It is an unquestionable fact of life that human nature is flawed. Human beings
have a variety of weaknesses that may differ from one person to the next. How
one deals with this ultimately determines whether it will or will not destroy
the person. The faults that humans possess stem from an open field of
possibilities that they are able to choose from as they build their own
character. However, as much as individual free will is desirable, as all other
parts of the natural world, it can include negative aspects, as well. Probably,
the most difficult element is being able to make good choices, keeping in mind
what Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Freedom is not worth having if it does not
connote freedom to err." Once a state of freedom is attained, all of its
sides are encompassed. This essential human cycle of freedom has progressed
along with the changing times, views, and values in society. It is depicted by
many authors in countless novels. Henry James' perception accurately describes
the shifts that occurred in society during the late nineteenth century. He uses
colorful characters in his writings to express his opinions on actual
revolutionary outlooks of the time and to comment on human nature. The Portrait
of a Lady is an example of his view on freedom. The quest for personal freedom
destroys Isabel Archer in Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady. Isabel Archer is
introduced instantly, in the novel, as a woman with strong and uncompromising
convictions. The first glimpse of Isabel shows that she is "quite
independent" (James 27). This early description sets expectations for her
character. When Isabel herself appears on the lawn of Gardencourt, where she is
met by the family she has never known, she strikes Ralph as having "a great
deal of confidence, both in herself and in others" (James 31). Isabel's
charisma could be felt by people that were strangers to her. Her attitude and
stubborn personality shine through and can be visible in everything she does. A
little later at Gardencourt, Isabel is appalled at the very idea of being
considered "a candidate for adoption" after her aunt takes her away
from her home where she had no parents: "I'm very fond of my liberty,"
she says (James 35). Clearly, Isabel is not afraid to let others know how she
feels, no matter how disagreeable her views may be. One such subject is liberty,
which means to know everything, including all the possibilities ahead in order
to choose freely, confidently, responsibly; as when she tells her aunt that she
always likes to know the things one shouldn't do, "so as to choose"
(James 86). Such frank language is what makes Isabel who she is, a person who
takes risks, often thoughtlessly. Unsurprisingly, Isabel reveals she is afraid
of becoming "a mere sheep in the flock" because she wants to be the
sole free master of her own fate (James 182-183). In other words, Isabel
declines to be anybody's puppet. Choosing the direction that her life heads is
only her decision, even when she cannot make that choice skillfully. Although
Isabel cherishes it, her independence is not necessarily always best for her.
With the passing of time at Gardencourt, Isabel Archer reveals more of her
headstrong qualities. Her uncle's passing allows her to reveal this. When
Isabel's uncle dies, he gives the humble, yet sharp, girl a large amount of
money which changes her life. Isabel's newly acquired fortune brings her an
enlarged freedom, however problematic. Consequently, Isabel believes that she is
now freer than ever before. However, she is scared of the burden of tremendous
responsibility involved in complete, unquestionable freedom. She is free- she
thinks- to choose her own fate. And so she believes she does when she fulfills
her "one ambition- to be free to follow out a good feeling" (James
374). The heroine follows this principle of freedom throughout the rest of the
novel. Constant anxiety surrounds Isabel about the use she would ever make of
her freedom, which she never doubts or questions. By accepting the consequences
her free acts, Isabel is satisfied by doing herself the justice of always being
considerate of herself. "She has chosen with the sense that the ordinary
benefits of life are not likely to satisfy her, and her major acts [will be]
refusals to accept the ordinary" (O'Neill 39). Keeping this in mind, Isabel
proceeds throughout the novel with this single ideal. Still, when Isabel becomes
really free to make a decision on her own, she is afraid. Isabel is right to be
afraid, for her desire for total freedom will eventually have to be translated
to her destruction. But, "in the course of the novel...she is affronting
her destiny rather than succumbing to it" (Winner 143). It is an ongoing
battle for her to stay in control. How Isabel affronts her destiny is what
finally determines how she will handle freedom and her own life, in general.
Isabel believes herself completely free to choose to do against what appears
most proper and expected of her. An example of this is quickly evident when she
receives a marriage proposal from Lord Warburton, where she would have
"ease and comfort" (Lee 37). However, Isabel has higher ideals than
she thinks can be realized by a life with Lord Warburton. Her higher ideals are
the liberal ideals of an individual freedom, whereas Lord Warburton, even in
spite of himself, has to offer only the system her instincts tells her to
resist. Lord Warburton's strength and power would deny Isabel the exercise of
freedom. It is clear right from the beginning of the novel that Isabel Archer
dreads the kind of definition implied in a commitment to what Lord Warburton
represents, and that is why she cannot "think of [his] various homes as the
settled seat of [her] residence" (James 138). She needs something less
stable and dominating. The heroine knows she will have to remain completely
disengaged to pursue the "exploration of life" that her imagination
dreams of (James 130). Restraining herself through marriage will not allow her
to accomplish what she wants. Aspiring to this is difficult since many
sacrifices will have to be made for Isabel to finally achieve it, some that may
have questionable worthiness in the end. Soon, it becomes apparent that Isabel
Archer is mainly concerned with the difficult problem of marriage. The main
issue in the first part of the book seems to be how Isabel will fit in the
events that surround her, or rather, how she will attain the important goal of
the appropriate status in a surrounding society by means of a suitable marriage.
"For in this society,...to be nobody's wife is to be lost" (Santos
304). During this time in history, women could rarely stand alone and
independent and still be admired. Little by little, it becomes evident that the
interesting aspect of Isabel's character is not how she will eventually fit in
the surrounding events, but rather if and how the events fit her. Since in the
end, the events in the novel do not fit the heroine at all, she will rather have
to re-invent her freedom in order to force herself to fit them. Unfortunately,
this does not mean that it was the right decision to make. "While total
freedom offers an infinite range of potential experiences, the moment one
commits oneself to any particular experiences, the moment one commits oneself to
any particular life- style or, in love, to any single individual, one forfeits
one's freedom" (Sicker 56). Therefore, either way, Isabel is building up
for a terrible loss. Yet, Isabel chooses to not engage herself in unimportant
distractions, instead always stays focused on one: freedom. In the end, Isabel
Archer decides to marry Gilbert Osmond, the man who presents himself to her
seemingly without a system, to maintain her freedom. When justifying her marital
decision to Ralph, Isabel says, "He [Osmond] wants me to know everything;
that is what I like him for" (James 370). Isabel initially enjoys the fact
that Osmond treats her with much respect and holds in contempt "the usual
values in life such as the pursuit of wealth, success, fame, and subservience to
social opinion" (Sharma 18). Basically, it turns out, the marriage is a
self- serving relationship where both sides benefit. Later on, still failing to
see the intricate web of relationships in front of her eyes, and resolutely
ignoring Ralph's socializing warning that "one ought to feel one's relation
to things- to others," she refuses to see Osmond but in the light of noble
individuality and independence she bestows on him: "He knows everything, he
understands everything, he has the kindest, gentlest, highest spirit"
(James 374). The heroine seeks out Osmond's best and even turns his flaws into
something positive in one way or another. Thus, as she had rejected the social
commitment implicit in Lord Warburton's proposal, she now accepts the offer that
seems to her most uncommitted socially and that she believes to be the total
fulfillment of the freedom she needs to expand her imagination limitlessly:
"His being so independent, so individual, is what I most see in him"
(James 370). All of Osmond's faults and shortcomings are not perceptible to her.
She is so blindly concentrating on her objective, her freedom, that Isabel
cannot see anything else clearly. Isabel believes, then, that her marriage to
Osmond opens up for her the broad road towards the complete fulfillment of her
freedom. "Out of that late Nineteenth century, pre-war idealism that she,
too, embodies, Isabel cherishes the kind of individual freedom (disengagement,
separateness, independence) which she believes to be the essence of human
emotion" (Santos 303). Her actions reveal her keeping with the views of the
changing times regarding freedom. So, in the freedom as she thinks, she chooses
to marry the man, that had seemed to her most uncommitted, most unconcerned,
most disinterested, most independent, most free, Osmond. Thus, Isabel will truly
find herself, as a woman, in her marriage, which no less than the symbolic
reconciliation of her notion of freedom with society's (and her own) as yet
unquestioned definition of woman as somebody's wife. In marrying Osmond, Isabel
Archer had wanted to share her liberty with a freer person, which she hoped to
be the fulfillment of her own. She needed an equal in her thoughts and ideals.
Her marriage was the symbol of her total freedom. When Isabel becomes gradually
aware of her error of judgment concerning Osmond's character- that though she
had married in freedom, she had not married freedom- all her strength and sense
of dignity come to her, as the cherished ideal of freedom as opposed to her
husband's strict conformity to standard traditions. "Osmond was fond of the
old, the consecrated, the transmitted; so was she, but she pretended to do what
she chose with it" (James 558). The belief that she is free, has always
been, and still is, in spite of the rigid system that Osmond wants to force on
her. She made a mistake, she knows, in marrying Osmond; but she believes she had
been free to make it. A certain point comes in the novel, where everything
changes for Isabel, and she realizes that she must make an important decision
regarding her search for freedom. However, it does not progress well for Isabel
after this point. Isabel sat there looking up at her, without rising; her face
almost a prayer to be enlightened. But the light of this woman's eyes seemed
only a darkness. "O misery!" she murmured at last; and she fell back,
covering her face with her hands. It had come over her like a high surging wave
that Mrs. Touchett was right. Madame Merle had married her. Before she uncovered
her face again that lady had left the room (James 551). This is a crucial scene
in the whole novel, particularly important for the understanding of Isabel's
sense of freedom, and her subsequent attempts to preserve it. Isabel Osmond-
trapped by the premeditated schemes of her husband and of Madame Merle- begins
to realize how far away she is now from Isabel Archer, the independent young
woman at the beginning of the novel, a symbol in herself of unlimited freedom in
her undeveloped potentialities. She realizes that she wishes to fight to get
that person back. As Isabel works at redeeming her lost sense of freedom, she
loses sight of her priorities, and gradually begins her destruction. Isabel's
discoveries about her freedom or lack of freedom, as well as her final stubborn
attempt to mend the broken image of her illusion of self-control, can also be
read as an unspoken comment on the shifting values of late nineteenth century,
such as individualism and individual freedom, integrity and dignity of mind, and
inner purity. James is saying that although these human virtues are desirable,
one should watch at what cost they are attained. Human sense of self and
happiness are just as important as the visible external distinctions. "Her
notion of human freedom, dignity, and responsibility, as well as her ideal of
marriage and her conception of a woman's place in society, inexorably trace of
her, paradoxically, her freely chosen path" (Santos 309). Ironically, what
Isabel considers to be genuine free will can be interpreted as controlled
forces, as well. Consequently, Isabel Archer returns to Rome and to her husband,
Osmond, at the end of the novel because she is desperately trying to preserve a
lost ideal of individual freedom as the basis for a woman's social identity.
Eventually, Isabel realizes that the most important decision of her life, her
marriage, had been determined, not by her own free choice, but by someone else's
intentional planning, and she is distraught. She sees herself as a mere
instrument, a useful tool in other people's hands, a mere puppet. Once again,
Isabel does not know what to do. The centering of her behavior for the last
couple of years on her freedom, the stabilizing force in her life when she had
none, is what got her in this predicament. Finally, Isabel comes up with a
solution, still not changing what she had previously thought of as the suitable
way to make her life decisions. Her following behavior indicates that she loves
individual freedom more than she loves self-righteousness. According to Isabel,
by returning to Rome and to her heartless husband in the end, she is sanctioning
her first act, turning it into a free act. "Isabel's final decision to go
back to her husband, in enfranchising her first choice, endows her with the
responsibility one demands of all free human beings" (Santos 310). This
means that she thinks that if she does not go back on her actions in the past,
including marrying Gilbert Osmond, then it will be like proving that it was a
knowledgeable act in the first place, something she did out of her own free
will. Isabel needs this type of reassurement because it reflects her solid
freedom that she had been emphasizing right from the beginning. Without it, she
would be lost and have lead a meaningless life. To be free is to be master of
one's destiny. Isabel Archer thinks that she achieves this by this act of
returning to her unloving husband; but in reality, she is trapped and just
beginning her fall. When in the end Isabel rejects Caspar Goodwood's proposal of
marriage for the last time, she is above all aware that Caspar's idea of freedom
contradicts her own, that it would nullify her very conception of herself. For
Goodwood, freedom means "that a woman deliberately made to suffer is
justified in anything in life" (James 626); for Isabel, freedom means that
a woman that has made herself responsible for her own suffering has only one
"very straight path" to follow, the wide, but painful, path of
genuineness to one's self (James 628). Goodwood's view of freedom is much more
flexible than Isabel's. The heroine is too set in her ways. This causes her
inability to be able to adapt to the changes in her situations that require
different quick and logical thinking. Isabel Archer is unfit to make such
significant decisions because she does not know how to follow her heart, not her
head and sense of freedom. Two forceful motives have been keeping Isabel
faithful to the sacred ideal of her marriage. First, she had been free when she
had decided to marry Gilbert Osmond, and therefore she feels she must accept the
consequences of her acts, however painful: "one must accept one's deeds. I
married him before all the world; I was perfectly free; it was impossible to do
anything more deliberate" (James 521). Isabel feels that she cannot go back
on that promise now without breaking her code of honoring her freedom. Secondly,
Isabel's pride determines her unwillingness to admit that she has made a
mistake. She knows that she has made a mistake, but she cannot admit to it
externally: "I don't think that's decent. I'd much rather die" (James
521). If she would have done that, she would not be free because she would
always have that one mistake that she owes someone binding her to change.
Isabel's attitude is a result of her sense of freedom; she is still free to
choose the face she wants to show, and she ultimately chooses not to acknowledge
publicly such a great error of perception on her part concerning Osmond. The
question is raised if Isabel's need for her independence will not lead to the
loss of her life. "Isabel even wonders at one point, with a twinge of fear,
if her insistence on her freedom may not lead to some desert place of pride and
isolation" (Long 117). Certainly she is vulnerable, since pride and
isolation are part of her character. This is what occurs at length when Isabel
returns to her husband, Osmond. Moreover, Osmond very strikingly represents
pride and isolation, and in him one has a morbid reflection of Isabel. "A
long life yet lies ahead of her, and it is certain to be one in which there will
be suffering" (Long 126). Being with Osmond definitely means a life of
isolation, suffering, and unhappiness for her. "Isabel undertakes to
experience her consequent suffering alone, unaided by the support of friends or
by the authority of social forms" (O'Neill 47). Loneliness will make the
suffering even worse for Isabel. In conclusion, it is this decision that is her
final undoing. Ironically, it was made with the intention of being most free,
yet, obviously it did not turn out to be as positive as was hoped. "The
whole second half of the novel is a richly detailed treatment of the slavery
into which Isabel has fallen, and account of suffering endured by a woman of
Isabel's type reduced to conventional marriage" (O'Neill 26). A slightly
unexpected turn from the start of the novel, Isabel was not expecting to
actually conform with convention as she was striving for freedom. Because Isabel
chooses to stay with Osmond, she will be discontented, destroying her initial
free spirit, yet she can no longer do nothing about it. In The Portrait of a
Lady, Isabel Archer ends all possibility of leading a healthy life through her
search for personal freedom. Through Henry James' implied commentary, it is
clear that however perfect the American ideal of freedom may sound, it can be
undesirable, as well. Isabel Archer allowed this fault to overcome her whole
person. It is the logic aspiration for freedom "that is Isabel's tragic
flaw which leads to her downfall in a society of whose ruthlessness she had no
comprehension" (Cargill 98). Even though it is not a negative quality
alone, under her circumstances it proved disastrous. Ultimately, it is the
significant title of The Portrait of a Lady that colorfully depicts everything.
The portrait of the lady, Isabel, is not meant to be looked upon with
sophisticated empathy. "Isabel is not trapped within a frame" (Winner
143). Instead, she is so real and vivid that she becomes alive. Every person
should think of their own life like this: look outside the picture frame because
a real world exists that is waiting to provide lessons and experiences for
individuals to learn and better themselves.

Bibliography
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