New Essays on The Portrait of a Lady

The Portrait of a Lady is arguably Henry James’s most appealing and accessible novel. The introduction to this volume of specially written essays situates the novel in its cultural and historical context: its treatment of a modern woman ‘affronting’ her destiny, its relation to the contemporary controversy over ‘morality’ in fiction, its use of an Italian setting, and its late nineteenth century elegiac mood. It also discusses James’s revisions of the novel and his late Preface. The essays that follow deal with the place of Portrait in the tradition of modern narrative, its relation to popular women’s fiction on the question of marriage, the influence of James’s ‘family romance’ and his brother William, and the character of Isabel Archer seen from a psychoanalytic point of view.

Series editor’s preface; A note on the text; 1. Introduction: The Portrait of a Lady and ‘felt life’ Joel Porte; 2. The Portrait of a Lady and modern narrative Donatella Izzo; 3. The fatherless heroine and the filial son: deep background for The Portrait of a Lady Alfred Habegger; 4. The portrait of a lack William Veeder; 5. Frail vessels and vast designs: a psychoanalytic portrait of Isabel Archer Beth Sharon Ash; Selected bibliography.