Study Of The Writing Techniques Of Henry James' The Portrait Of A Lady

Henry James is a famous novelist, stylist, critic and a master of psychological novel. He takes an important place in the Western modern novel history. His works and theory of fiction have exerted great impact on the development of modernism in literature for his brave innovations in writing techniques. He conceives fiction as a form of art for literary creation-"the most magnificent form of art".James'works in the early period have inherited the traditional realism and begin the important experimentation on the basis of the tradition, mainly in introducing multiple points of view and the psychological analysis. The Portrait of a lady is one of the masterpieces of Henry James. It is the first novel that breaks the traditional way of writing and his new techniques and turned out to be a great success. This thesis analyzes the writing techniques of his masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady on the basis of the analysis of his theoretic principles. It focuses on the three innovative techniques of the novel to demonstrate the significance of this novel in James'literary career and provide a better understanding of his achievement.The thesis contains Introduction, the body part and Conclusion.The Introduction introduces Henry James'literary achievements and a review of the study of James and the purpose of this paper.In the first chapter, the thesis analyzes how James uses limited viewpoint to describe the heroine. The narrator of a traditional novel often seems to be in an omniscient position. He tells the reader not only what happens but also the significance of everything that happens and of everything the characters say or do. But too much interference makes the novels far from the readers. This makes the novels less true and less credible. In The Portrait of Lady James mainly employs the limited point of view of Isabel and the multiple viewpoints of other characters. James describes Isabel from the viewpoints of different characters. Views of people around Isabel provide us an all-around-level understanding of Isabel and the complex relations among the Americans and Europeans. Through shifting the viewpoints a dynamic and dimensional relationship among characters is present to readers. The Portrait of a Lady is the first novel that tries the limited point of view and the technique turns out to be a successful experimentation.In the second chapter, the thesis deals with James' psychological realism and explains the difference of his techniques from those of the traditional novels and analyzes in detail his "central consciousness" and emphasizes his influence on the techniques of the modern novels. It discusses the techniques used in describing the psychology of the heroine in The Portrait of a Lady. The plot develops naturally in the consciousness of the character. The psychological description plays an essential role in depicting Isabel's independent quality, her choice of marriage and her growth in suffering.In the third chapter a detailed analysis of the system of scenes in The Portrait of a Lady is provided. James refers to the novel as a "living thing"-an organic whole with all parts related to the whole which is an important aspect of his "organic form" theory. The system of scenes is organic and it has two principles. The scenes in the novel are divided into three parts geographically:the Gardencourt scenes in England, the Florence scenes in Italy and the Roman scenes. According to the plot, the scenes can be divided into three parts:chapter 1 to chapter 21, chapter 22 to chapter 35, and chapter 36 to chapter 54. In the first part Mr. Touchett dies and leaves Isabel a big fortune; in the second one Isabel gets married; in the last one Isabel suffers and grows.The conclusion is a comprehensive retrospect of James'great achievements in novels and the status of his masterpiece The Portrait of a Lady. As a matter of fact, The Portrait of a Lady signifies a great advance over his earlier works and becomes a turning point in his literary career. He distinguishes himself by his description of the heroine's psychology and the techniques displayed in the description in the novel.