Portrait of a Lady
Portrait of a LadyPortrait of a Lady
Isabel Archer doesn't go away with Casper Goodwood because it would mean giving up what she values most, her freedom and independence. The very first time we meet Isabel she tells Ralph that "I'm very fond of my liberty" (p. 30) and that she is "not a candidate for adoption" (p. 29). Both of these statements clearly show early on that she is not looking to be tied down at all. She wants to be free to experience all that life has to offer for her. Because of that, she turns down the proposal of Lord Warburton, although he had much to offer. James says, "The idea of a diminished liberty was particularly disagreeable to her at present, since she had just given a sort of personal accent to her independence by looking so straight at Lord Warburton's big bribe and yet turning away from it" (p. 104). She goes on to show her independence when she speaking with Casper Goodwood by saying, "it's no kindness to a woman to press her so hard, to urge her against her will" (p. 137). Isabel came to Europe because she wanted to experience life and the freedom that eluded her in America.
At the beginning of the novel, Isabel was very young morally. She had left everything she had known, and was ready to start anew. Throughout the novel, her morality grew, changed, and became more stable. Where at the beginning she refused two proposals of marriage, without giving any indication to wanting a third, she ends up accepting a proposal from Osmond. Goodwood's offer to Isabel came at an early stage of...
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