Isabel Archer: A Case for Female Masochist Tendencies

Henry JamesHenry James’ novel The Portrait of a LadyPortrait of a Lady brings to life a female protagonist, Isabel ArcherIsabel Archer, whose imprisonment is more psychological than physical. What makes the climax so dramatic is the spectacle of her going round and round without ever breaking out. Here is where her allure begins. There is something in Isabel ArcherIsabel Archer, an unbearable splendour due to her fascination with a death instinct. She is a naïve self-willed victim, at times disturbing and attractive. One cannot but wonder about the nature of desire, the pleasure principle, a perverse definition of love that is less fictional than it is, once more, an illustration of human nature.