Victorian Novels

7/28/2019 Victorian Novels

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By Matt

VICTORIAN NOVELS



CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTORIAN NOVELS

Romanticism Victorian

Idealism Visionary/Utopian Sober/ Utilitarian

Views of Nature

Kind/Harmonious Cruel/Harsh

Focus Inward/IndividualCommon manImaginationIntrospection

Outward/NationMiddle ClassReality

Work

Philosophy Transcendentalism Utilitarianism



CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTORIAN NOVELS

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Key Metaphor Struggle or strife

Key Themes Theory of evolution leads to crisis of faithIntellectual and spiritual doubt- antidote is work

Growing SocialConsciousness

Reform movements- child labor, safety, hours, education Women- demand emancipation, enfranchisement, evolution

Victorian Trinity Religion, science and morality

Nationalism Britain- first great modern industrial nation



Henry James was the most conscientious of artists. His motive for writing lay inthe impulse to represent those things in life that roused his own interest andcuriosity, and to such representation he confined himself, making no concession to“what the public wants.” Thus we must take him on his own terms or not at all.But if we do take him on his own terms, we are rewarded by a unique rendering of human motive and behavior in a series of the most interesting predicaments, arendering which yields an intense intellectual pleasure and not infrequently touches even tragic depths. First written in the 1880s and extensively revised in1908, The Portrait of a Lady is often considered to be James's greatestachievement. In it, he explored many of his most characteristic themes, including

the conflict between American individualism and European social custom and thesituation of Americans in Europe. It also includes many of his most memorablecharacters, including the lady of the novel's title, Isabel Archer, the indomitableMrs. Touchett, the wise and funny Ralph Touchett, the fast-talking HenriettaStackpole, and the sinister villains, Gilbert Osmond and Madame Merle.

HENRY JAMES



The themes addressed in this novel are:• Independence and freedom• Identity • Women and Femininity • Consequences of integrity/conformity

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY: THEMES



Isabel then learns that her cousin is dying at his estate in England and prepares to go to him for his final hours, but Osmond selfishly opposes thisplan. Meanwhile, Isabel learns from her sister-in-law that Pansy is actually the daughter of Madame Merle and learns about her affair with Osmond

and their scheme for her marriage.

Isobel leaves for London without her husband’s permission and promises to return at Pansy’s request. Goodwood encounters her at Ralph's estateand begs her to leave Osmond and come away with him. He passionately embraces and kisses her, but Isabel flees. Goodwood seeks her out the next

day, but is told she has set off again for Rome. The ending is ambiguous, and the reader is left to imagine whether Isabel returned to Osmond tosuffer out her marriage in noble tragedy (perhaps for Pansy's sake) or whether she is going to rescue Pansy and leave Osmond.

Isabel travels the Continent and meets an American expatriate, Gilbert Osmond, in Florence and accepts Osmond's proposal of marriage. She isunaware that this marriage has been actively promoted by Madame Merle who plans on using Isabel’s wealth.

Isabel’s marriage is unhappy but is very fond of her step -daughter, Pansy, and wants to grant her wish to marry Edward Rosier, a young art collector.He husband would rather that Pansy accept the proposal of Warburton, who had previously proposed to Isabel. However, Warburton is feigning

interest in Pansy to get close to Isabel again. Isobel persuades Warburton to give up and this only strains her marriage further.

Isabel Archer, originally from Albany, New York, is invited by her maternal aunt, Lydia Touchett, to visit London, following the death of her father. There, she meets her cousin Ralph Touchett, her friendly invalid uncle, and the Touchetts' robust neighbor, Lord Warburton.

Isabel later declines Warburton's sudden proposal of marriage and rejects the hand of Caspar Goodwood, the son and heir of a wealthy Boston millowner. She fears that marriage would interfere with her commitment to independence. The elder Touchett grows ill and, at the request of his son,

leaves much of his estate to Isabel upon his death.

THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY: PLOT



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Victorian Novels