THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY
By Henry James, Jr.
PF Collier & Son Company, 1917, 624 pages
James copyrighted this work in 1881. According to the biographical note in the beginning of this edition, James published his first work in 1865. Although many of his early works were biographical sketches, The Portrait of a Lady is a fictional version of a biographical sketch.
The author depicts a slow shift in the person of Isabel Archer. She is a strong-minded young American woman who immigrates to Europe to live with relatives. Despite a number of proposals by various societal gentlemen (American and British), she prefers to explore Europe with her aunt. Over time she becomes less resistive and eventually marries one who later turns out to be scheming with his former love. They coordinate their approach to her as she has inherited a great sum of money.
As all is eventually revealed there is a great deal of inward consideration by all parties involved, including those gentlemen whose proposals had been rejected you continue to watch over her to help her where they can. James is talented at having the reader accompany the various characters as they interact with each other, but also as they wax introspective. The work is romantic in style and focus.
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