Eventized: A Michael Neno Blog

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Recently Read: The Portrait of a Lady, by Henry James

Nearly one 150 years after The Portrait of a Lady was published, it seems superfluous to review it or summarize it. It is, in short, one of the great American novels, with a formidable style and scope with fascinating characters - not the least of which is the protagonist, the contradictory, contrary, bright and willful Isabel Archer, a woman exceedingly intelligent in some ways, stunningly naive in others.

Considering how long ago the novel was published, I'm surprised at the lack of recent criticism and discussion of it readily available; the story is, in many ways, still relevant. The Penguin edition I read contained only one essay (which seemed as much interested in where it was written and James' influences than the work itself). A Norton edition had some recent essays, but none more recent than 34 years ago.

Although the work is addictively readable (even suspenseful, in its slow-moving way) and was James' most mature large work to date, there are aspects I found less than satisfying. James too often employs monologues which leave no room for dialogue (even when the person being talked to would have - and did - interject); he, also, too often tells, from his omniscient viewpoint, instead of showing. Even the lauded Chapter 42, wherein Isabel contemplates by a fire the state of her life, while noteworthy at the time for its sustained and in-depth psychological treatment, shies away from specific examples for generalities, feelings and metaphors. In fact, I find that James shied away from too much in writing the novel. The mid-book skip ahead of three years does startle and build suspense but also seems like an easier way out than describing Isabel's first years of union. Key aspects of her life aren't dealt with at all, to the point of being (as they say in 2025) problematic; is it only a middle-aged male author who would ignore and downplay the main (female) character losing a 6-month-old child (briefly mentioned only twice in the book, and not by Isabel)? Was James too afraid of what he considered vulgar to present important information concerning the physical status of Gilbert and Isabel's relationship, information which would have a great bearing on Isabel's circumstances and actions? Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones was published 130 years earlier and it had no such inhibitions.

Even so, The Portrait of a Lady is endlessly fascinating and memorable. I was sorry to see it end. I highly recommend reading the original 1881 text and not the revised and overwritten 1908 "New York Edition". Not only was the original written when the characters and concepts and intentions were fresh in James' mind, the later version frequently obfuscates and muddies while, ironically, attempting to make language clearer. The last line of the novel, in particular, suffers greatly from having been revised. In its original version, Henrietta Stackpole's advice to Casper Goodwood, "...just you wait." is both a ray of hope for Casper (and the reader) that Isabel isn't returning to a life with Gilbert and a pull-the-rug-out, ambiguously abrupt denouement to over 600 pages - similar to David Chase's equally surprising and abrupt - yet somehow satisfying - ending for his similarly longform The Sopranos. The 1908 version of the ending needlessly adds onto and, in effect, ruins the previous compact sleight of hand. Perfection is ruined and belabored.