Oxford World’s Classics: The Portrait of a Lady

Description

‘One ought to choose something very deliberately, and be faithful to that.’

Portrait of a Lady is at once a dramatic Victorian tale of betrayal and a wholly modern psychological study of a woman caught in a web of relations she only comes to understand too late. This new edition includes helpful notes on the numerous changes James made between the first edition and the revised New York Edition, reproduced here, an up-to-date bibliography, and a new chronology.

An undisputed masterpiece, The Portrait of a Lady is arguably James’s most popular work, and certainly the finest of his early novels. It focuses on Isabel Archer, a young, intelligent, and spirited American girl, determined to relish her first experience of Europe. She rejects two eligible suitors in her fervent commitment to liberty and independence, declaring that she will never marry. Thanks to the generosity of her devoted cousin Ralph, she is free to make her own choice about her destiny. Yet in the intoxicating worlds of Paris, Florence, and Rome, her fond illusions of self-reliance are twisted by the machinations of her friends and apparent allies. What had seemed to be a vista of infinite promise steadily closes around her and becomes instead a “house of suffocation.”

Considered by many as one of the finest novels in the English language, this is Henry James’s most poised achievement, written at the height of his fame in 1881. It is at once a dramatic Victorian tale of betrayal and a wholly modern psychological study of a woman caught in a web of relations she only comes to understand too late. This edition reproduces the revised New York Edition, with James’s own Preface.

The Oxford World’s Classics series makes available the greatest works of world literature. Each volume presents a superb text, an introduction by a leading scholar, a chronology of the author’s life, a select bibliography, and full explanatory notes.

Key Features

• Henry James’s most popular novel, this new edition introduces Portrait as both a culmination of Victorian Realism and the beginnings of the emergence of a new ‘Modernist’ style that explores interior states of consciousness as well as the individual’s place in society.
• Thorough notes pay special attention to the numerous changes James made between the first edition and the revised New York Edition, reproduced here.
• Excellent contextualizing introduction discusses the pivotal place of the novel in James’s career and on the cusp of Modernism, its place in the tradition of the Bildungsroman, and James’s famous literary style.
• Up-to-date bibliography.
• New chronology.

About the Series

For over 100 years, Oxford World’s Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, maps, illustrations and much more. A continuous program of new titles and revised editions ensures that the series retains its breadth and reflects the latest scholarship. Comprehensive introductions, clear explanatory notes, chronologies, and bibliographies support the classic texts.

Currently providing access to novels, and other writings, from the 18th, 19th and 20th century, you can support your research using the comprehensive introductions, clear explanatory notes, chronologies, and bibliographies available in every book.

Authors Biography

Henry James is one of the giants of American literary history. From the novella “Daisy Miller” and classic short stories such as “The Turn of the Screw” to the popular short novel Washington Square and intricately woven and highly complex later novels such as The Golden Bowl and The Ambassadors, James’s work is a required stop on any journey through our nation’s artistic and cultural heritage.

Roger Luckhurst is Professor of Literature at Birkbeck College, London.