The Portrait of a Lady

Henry James’s *The Portrait of a Lady* first appeared in serial form in *The Atlantic Monthly* and *Macmillan’s Magazine* between 1880 and 1881, before being published as a book in 1881. It ranks among James’s most beloved novels and is widely considered by critics to be one of his best works. The story follows Isabel Archer, a lively young American woman who, in the phrase James used, “affronts her destiny” and ultimately finds it too much to handle.

Isabel Archer, a 23-year-old from Albany, New York, loses her father and is invited by her aunt, Lydia Touchett, to visit Lydia’s wealthy husband, Daniel, at his estate near London. There, Isabel meets her uncle, her kind but sickly cousin Ralph Touchett, and the family’s robust neighbor, Lord Warburton. She turns down Warburton’s sudden marriage proposal, and also rejects Caspar Goodwood, the charismatic heir to a Boston mill fortune. Though attracted to Caspar, Isabel values her independence too much to enter a marriage she believes would cost her freedom.

When Daniel Touchett falls ill, he leaves much of his estate to Isabel at Ralph’s urging. With this large inheritance, Isabel travels across Europe and, in Florence, meets Gilbert Osmond, an American expatriate. Despite having refused Warburton and Goodwood, she accepts Osmond’s proposal, unaware that the match was orchestrated by the clever but deceitful Madame Merle, another American expatriate she met at the Touchetts’ home.

Isabel and Osmond settle in Rome, but the marriage quickly turns unhappy due to Osmond’s extreme egotism and lack of real affection for his wife. Isabel grows attached to Pansy, Osmond’s daughter from his first marriage, and wants to support Pansy’s wish to marry Edward Rosier, a young art collector. The snobbish Osmond, however, wants Pansy to accept a proposal from Lord Warburton, who had once proposed to Isabel. Isabel suspects Warburton might only be pretending interest in Pansy to get close to her again, and this conflict strains the marriage further when Osmond demands Isabel use her influence over Warburton to push the match.

Learning that Ralph is dying at his English estate, Isabel prepares to visit him, but Osmond selfishly objects and threatens revenge if she goes against his wishes.