The Unveiling of Isabel Archer's True Character through Art
Session Title
Social Media, Online Spaces and Literature
Faculty Mentor
Josephine Koster, Ph.D.
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
English
Abstract
Henry James’s 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady follows Isabel Archer, a young, curious woman who moves to Europe in hopes of forging her own life. Here, Isabel meets many people who own art collections and discovers the importance of art, believing that it aligns with her ideas. But what Isabel fails to recognize and accept is how she is reflected in art, as well as how both the people around her and James perceive her as a portrait. In this essay, I argue that art shapes Isabel Archer’s character because it reveals who she is supposed to be: a woman bound to society. Through the use of paintings, architecture, and cities, it becomes evident that the features of these art forms reveal Isabel’s intended identity. This is furthered through characters such as Madame Merle and Gilbert Osmond using art as a way to push her to become a woman of the Old World because they want to maintain their traditional standards, neither realizing nor caring that Isabel’s happiness must pay the price for this. Isabel, however, is given multiple opportunities to break away from her intended identity by the reappearance of Caspar Goodwood and her New World traits because she is so much more than what art reveals her to be and is an independent and compassionate woman. But in the end, Isabel willingly chooses her intended identity because, as James’s establishes in the novel’s title, all she could ever be is a portrait of a lady.
Course Assignment
ENGL 494 – Koster
Previously Presented/Performed?
Winthrop University Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors, Rock Hill, SC, April 2023.
Type of Presentation
Oral presentation
Start Date
15-4-2023 12:00 PM
The Unveiling of Isabel Archer's True Character through Art
Henry James’s 1881 novel The Portrait of a Lady follows Isabel Archer, a young, curious woman who moves to Europe in hopes of forging her own life. Here, Isabel meets many people who own art collections and discovers the importance of art, believing that it aligns with her ideas. But what Isabel fails to recognize and accept is how she is reflected in art, as well as how both the people around her and James perceive her as a portrait. In this essay, I argue that art shapes Isabel Archer’s character because it reveals who she is supposed to be: a woman bound to society. Through the use of paintings, architecture, and cities, it becomes evident that the features of these art forms reveal Isabel’s intended identity. This is furthered through characters such as Madame Merle and Gilbert Osmond using art as a way to push her to become a woman of the Old World because they want to maintain their traditional standards, neither realizing nor caring that Isabel’s happiness must pay the price for this. Isabel, however, is given multiple opportunities to break away from her intended identity by the reappearance of Caspar Goodwood and her New World traits because she is so much more than what art reveals her to be and is an independent and compassionate woman. But in the end, Isabel willingly chooses her intended identity because, as James’s establishes in the novel’s title, all she could ever be is a portrait of a lady.
