A Thematic Interpretation Of The Portrait Of A Lady In The Perspective Of Narratology

Henry James(1843—1916) is considered as an outstanding Amerian novelist, stylist, and theorist of literature and art, founder of modern theories of fiction. His early masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady is a representative work of psychological realistic novels, in which the heroine Isabel Archer's inner world is fully shown.The Portrait of a Lady reflects James'absorbing interest in the differences between the new world and the old, often to the disapproval of the former. In this novel James explores his theme of the encounter of America with Europe with his plot centered on personal relationships, the proper exercise of power in such relationships, and other moral questions with penetrating insight into the phenomena of consciousness and perception.This thesis seeks to investigate in terms of modern narrative theory in exploring the three major themes of love and marriage, international cultural conflict, and the deception and awakening of the innocent in The Portrait of a Lady. On the basis of a thoroughly close reading of the novel in the original, with analyses of the characters, plot and writing techniques, the author of the present thesis draws the conclusion that the novel is an artistic work on the three themes of making choices in love and marriage, the international theme of cultural conflict, and the deception and awakening of the innocent. In addition to fixed internal focalization, Henry James employs variable internal focalization as well as linear structure of narration in highlighting the three themes.