![]() ![]() James's father took the family on an extended trip to Europe the year Henry was born. ![]() The younger children were Garth, Robertson, and Alice. The first, William, became a Harvard professor andĪ philosopher whose best-known books, especially Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), are still read today. His mother, Mary Robertson Walsh James, was devoted to her husband and five children. His father, also named Henry, was a minister who had inherited wealth. Henry James was born in New York City on April 15, 1843. All the story's events, and all the other characters, exist only to serve the purpose of revealing Isabel to the reader. ![]() Following the technique of Russian author Ivan Turgenev, James makes Isabel the axis around which the story revolves. The Portrait of a Lady is, above all, Isabel's story. Its heroine, Isabel Archer, is widely considered one of James's most powerful characters. Many scholars consider The Portrait of a Lady one of the greatest novels in modern literature. Both of these opinions have been affirmed as time has passed. ![]() Some reviewers recognized it immediately as James's most important novel thus far, and a few called it a masterpiece. The Portrait of a Lady was widely, and mostly favorably, reviewed. The first book edition was published in 1881. The novel was first published serially in 18, appearing in Macmillan's Magazine in England and in Atlantic in the United States. Henry James was an established author when The Portrait of a Lady was published. ![]()
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