From Idealistic Freedom To Transcendental Freedom

As one of Henry James's masterpieces,The Portrait of a Lady has won many favorable comments from both the readers and the literary critics.Criticisms about The Portrait of a Lady from the critical perspective of ethics are often closely related to the study of aesthetics.For example,in 2000 Jonathan Freedman discussed the ethical consequences of the aestheticism viewpoints held by the characters in the novel.In Sigi Antonia J(?)ttkandt's dissertation "Sublime beauty:Henry James and the ethical aesthetic",he analyzes the heroine Isabel Archer in an attempt to advance a continuing ethical role for the aesthetic.When Isabel chooses to return to Osmond at the end of the novel,J(?)ttkandt suggests,Isabel performs an act that is ethical in Kant's sense,that is,an act designed to guarantee our transcendental freedom.J(?)ttkandt's dissertation is based on examining several related concepts in aesthetics.Though J(?)ttkandt refers to Kant's theory of moral law,he does not comprehensively study Isabel's concept of freedom with the more specific moral principles in Kant's moral theory.Some critics have tried to examine Isabel's pursuit of freedom,but most of them lack the support of theories.Based on the previous research achievement on the ethical significance of the novel,the writer tries to reveal the meanings of epistemology and morality reflected in the transformation from Isabel's pursuit of idealistic freedom to transcendental freedom by answering three core questions in Isabel's marriage with reference to Kant's theories.The first question is:why does Isabel choose to marry Osmond? The second is:what kind of role does Osmond play in their marriage? The third is:why does Isabel choose to return to Osmond at the end of the novel? Through discussing these questions in Isabel's marriage and putting effort to explore the theme of freedom in the novel,the writer tries to prove that Henry James's moral belief is vividly reflected through the description of Isabel's pursuit of freedom in her marriage life. James conveys the idea that as the rational being,man has to respect others' freedom, and that man can realize freedom in the ethical sense by sticking to his moral principles and by taking his responsibility.The main body of this thesis is divided into three chapters.The first chapter discusses Isabel's concept of freedom and tries to discover why Isabel chooses Osmond as her husband.The main reason for this choice,in the writer's opinion,is that Isabel has strong desire for freedom,but her knowledge is limited.Isabel wants to realize her idealistic freedom in marriage,but her inability to see Osmond's real intention of marrying her causes her to fall into the trap of marriage,which restricts her freedom.Based on Kant's theory of epistemology,the writer aims to argue that Isabel's false judgment is mainly due to her lack of life experience;she mistakes the aesthetic form for the moral representation.In Chapter TWO,the writer analyzes Osmond's immoral intentions in marrying Isabel,criticizes his inhuman behavior that he treats people as objects,whose value is measured by their use to him,and he does so with increasing restriction on Isabel's freedom.The writer wants to prove that Osmond goes against Kant's moral principle that man should act so as to use humanity always as an end,never as merely a means. And the writer will further examine Henry Jarnes's idea of moral value of art,which reflects the moral pursuit of freedom,to prove that Osmond,who restricts Isabel's freedom to satisfy his own needs,also gets criticized by Henry James.In Chapter Three,based on Kant's interpretation of duty,the writer analyzes Isabel's strong sense of duty;with reference to Kant's explanation of the conflict between duty and happiness,the writer discusses Isabel's idea of happiness.And the writer tries to argue that Isabel's final choice is a moral act of preserving the sanctity of marriage;it is an attempt to realize transcendental freedom.She will not escape from the trials of life,and she is willing to shoulder the responsibility for her former choices.In the conclusion,the writer points out that Henry James inherits both Kant's epistemology theory and moral theory;he conveys the idea that as the rational being, man has to respect others' freedom.James depicts the heroine Isabel's marriage and shows the transformation from her pursuit of idealistic freedom to transcendental freedom,so as to illustrate the point that man can realize freedom in the ethical sense by sticking to his moral principles and by taking his responsibility.