Isabel is too perfect for anyone.She's charming, witty,innocent.She's a handsome fortune .She's independent,she has the whole world in front of her.But also,she is proud too proud to accept the offer which can change her miserable fate at last,which is caused by her own mistake.The more I read the book,the more upset and depressed I become.It's like the only way out of the maze is just at hand but you simply would not go out .Instead you go deeper into the maze,which is full of uncertainty and misery because you are too proud to admit that you were wrong. 感覺很壓抑 很痛苦,讀到最后,看到這本小說以Isabel 的回到Rome結(jié)尾 真的很糾結(jié) 很痛苦~~~~~~
Henry James受George Eliot影響非常明顯,喜歡借助大量細膩的心理刻畫來塑造人物性格,但他失敗之處在于缺乏足夠的對話和行動支撐,人物形象過于抽象,遠遠不及George Eliot筆下的人物生動飽滿,甚至人物性格的定位也缺乏說服力。尤其主角的portrait,本來就因為視角繁多,且主角對自身形象的大量思考和實際表現(xiàn)之間存在不同程度的沖突,人物性格的把握已有些復(fù)雜,又加上許多特征簡直是被作者強行添描上,而沒有從人物本身生發(fā)出來,實在難以叫人信服。難怪博爾赫斯要說,"Despite the scruples and delicate complexities of James his work suffers from a major defect: the absence of life."
四十幾章之前一直覺得各個角色像飄乎的影子,作者并不急于追求性格塑造上的一致性和連貫性,只零星地描繪人物性格中往往不相關(guān)聯(lián)的各個側(cè)面,無限地撐開緩慢的情節(jié),做著某種胸有成竹的準備。書讀一半過去,讓人越來越懷疑是否主線要在臨近結(jié)尾才會爆發(fā)出來…… 終于James在Isabel婚后來了個似乎不耐煩的一跳,所有情節(jié)突然緊湊起來,對話、神情和動作也明顯增多,前半段雜亂的拼貼畫才像是有了連貫的補色,在漸近結(jié)尾處comes to life。
What Contributes to Isabel's Tragedy?
For a lady who bestowed upon dazzling beauty by god, and inherited a handsome amount of money from her uncle, wonderful life, like a volume of painting , was supposed to unfold itself before her. But, for Isabel, it's much of the opposite. And I, though cannot bring her self-demolition to a halt, want to explore the reason behind it.
The first and also the root reason is culturally based. Back then, roughly in the 1860s, United States is a new- born country. With a history of not more than 100 years, it didn't offer a cultural repository rich enough to partake. While Europe, across the pond, after thousands of years' deposition, had seen a blossom in all kinds of aspects----Literature, painting, sculpture and etc. And for Isabel, she is strongly enchanted in these things, to the extent that she herself cannot handle it. That explained her refusal to Warburton's marriage proposal. He is too perfect, as she put it, to get married. Warburton carries all the quality that a country like Britain can offer-----handsome appearance, noble title, wealth, high personal quality and you name it. It overwhelmed Isabel, so herself think. On the contrary, Goodwood, though whose passion for Isabel had never faded for a second, lacked what Isabel expect or, also we can say, what Warburton had. This is why he can never win the heart of Isabel. Differed form both Warburton and Goodwood, Osmond is a great blend of the two mentioned, at least from Isabel's viewpoint. he didn't have as high a temperament as Warburten, but culturally richer than Goodwood. In brief, he standed in the middle, which is why he succeeded in this three suitors' competition and constituted Isabel's doomed marriage,
The second reason is more personal. Isabel has a very fertile mind. And usually people of this kind will never let others change their course of life, no matter how strong the objectional force are. This make it reasonable why Isabel braved so many person's objection to her marriage and still leapt into it. She is so DAME bullheaded!
The third reason lies in Madame Merlin, who set a trap for Isabel immediately after she heard of that Isabel inherited a considerable amount of money. Her strong personal charisma deluded Isabel and finally lead her into astray. However, the trap is, in another way, a trap for herself. Because when you stake your life on other person's life, however how favorable it worked in your way, it's still not your life, and you will never get satisfied. Madame Merlin's later life justified it.
That's all for this tragedy------a tragedy staged by the era, the man, then woman, and also herself.
Henry James (亨利?詹姆斯1843-1916)本人出生在美國,卻游歷歐洲各國,最后定居英國。這樣的經(jīng)歷使得他的故事中總有一些美國女人在歐洲大陸的身影:中篇小說《Daisy Miller(戴西?米勒)》中的Daisy Miller,《The Wings of the Dove(鴿之翼)》的Milly, 而這部小說更是直接以一個美國女子作為主角。
雖然年輕的Isabel看不清人性中的欺騙,可是為什么即便她看得到Lord Warburton的美好的品格,卻還是毫不猶豫地拒絕了Lord W的求婚呢?在書中,Isabel對自己拒絕Lord W求婚做過幾次解釋,無論是她自己的心理描寫,還是和表哥的對話中,有一點她一直在強調(diào):Lord W is too Perfect! 于是,我也不禁想問:Perfect for what? For her or else? HJ沒有給出解答。
所以我只能猜測:Lord W is too perfect for marrying, so he is not for love. 并不是Lord W太完美Isabel配不上,而是在Isabel眼里Lord W已經(jīng)成為了一個最理想的結(jié)婚對象—good looking, good manner, good fortune and an English peer。因為是最理想的結(jié)婚對象,所以就不是談戀愛的對象。這個因果邏輯一看似乎很有問題,但是對于一個讀小說長大的女孩來說卻再正常不過了。
MM是HJ在這部小說中的刻畫得最飽滿的一個人物,盡管是一個反面角色。她有一些像《Vanity Fair(名利場)》里的Becky Sharp,是一個為了自己生存不擇手段的機會主義者。她也有些像HJ自己的另一部小說中的《The Wings of the Dove(鴿之翼)》里的Kate,因為她費盡心機讓Osmond娶Isabel是想為自己的女兒找一個好的繼母。不像HJ對Osmond的刻畫讓人憎惡,我想HJ對MM還是寄予了一定的同情。
事實上,‘The Portrait’這部小說最大的不足是HJ對Isabel這個人物的塑造不足。 小說一直在強調(diào)Isabel是一個富有奇思妙想的女孩。HJ的原話是Isabel was a girl had lots of ideas。而事實是從讀者的角度我們只能看到HJ是這么說的,但沒有看到Isabel是怎么表現(xiàn)的。我只在Isabel初到英國的姨媽家的大莊園的第一幕頗有驚艷之感,之后,于Lord W,還是從美國追趕而來的Goodwood,乃至Osmond我都見不到Isabel的光彩可讓前二者為她神魂顛倒。
I suddenly found myself sobbing like a baby after reading this novel, as if I myself had confronted that tragic destiny of Isabel. It’s said that a novel is in its broadest sense a personal, a direct impression of life. When we read between the lines, we are actually getting a rough experience of the heroin’s whole life. I can’t make clear whether I like Isabel or not. All I felt for her was just the deeply rooted sympathy. I can find the same part of her in my shadow. That’s why I’m so touched by her love story.
Henry James bestowed a large part of his own personality and experience on the heroin. She is quite independent and knowledgeable, so different from those who do nothing but wait for a husband to bring a destiny at that time. Sentimental as she is, Isabel indulges herself in literature, caring very little about the worldly life. She just wants to see the different world with her own eyes, and find something special to live for. As she says, just begin afresh, leaving all the past behind her. With this desire in mind, she refuses two of her suitors, since she believes they are “too perfect” for her, actually too different from her imaginary lover. It’s not that they are not good enough, but that she can’t take the active part in their relationship. If she accepts either of them, she may feel not so independent as she prefers to be, and she can’t find her marriage special enough to meet her own imagination. At last, disguised by her own theories, she marries Osmond, a poor, self-centered and care-for-nothing man. She strongly believes that she loves this man, because his life is quite natural and different from what common people dream of. Since she gets part of money from her uncle, she does not have to marry for money’s sake, she can do whatever she likes. However, it turns out that this man is absolutely not her style. He marries her just for her money. Isabel suddenly feels at loss, when she finds she has actually been cheated by her own imagination. The shocking experience turns her whole life into a terrible mental suffering. But she is too proud to let her friends know her sadness, too proud to accept her own failure. Instead, she would rather suffer in silence from the dark, dumb and suffocating life. Sometimes she feels a passionate need to cry out and accuse herself, to let her sorrow possess her, but she still can’t leave her husband. The novel ends with an open ending. It’s not clear whether she will leave her husband some years later. It’s only certain that she is suffering from the cost of her own pride, imagination, and all those not so admirable elements in her nature.
I always believe that every woman’s love story is unexceptionally touching. At least we can feel some part of ourselves in it. From girlhood to marriage, it’s quite a long journey for girls. We have to experience the life cycle of puberty, menstruation, sexual initiation, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. It’s said that women grow old gradually, while men grow old suddenly. Perhaps it makes some sense, but the life cycle itself is a kind of suffer, a bitter-sweet experience. So, to get someone really loves you and willing to accompany you through the whole life is quite a bliss for every girl. Love is such a complex feeling full of risks, devotion, imagination and inevitable pain. It’s so difficult to know clearly what you really dream of. Everybody is drifting in this small-large world, trying to find something to make their soul calm and complete, but how many of us are really content with what we get? Oscar Wilde once said there are two kinds of tragedy, one is that you can’t get the thing you longing for, the other is that you finally get what you desire of. Life sometimes looks like a drama, you have to struggle through all the trifles and sorrows, in order to catch the limited happiness and love. Maybe that’s the very essence of life, to struggle, to dream, to get and to lose. This endless cycle makes life a wonderful symphony.
I like this novel, because for me, it’s a process of psychological communication with a lady who experiences the bitterness of life. Each of us actually is drawing a portrait for ourselves throughout the whole life path. Whether attractive or not, it totally depends on our own choice, our dream, ambition, nature, and willingness to accept whatever circumstances in life.
我的很多感受跟樓主一樣,James很多性格描寫都不能說服我。不過我覺得后半段(Isabel婚后)情況好很多,至少展現(xiàn)人物性格的具體例子增多了。比如前面說Isabel非常聰明,她的追求者都覺得“some special preparation was required for talking with her”,這一點在后半段,比如Isabel帶Pansy去參加的舞會上(43章),與Warburton的對話中應(yīng)該能表現(xiàn)。后者在Isabel一針見血的要求下不得不說:“You're too pointed; I 've always to be defending myself.” 至于樓主問的,Warburton "too perfect for what",我猜測是因為James想要把Isabel塑造成一個一方面追求independence和liberty,一方面又急于施展自己的價值,甚至有點希望在弱者身上施恩的傾向,所以Warburton這種形象高大,人格完整又什么物質(zhì)也不缺的人,會讓Isabel覺得自己無所施展,恐怕婚后只能作為對方的依附(Dorothea的命運?。?。她以為嫁了Osmond算是有用了,哪知道這才真正淪為這個藝術(shù)收藏家的一件擺設(shè)。
Henry James 只是在揭示這種 conflit between two different cultures.
亨利詹姆斯不是蠻喜歡英國的嗎
I'm not sure Isabel is in love with Warburton. Warburton is an ideal, but Isabel wants her own life, and she never "felt" the love. She only feels a pride that the great Lord Warburton is devoted to her. And I'm not sure the ending means Isabel is going back to Osmond. She's just going back to Rome. Maybe she needs time to make the decision, maybe she's keeping her promise to visit Pansy, there is just no ending in the book.
I read the novel last summer, and in a mail wrote something that I rummaged out right away: "Her notion of the aristocratic life was simply the union of great knowledge with great liberty. The knowledge would give one a sense of duty and the liberty a sense of enjoyment..." that's the portrait of the lady, Isabel, the lonely pure pond lily in the cold wind and dead water, in Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady " , which I read in the quiet corner in library. While reading, I drifted into meditating, into missing, of my girl, my sister I cannot help doting and relying on. I was comparing her with Isabel, and I found myself in ecstasy that my sister was much sharper and smarter and moreover I was by no means as ill and dying as Ralph, Isabel's cousin. I can protect her all through my life.
i like Henry James's sentimentality. His heroines are always seeking for something to save them from the suffocating dullness of life. They never have to worry about money, but ironically, it is money which set up a cage for them, just as in "The Portrait of a Lady " and "the wings of the Dove". They suffer from a kind of "unvoiced grief". Most of them are too clever and sensitive to feel the common happiness in life. It's real pathetic.
So waht do u think is the common happiness?
What is the common happiness? perhaps it's only a kind of feeling, a state of mind which can not be named. When you live as an outcast of the society, always seeking for your self-identity, and the so-called meaning of life, you must be unhappy. When you are too sentitive, indulging yourself in the human loneliness, and trying to dig for the very truth of life under the hypocritical surface, you can never be happy. Sometimes i have to doubt about the influence of reading, because it shows to us too much "real reality" of life which others even can not imagine. when your mind is enlightened, you can no longer be satisfied with the material life. instead, you want to seek for your dream, your value, your own ideas, and your own ethereal spiritual world. Just like H J's heroines, they are sensitive enough to be aware of the human sufferings, to feel the pent-up feelings and caged life of human beings.They are definitely unhappy. What is the common happiness for me? I've been tired of my spiritual journey. For me, right now happiness means to share the endlessly repeating life with the one i love, to enjoy everyday and make my simple life better and better even though it is by no means perfect. The soul of Chinese philosophy teaches us to broaden your inner-self instead of seeking from outside. That's what i am trying to do.