This document summarizes several major themes in Henry James' novel The Portrait of a Lady, including independence, marriage, identity, suffering, wealth, lies and deceit, and comparisons between America and Europe. It notes that Isabel Archer desires independence but ultimately loses it through her marriage to Gilbert Osmond, who seeks to control her. The novel explores the tension between individual freedom and social pressures.

1. The Portrait of a
Lady
Major themes
Presented by:
Ropak Sh. M. Sevi

2. Independence
 Isabel's independence of spirit is
largely a result of her childhood.
 She supervised her own
haphazard education.
 She has a vast faith in her own
moral strength.

3.  an independent young woman.
 has a thirst for knowledge.
 a lady who wears a mask to
conceal her emotions.
 she succumbs to the patriarchal
order and learns to be the
feminine woman that should not

4.  Osmand despises the
independence she used to dream
of.
 criticizes her for having ideas
 These ideas and interest in life
(her ‘originality’) are quashed in
marriage as he expects her to be
an object of beauty rather than an
animate, independent being.

5. • James skillfully intertwines the
novel's psychological and thematic
elements:
the conflict between her desire to
conform to social convention and
her fiercely independent mind.
Isabel's downfall with Osmond

6. longing for stability and safety, even
if they mean a loss of
independence.
her haphazard upbringing
her active imagination
enables her to create an illusory
picture of Osmond
Isabel's pride in her moral strength
•impossible for her to consider leaving
him.

7. • Individual vs.
Society
(independence)

8. • What to chose?
independent spirit or the demands
of social convention?
After longing to be an independent
woman Isabel falls in love with and
marries the sinister Gilbert Osmond

9. • Her marriage to Osmond effectively
stifles Isabel's independent spirit?
• her husband treats her as an object
• tries to force her to share his
opinions and abandon her own.

10. • What to decide?
honor her marriage vows and
preserve social propriety or to leave
her miserable marriage and escape
to a happier, more independent
life?

11. Why then She returns?
• after the death of her cousin Ralph,
Isabel chooses to return to Osmond
and maintain her marriage?
• Sense of social duty
• Sense of pride ,i.e. Facing her
choice
• The love of her stepdaughter,

12. pridepride
 there is a fall in this book, and,there is a fall in this book, and,
yes, pride is largely responsibleyes, pride is largely responsible
for it.for it.
 There’s an interestinglyThere’s an interestingly
ambiguous attitude towardsambiguous attitude towards
pridepride
 Is itIs it sinsin oror virtuevirtue??

13. The American vs. The European
 innocence vs. knowledge or
experience
 utility vs. form and ceremony
 spontaneity vs. ritual
 sincerity vs. urbanity
 action vs. inaction
 nature vs. art
 natural vs. artificial

14. • James uses these ideas with a
great deal of flexibility:
• a European might possess urbanity
and knowledge and experience
does not necessarily mean that he
is artificial and evil.
For example, Lord Warburton
possesses urbanity and adheres to
forms, ceremonies, and rituals, but
he is not more than an admirable
character.

15. and
• many Americans come with natural
spontaneity and are not necessarily
honest and admirable.
For example Henrietta Stackpole,
who possesses a great amount of
spontaneity, is at times rather
overbearing and indiscreet.

16. • the character who represents the
American in the best sense of the
word Isabel Archer.
• The representative of the European
in the worse sense of the word is
Gilbert Osmond, and to a lesser
degree Madame Merle.

17. The American's practicality
and the European's insistence
upon form and ceremony.
• Isabel likes to do what she thinks
is right and not what other people
tell her is right.
• Osmond know ahead of time what
type of form and ceremony they
will employ in any given situation.

18. • The American then acts
spontaneously
• While the Europeans have
formalized certain rituals so that
they will never have to confront
an unknown situation

19. • Thus, there is a sense of sincerity in the
American's actions; whereas the
European is more characterized by a
sense of extreme urbanity.
• For example:
• Madame Merle & Osmond never perform
a spontaneous act — they are the
epitome of the perfect and correct form.
• Thus, there is something false in their
reactions, while Isabel's reaction strikes
one as honest and sincere.

20. The Americans are people of action
.
The Europeans are people of
inaction.
• Examples:
• Osmond has never performed any
useful task. He remains inactive.
• the American, such as Henrietta, can
enter into any type of pursuit.

21. The American's sense of
spontaneity, sincerity, and action
leads him into natural actions.
The European's emphasis on
form, ceremony, ritual, and
urbanity seems to suggest the
artificial

22. • These qualities lead to the
ultimate opposition of honesty
versus evil.
• The ideal person is the one who
can retain all of the American's
innocence and honesty, and yet
gain the European's experience
and knowledge.

23. America vs.
Europe
the novel relies on a kind of moral
geography;
 America represents innocence,
individualism, and capability
 Europe represents decadence,
sophistication, and social convention
 England represents the best mix of the

24.  Rome, the historic heart of continental
Europe, she endures her greatest
hardship with Gilbert Osmond.

25. Marriage
The antithesis of independence for
women.
Marriage is compared to a cage and a
steel trap.
Isabel takes the vow of marriage to be
a ‘sacred act’.
it becomes the cage Ralph feared as it
is impossible to escape from her
unhappiness.
fate may not be challenged.

26. Identity
• What characters really want
• and need.
• finding out whether or not
they have the strength to
reach out and take it.
• what they don’t know about other people.

27. Suffering
 unrequited love
 physical pain
 loss
 worst of all, the suffering of the
horrible realization that you’ve made a
wrong decision

28. Wealth
 What exactly does money buy?
 Security? Independence? Beauty?
Dare we say – happiness? Or,
perhaps, none of the above?
 money is both a blessing and a
curse.
 wealth is something of a tricky
trade-off… Sure, having money is
nice, but it comes with a lot of
baggage.

29. Lies and DeceitLies and Deceit
 There’s a certain innateThere’s a certain innate
untruthfulness about the wholeuntruthfulness about the whole
society that James reveals to us;society that James reveals to us;
 polite social interaction usuallypolite social interaction usually
involves hiding one’s feelings, toinvolves hiding one’s feelings, to
some degree, and masking truesome degree, and masking true
emotion behind glib repartee.emotion behind glib repartee.

30. Other themesOther themes
 Women and FemininityWomen and Femininity
 The late nineteenth century. modern career gal and aThe late nineteenth century. modern career gal and a
traditional Victorian daughter,traditional Victorian daughter,
 LoveLove
 Men and MasculinityMen and Masculinity