The Portrait of a Lady Vol 1
by Henry James
'The Portrait of a Lady Vol 1' Summary
Isabel Archer, from Albany, New York, is invited by her maternal aunt, Lydia Touchett, to visit Lydia's rich husband, Daniel, at his estate near London, following the death of Isabel's father. There, Isabel meets her uncle, her friendly invalid cousin Ralph Touchett, and the Touchetts' robust neighbor, Lord Warburton.
Isabel later declines Warburton's sudden proposal of marriage. She also rejects the hand of Caspar Goodwood, the charismatic son and heir of a wealthy Boston mill owner. Although Isabel is drawn to Caspar, her commitment to her independence precludes such a marriage, which she feels would demand the sacrifice of her freedom.
The elder Touchett grows ill and, at the request of his son, Ralph, leaves much of his estate to Isabel upon his death. With her large legacy, Isabel travels the Continent and meets an American expatriate, Gilbert Osmond, in Florence. Although Isabel had previously rejected both Warburton and Goodwood, she accepts Osmond's proposal of marriage, unaware that it has been actively promoted by the accomplished but untrustworthy Madame Merle, another American expatriate, whom Isabel had met at the Touchetts' estate.
Isabel and Osmond settle in Rome, but their marriage rapidly sours, owing to Osmond's overwhelming egotism and lack of genuine affection for his wife. Isabel grows fond of Pansy, Osmond's presumed daughter by his first marriage, and wants to grant her wish to marry Edward Rosier, a young art collector.
The snobbish Osmond would prefer that Pansy accept the proposal of Warburton, who had previously proposed to Isabel. Isabel suspects, however, that Warburton may just be feigning interest in Pansy to get close to Isabel again, and the conflict creates even more strain within the unhappy marriage.
Isabel then learns that Ralph is dying at his estate in England and prepares to go to him for his final hours, but Osmond selfishly opposes this plan. Meanwhile, Isabel learns from her sister-in-law that Pansy is actually the daughter of Madame Merle, who had had an adulterous relationship with Osmond for several years.
Isabel pays a final visit to Pansy, who desperately begs her to return someday, which Isabel reluctantly promises to do. She then leaves, without telling her spiteful husband, to comfort the dying Ralph in England, where she remains until his death.
Goodwood encounters her at Ralph's estate and begs her to leave Osmond and come away with him. He passionately embraces and kisses her, but Isabel flees. Goodwood seeks her out the next day but is told she has set off again for Rome.
The ending is ambiguous, and the reader is left to imagine whether Isabel returned to Osmond to suffer out her marriage in noble tragedy (perhaps for Pansy's sake), or if she is going to rescue Pansy and leave Osmond.
Book Details
Author
Henry James
America, Britain
Henry James was born in New York City on April 15, 1843, into a wealthy and intellectually stimulating family. His father, Henry James Sr., was a Swedenborgian philosopher and his mother, Mary Roberts...
More on Henry JamesDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
Peer Gynt is the most well known Norwegian play throughout history and is based loosely on the folklore about Per Gynt. It is a dramatic poem in five...
Bessie's Fortune by Mary Jane Holmes
This Book is a captivating tale set in the quaint town of Brookside. Within its idyllic streets, a web of secrets and scandals awaits, promising to un...
Cradock Nowell Vol. 2 by Richard Doddridge Blackmore
Readers deeper into the enigmatic world of the Nowell family and the tumultuous landscapes that shape their destinies. With secrets buried beneath the...
The Mill Mystery by Anna Katharine Green
A mysterious death at a remote mill sets the stage for a suspenseful mystery in which nothing is as it seems. "The Mill Mystery" is a novel by Anna K...
The Day Will Come by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
In the heart of Victorian England, where social conventions and hidden desires intertwine, Mary Elizabeth Braddon's captivating novel, "The Day Will C...
The Magic Skin by Honoré de Balzac
Something along the lines of Dorian Gray as part of the Comedies Humane Philosophique, this is Balzac's first successful novel. He even wrote "critici...
O Primo Bazilio by José Maria de Eça de Queirós
Em uma Lisboa do século XIX, onde aparências e segredos moldam vidas, José Maria de Eça de Queirós nos presenteia com "O Primo Basílio". Neste clássic...
The Fifth Queen Crowned by Ford Madox Ford
It is a thrilling historical fiction novel that follows the story of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII of England. This book, origin...
Tongues of Conscience by Robert Smythe Hichens
In the heart of Edwardian England, a young woman's conscience is put to the ultimate test in Robert Smythe Hichens' gripping novel, Tongues of Conscie...
The Trail to Yesterday by Charles Alden Seltzer
This is a gripping tale set in the rugged and untamed American West. In this sweeping frontier saga, where justice is as elusive as the whispers of th...
Reviews for The Portrait of a Lady Vol 1
No reviews posted or approved, yet...