The Portrait of a Lady is one of Henry James' early masterpieces. This novel is rich in connotation, rigorous in structure and meticulous in psychological description of young women. It is regarded by western critics as the beginning of modern American novels. Isabel Archer, the heroine, is a beautiful young American girl. After her parents died, she was taken out of a small town in America by her rich aunt to see the ancient European world that she dreamed of haunting. She lived in a "villa" on the outskirts of London, and rejected the proposal of warburton, a British aristocrat, and Goldwood, an American businessman. Her cousin Ralph also secretly fell in love with her, but he knew that he was terminally ill and could not get married. He has just persuaded his dying father to leave a large legacy to his cousin. Isabel met the elegant, luxurious and talented Mrs. Mayer and fell in love with this thoroughly Europeanized American woman. After Isabel's uncle died, she inherited an inheritance and went to Italy. While intoxicated with the historical sites of Florence and Rome, she gradually fell into the trap carefully laid by Madame Mayer. Mrs Mayer introduced her to Osmond, an American "amateur artist" who lives in Italy. He looks elegant and cultured. Isabel was moved by it; And his lovely daughter Percy also aroused her pity. She took the initiative to marry him despite repeated warnings and objections from relatives and friends around her. After marriage, she gradually found herself cheated. Osmond is indeed a poisonous snake in a selfish and hypocritical flower. She also found that Mrs Mayer had been Osmond's mistress for a long time, and Percy was their illegitimate daughter. When she was in great pain, she tried to smile and hid the unfortunate truth of her marriage from outsiders. Cousin Ralph was dying in England, and Isabel went to see him despite her husband's objection. After Ralph died, to everyone's surprise, Isabel returned to Rome. Isabel's love tragedy contains complex and profound significance in light sadness. It is different from the traditional love tragedy caused by external obstruction, and it is a tragedy caused by the parties' independent choice of fate. Isabel is an American girl trained by Emerson's spirit of "Believe in yourself and respect yourself". She said, "I try to judge things for myself; I feel that even if my judgment is wrong, it is more glorious than not having my own judgment. " Her tragedy was caused by her own judgment. All the external forces against this marriage, including the opinions of aunts, cousins and friends, were proved to be right in the end, and only her own judgment was wrong. And sadly, she made mistakes not because she was too stupid, but because she was too smart, too fond of thinking and too opinionated. She turned down several suitors with money and status because she didn't want to accept a ready-made comfortable life. She wanted to give generously, so Osmond naturally became her ideal object. She took the initiative to choose fate, but fate gave her ruthless ridicule. Her pursuit failed, only to be ruined. She thought she was unconventional, but she was "crushed in a secular machine." The reason for this is of course related to her own weakness. She is too naive, too confident and has too many romantic fantasies; However, these are her lovely aspects, otherwise she is not a charming girl. It is almost inevitable that her tragedy is a tragedy of character. But at the same time, it is a tragedy of the times, a tragedy caused by the collision between old and new cultures on both sides of the Atlantic. At that time, America, which had just risen, was in the process of forming its culture and was not mature enough, although it had begun to have its own character. Therefore, some young people in the United States are eager to yearn for the ancient culture of the old world, and it is inevitable that they will go through a process of swallowing dates. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that Isabel was confused by Osmond's superficial cultural upbringing. On the other hand, the contradiction between love and property is common in a society where everyone wants to cross the river. A rich girl like Isabel is bound to be chased by others by hook or by crook, so it is difficult for true love to have any fate with her. From a higher philosophical level, this is also a tragedy of personal subjective limitations. Anyone with a smart mind will have blind spots outside his eyes. In order to enjoy the glory of "judging for herself", Isabel must pay for it. In addition, too much longing and overreaching will inevitably bring too much disillusionment, and those who dare to taste the forbidden fruit will inevitably lose the pure Garden of Eden, which is also quite common in the evolution of human nature. In the novel, Isabel, the central figure, runs through and influences the overall situation. In the preface of the book, the author said that he conceived the whole novel entirely from "the character and image of a concrete and charming girl", and all the plots, scenes and other characters were arranged according to the needs of the central character. When writing the central character, the author focuses on the inner world of the character, focusing on the character's quality, consciousness and feelings, as well as the inner reaction of the character at various stages of plot development. The events, scenes, words and deeds of other characters in the novel have become the "revelations" and "hints" of the central figure again and again, which makes her gradually understand herself and the world around her. The author carefully controls the subject matter as far as possible within the scope of the conscious activities of the central figure. So "portrait" is actually a portrait of the soul. This book is divided into three parts on average. The first part (chapter 1 to chapter 19) describes the heroine's first experience in Britain, and introduces her personality and ideals in detail through her relationship with three suitors and other roles. A lot of pen and ink are spent describing her self-evaluation and thinking about the world. The second part (chapter 20-35) leads the story to the European continent. Through the entanglement between the heroine and Mrs. Mayer and Osmond, all aspects of her psychology are unfolded layer by layer, and all kinds of personality contradictions in her specific life scenes are described in detail: both knowledge and innocence, both strength and weakness, both pursuit of truth and opinionation, and both thought and pride. This paved the way for the psychological reasons why she fell into the trap. The third part (36 to 55 chapters) describes the heroine's misfortune after marriage, focusing on the process of her gradual awakening and the development and changes of her personality and psychology. Chapter 42 is the most important chapter in the book, which focuses on her self-reflection and deep thinking about her husband's nature after she found herself cheated. This is a beautiful and delicate inner monologue and psychological analysis full of affection and tragic consciousness, which is recognized as a model of James' psychological description skills. The ending of the novel is Isabel's return to her husband, which shows her weakness and courage to bear the consequences. Her morality requires her to take good care of her stepdaughter Percy and avoid repeating the same mistakes. Although she lost her marriage, she still kept her spirits, which showed that she defeated Osmond morally. This ending is also in line with the character development logic of an upper-class woman in the19th century, which is deeply influenced by traditional culture. Although other characters in the novel exist to set off the central figure, most of them have distinct personalities. Menstruation, an eccentric but kind Isabel, Ralph, an insightful and humorous cousin, and an outspoken American female journalist all left unforgettable impressions. Female journalist stackpole and Isabel are bosom friends, but their personalities are completely different. A quiet and thoughtful, a lively and action-loving; One worships ancient Europe, and the other prefers emerging America. A thoughtful person will get lost, and a careless and generous person will see through it. The two images set each other off into interest, which adds weight to the novel's rendering of American women's purity and integrity. The villains in the novel are two completely Europeanized Americans: Mrs Mayer and Osmond, but they are not simplified or caricatured. Osmond is selfish and cold, but he still has elegant artistic taste after all. His fancy for Isabel is not only coveting her wealth, but also appreciating and cherishing her as a living work of art to a greater extent. Mrs. Meyer is sophisticated and sleek, but she is just an artistic ornament of the upper class, which is somewhat tragic. The Portrait of a Lady belongs to James's early works, and its style is fresh and lively. It was revised at the beginning of the 20th century, so it has the artistic characteristics of the author's elaborate creation in the later period. The book is full of poetry, the characters are profound but not mysterious, the inner world is meticulous but not complicated, the structure is symmetrical and the plot is fascinating.