She was not praying; she was trembling—trembling all over. Vibration was easy to her, was in fact too constant with her, and she found herself now humming like a smitten harp. She only asked, however, to put on the cover . . . but she wished to resist her excitement.［20］
I argue that James’s ambiguous representation of sexuality has ideological and historical roots, but it is also associated with the nature of his religious and puritan as well as Swedenborgian upbringing, that would not allow him to portray excessive and open sexuality, and would instead push him to hide the sexual in his fiction.
4.2 Isabel’s marriage
Isabel keeps independent from her refusal to Lord Worburton and Gaspar Goodwood to marry and returning to Osmond. She doesn’t follow what other people wish her to do, and she dose what she wants to do. She chooses her own fate and follows her destiny although she makes a mistake because of her innocence. From this point of view, Isabel is independent towards her marriage.
4. 2.1 Isabel’s perfect pursuing on marriage
Isabel is a beautiful American girl, who has been brought up in Alary; in upper New York State she follows Mrs. Tonchette, her aunt, to the Old World-England, from the New World-America, intending to satisfy her freedom. After she arrives at her aunt’s house, Gardencoutt, she meets with Lord Warburton, an English nobleman. Since he is greatly attracted by Isabel, he falls in love with her and suits her. Yet, Isabel has refused to be treated as a marriageable object. Has Lord Worburton no capacity? No, he is a noble, wealthy and well-educated man who, generally speaking, embodies all a woman wants her husband to have. One might say that it is impossible for a girl to turn down such a great personage. Then, why dose Isabel refuse him? One of the reasons is, as she tells her uncle Mr. touchett,”I don’t wish to marry any just now.” As a matter of fact, the significant reason is that she has a consciousness of her giving up other chances in her life if she is married to Lord Worburton. Isabel and her friend Henriietta propose a trip to London. Before they go, Lord Worburton comes over Lockleigh. They have lunch, and afterwards, in the picture gallery Isabel and Lord Worburton are left alone. “It’s that I can’t escape my fate says Isabel, her eyes full of tears. Lord Worburton understandably wants to know what she is talking about. Isabel gets herself into deeper waters by saying that it is not her fate” to give up”. “Do you call marrying me giving up?” asks Lord Worburton. Isabel stumbles on marrying him would be to “giving up other chances”. No, she doesn’t mean chances to marry. She says,” I can’t escape unhappiness”［4］. Apparently, from the dialogue above, we can reach an understanding that Isabel loves freedom and independence than anything else in the world. She thinks, if she becomes the wife of Lord Worburton, she would be caged and lose her freedom and independence. Of course, Lord Worburton is refused.
Gaspar Goodwood, an America, is one of Isabel’s suitors, who pursue her to Europe. He wealthy and well-educated as Isabel says, “He was the finest young man she had ever seen, was indeed a quite splendid young man” and he “inspired her with a sentiment of high, of rare respect”. In spite of this, he is rejected. Isabel tells Goodwood, “I like my liberty too much. If there is a thing in the world I am fond of.” she goes on, “with a slight of recurrence of grandeur, it is my personal independence”. Nevertheless, Goodwood doesn’t accept his failure; he presses his suit after she gets married. At the end of the story, he makes his last and passionate appeal to Isabel, and she turns him down as well. Here we gain an insight into Isabel’s personality: she would not like to depend on others, and id self-willed.
4.2.2 Isabel’s adamancy on marriage
To her marriage, Isabel tries to choose her fate by herself without any external force. As we know, Isabel has three suitors; two of them I have mentioned above, the third one is Gilbert Osmond, who is an Europeanized American. Among the three, the perfect one is Lord Worburton, who has all a woman wants her husband to have. The next one is Goodwood, who follows Isabel to Europe. Both Lord Worburton and Goodwood have the devotion of Isabel. Other people wish Isabel to choose one of the two as her husband. Unexpectedly, Isabel becomes the wife of Osmond, who has nothing. What a wonder! But she can be understood after we read what she says to Goodwood” I don’t wish to be a mere sheep in the flock. I wish to choose my fate and know something of human affairs beyond what other people think it compatible with propriety to tell”. Here, we have the key to the question why she chooses Osmond as her husband instead of Lord Worburton and Goodwood. This is because other people wish her to marry Lord Worburton or Goodwood without t her own idea. Thus, she chooses Osmond by herself. In this sense, she fulfills what she wants to do, and she chooses her own fate independently.
Anyhow, Isabel is a young woman who is lack of knowledge and social experience. When she declares that she is going to marry Osmond who is of nothing. Mrs. Touchett points out that it is a trap which is devised by Madam Merle. Whereas, Isabel takes it for granted. At last, she realizes that she makes a mistake. Osmond marries her for her money, being a real fortune hunter. After Isabel’s cousin, Ralf Tonchett’s funeral, other people tries to persuade her to leave her vicious husband. Isabel thinks she should suffer the consequence for she chooses Osmond as her husband without any other external force. She also considers that when a woman makes such a mistake “there is only one way to repair it-just immensely to accept it”. It is quite sure that the action of Isabel’s returning to her vicious husband is decided by her personality-independent but traditional.
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