Posted on January 18, 2010
The Portrait of a Lady
by Henry James
This was my first Henry James novel. There’s a huge part of me that wants to say it will be my last, but I don’t think the other part of me that wants more will agree to that.
The Portrait of a Lady story about a young woman, Isabel Archer, who is taken under the wing of her Aunt Lydia after her father’s death. She’s brought to Europe, meets family she has never met before and becomes an item of fascination for young men around her. There’s Ralph, her invalid cousin, there’s Lord Warburton, a dashing young English lord. She’s left behind Casper Goodwood in America, despite, I believe having rather strong feelings toward him. As the story progresses we are introduced to Madame Merle, Gilbert Osmond and his daughter, Pansy. With the exception of a few other characters I’ve neglected to mention, this book is, really, about every one of these characters.
What I loved about the book is also what I disliked most about the book. The level of detail describing the emotions, the backgrounds and the expressions/thoughts of each character was so perfect and lengthy that it seriously put me in some agony to read. It wasn’t an easy book to plow through (taking me a full five days of serious reading). But what made everything worthwhile to me was the ending – which surprised me. I’d read reviews where others stated that they hated the ending but for me.. it was perfect. I’m not a fan of Isabel. I found her self-centered, careless and immature. That’s not to say I’m not without sympathy for her, I am. I felt sympathy for her as she experienced the consequences of her decisions. And I recognize that she was manipulated on all sides. But for such an “intelligent” woman, she was not as independent as I would have liked.
Which takes me to Miss Henrietta Stackpole (one of those characters I neglected above) – I loved this character. I couldn’t make up my mind on her until I finished the book, being both frustrated and fascinated by her. She was opinionated, independent and the woman I would hope I would have been during those times. Isabel’s weaknesses showcased Henrietta Stackpole’s strengths. I wanted to read more about her and was disappointed at how relatively little there was in the book (all things considering).
I’m glad I chose this novel for my first. I do wish the first 90% of the book had held as much angst, passion and heartbreak as the last 10% of the book did, simply because I finally felt as if I was getting emotionally involved then. I’m proud of myself for sticking with it, and.. it goes to show again, that sometimes even if you are having difficulty getting yourself to sit down and focus on that book you just can’t get into .. the ending may just surprise you and make it all worth while.
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A few days ago I emailed Brigid Pasulka’s agent asking about a possible Q&A to post on this blog as I continue to showcase A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True
