Portrait 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 ...
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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 her moral growth, when she was not really sure of what she wanted, so she could accept. She was beginning to enjoy her newfound freedom. After her refusal to Goodwood, Isabel's throbbing heart was due to two reasons, her discussion with Goodwood and "simply the enjoyment she found in the exercise of her power" (p. 143). Her power was her newfound freedom, her ability to judge however she liked and make her own decisions, no matter the consequences. Isabel said "to judge wrong, I think, is more honorable than not to judge at all (p. 140). She wanted the freedom to judge, and to act on those judgments. By marrying Goodwood, she would be giving up some of that ...
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Portrait Of A Lady. (2008, July 28). Retrieved March 5, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Of-A-Lady/87462
"Portrait Of A Lady." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 28 Jul. 2008. Web. 5 Mar. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Of-A-Lady/87462>
"Portrait Of A Lady." Essayworld.com. July 28, 2008. Accessed March 5, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Of-A-Lady/87462.
"Portrait Of A Lady." Essayworld.com. July 28, 2008. Accessed March 5, 2025. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Portrait-Of-A-Lady/87462.
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