

Novel Approaches: ‘The Portrait of a Lady’ by Henry James
Oct 5, 2025
Colm Toíbín, a celebrated novelist and contributing editor at the London Review of Books, joins to explore Henry James's iconic work, The Portrait of a Lady. They delve into how James innovatively crafted Isabel Archer as a new type of heroine, blending influences from Eliot and Austen. The discussion reveals the significance of the novel's subtle yet profound inner drama, the complexities of ambition for women in the 19th century, and the impact of James's revisions on the story. Toíbín's insights provide a fresh lens on this literary masterpiece.
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From Short Stories To a New Kind Of Heroine
- James reused and enlarged a familiar heroine configuration from his earlier work into a new, deeper figure.
- Isabel Archer becomes a novelistic experiment in an interior life richer than his earlier heroines.
Isabel As Spiritual Seeker
- James imagined an American woman who wanted a spiritual, unnameable fulfillment rather than mere social advancement.
- He crafted Isabel's 'flickering, shimmering' consciousness to dramatize that modern desire.
Mysterious Interior, Bitter Knowledge
- James intentionally makes Isabel's inner life hard to pin down to keep her fascinating and mysterious.
- Her eventual knowledge is 'bitter knowledge' that marks a painful growth across the novel.