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1962 .
［5］ The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Volume 2, 4th edition. W.W. NORTON ＆ COMPANY .
［6］ James, Henry. The Complete Notebook of Henry James. London: Oxford University Press, 1987.
［7］ 盛宁，《二十世纪美国文论》北京：北京大学出版社，1994.
［8］ 崔少元.从民族主义到世界主义：亨利.詹姆斯国际题材小说文化研究. 学位论文，1999.
［9］ 常耀信，《美国文学简史》，天津：南开大学出版社，2003.