<<贵妇人画像>>中伊莎贝尔•阿切尔性格的分析(英文)

Conclusion:
The Portrait of a Lady was a study of Isabel Archer, a young American woman of great promise who travels to Europe and becomes a victim of her own provincialism. James began the novel without a plot or subject, only the slim but provocative notion of a young woman taking control of her fate. The result is a richly imagined study of an American heiress who turns away her suitors in an effort to first establish and then protect her independence. Later, Isabel is in a league with the tradition of heroines in the British realistic novel, all of them remarkable but self-deluded, in need of an encounter with the real. The Portrait of a Lady explores the conflict between the individual and society by examining the life of Isabel Archer, a young American woman who must choose between her independent spirit and the demands of social convention. As the title of the novel indicates, she is the principal character of the book, and the main focus of the novel is on presenting, explaining, and developing her character. James uses all his creative powers to ensure that Isabel's conflict is the natural product of a believable mind, and not merely an abstract philosophical consideration. However, it becomes clear that Isabel has a woefully unstructured imagination, as well as a romantic streak that suits her position as an optimistic, innocent American Isabel often considers her life as though it were a novel. She also has a tendency to think about herself obsessively and has a vast faith in her own moral strength.
    With the analysis on Isabel’s idea to liberalism, idealism, Emersonian individualist ideology, sexuality and marriage, intelligent readers may find her turning from an innocent American into a knowing European. She no longer sees giving herself completely as "the deepest thing", but understands the sense that life would be her business for a long time to come.
Back to the reality, on the background of The Portrait of a Lady, there’re two shadows in Henry’s early years that have an extremely far-reaching impact on him. The first is his injures. During the Civil War, in 1861, Henry was serving in the army. Unfortunately, he was badly injured in a fire. The second is the death of his beloved cousin Minnie Temple. Some hold the view that the two issues contribute to his decision in his early years, that is to be an observer and commentator of life rather than an active participant. Maybe, this is why Henry turns to the road of literature. Meanwhile, Minnie Temple, a naive, charming, intelligence, and passionate girl has gradually merged into Henry’s heroines in his works, to become immortal.    
Therefore, it is easy to see that Isabel is a portrait of Minnie Temple in the heart of the author, who meanwhile reflects the social and literary environment at that time. Furthermore, through the analysis of Isabel’s personality, the readers may have a better understanding of the culture and literature then. We have to understand more and there is something needs to think further: what makes Isabel goes from being a lover of liberty to a lover of the severest constraint upon women? This deserves our deeper study back into the book and the history as well.

Reference:
[1] Lubbock, Percy. The Art of Fiction[J].London: Greenwood Press, 1921:67
[2] Shaw, Daniel. Isabel Archer: Tragic protagonist or pitiable victim[J]. Literature Film Quarterly 24. 2002:15-20
[3]Allen, Elizabeth. A Woman’s Place in the Novels of Henry James. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1984:139, 144, 164, 104, 38-39，
[4] James, Henry. The Portrait of a Lady. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1975: 214, 52-53, 47,，218,190,55,53112,158,336,215,120,214,575-576,621-623,634,634-635,110,104,176,166,194,197,105,102,366,217,370,366,468
[5] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Self Reliance” The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Third ed., vol.1. New York and London: Norton and Company, 1989:612
[6] Freeman, Jonathan. James, Pater, and the Dreaming of Aestheticism: Isabel Archer. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York and Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992: 613
[7] Jottkandt, Sigi. Portrait of an Act: Aesthetics and Ethics in The Portrait if a Lady [J].Henry James Review25, 2004:71, 72
[8] Sanner, Kristin. Missing Mothers, Feminized Fathers, and the Purchase of Freedom in Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady [J]. Henry James Review26, 2005:152
[9] Johnson, Courtney. Adam and Eve and Isabel Archer. Renascence21,1969:130
[10] Niemtzow, Annette. Marriage and the New Woman in The Portrait of a Lady. American Literature47,1975:377
[11] Thomas, Joanne M. The Imaginative Experience of Isabel Archer. Masters Abstracts International43, 2001:147
[12] Freud, Sigmund. Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books, 1981:136
[13] Herron, Bonnie L. Substantive Sexuality: Henry James Constructs Isabel Archer as a Complete Woman in his Revised Version of The Portrait of a Lady. Henry James Review16, 1995:131
[14] Gregory, Melissa Valiska. Melodrama to Monologue: Henry James and Domestic Terror. Henry James Review25, 2004:146  转贴于 酷文网-论文下载中心 http://www.coolwen.net