Status
Available
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Genres
Collection
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (1995), Edition: Second, 800 pages
Description
Henry James's beloved novel about a young woman's search for freedom in a world that seeks to tie her to convention In the wake of her father's death, young Isabel Archer decides to travel to England to visit her aunt, leaving behind the life set out for her in America and spurning the romantic overtures of her Bostonian suitor. At her aunt's country estate, Isabel is determined to plot a new course unburdened by routine. But, prodded by convention at every turn, Isabel makes a decision that not only undermines her longing for independence, but may seal her fate forever. Among one of Henry Jam
User reviews
LibraryThing member trinityofone
I both love and hate "The Portrait of a Lady." It's so incredibly *frustrating* that I find rereads quite painful--Isabel, why are you such an idiot? But when you consider how sexually repressed poor James reportedly was, the repression that underlies this novel becomes almost delicious in its
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intensity. You can't help feel for poor Ralph Touchett, walking around with his hands in his pockets, or even for idiot Isabel, finding nothing but terror in the climactic "white lightning" kiss. I appreciate this book more and more every time I go back to it, but afterwards I always need to read a lot of porn. Show Less
LibraryThing member snash
A Portrait of a Lady is in reality a portrait of 10 or 12 people. They are all so carefully drawn with their strengths and their foibles. Each of them seem to live compromised lives, lives compromised by their own limitations. It's all fabulously drawn so that reading it is almost like seeing each
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scene and being able to read each person's mind. It will be with me for a long time Show Less
LibraryThing member CurrerBell
This Norton Critical (ed 1975) is probably a bit dated in its supplemental content. The second edition (1995) – which drops the Graham Greene, Arnold Kettle, and Dorothea Krook essays – adds critical essays by William Veeder and Millicent Bell along with an additional article by Nina Baym on
Note that the Norton Critical is based on the 1908 edition of the novel but does include a substantial Textual Appendix of variations between the 1908 edition and the original 1881 text (the latter being the text used by the Library of America edition).
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the textual variants between the 1881 and 1908 editions of the novel. Other than that, however, the two Norton Critical editions appear fairly similar in content.Note that the Norton Critical is based on the 1908 edition of the novel but does include a substantial Textual Appendix of variations between the 1908 edition and the original 1881 text (the latter being the text used by the Library of America edition).
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Language
Original language
English
Physical description
8.4 inches
ISBN
0393966461 / 9780393966466