New Essays on 'The Portrait of a Lady'

The American Novel

by Joel Porte (Editor)

The Portrait of a Lady is arguably Henry James' most appealing and accessible novel. The introduction to this volume of specially written essays situates the novel in its cultural and historical context and discusses the important revisions that James later made to the text. The essays that follow address the novel's place in the tradition of modern narrative, its relation to popular women's fiction on the question of marriage, the influence of Henry James' brother William, and the character of the heroine seen from a psychoanalytic point of view.

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Joel Miles Porte was an American literary scholar, who was an internationally renowned authority on the life and work of Ralph Waldo Emerson.