A Comparative Study Of Spatial Construction In The Novel And Film Versions Of The Portrait Of A Lady

As a representative figure in the transitional period from realism to modernism,Henry James(1843-1916)has received much attention from critics.His novels reflect the changes of Western society and human nature at the turn of the 19~thh and 20~thh centuries.The Portrait of a Lady(1881),widely regarded as James' best novel in his early years,is praised as one of the greatest novels in the English language.Jane Campion has adapted this novel into a film which focuses on women with independent consciousness and rebellious spirit.The Portrait of a Lady,a great classic,has long remained the focus of attention from many critics who have explored it from many perspectives,such as feminism and psychological analysis.However,critics chiefly focused their attention either on the novel itself or the film adapted from the novel,and few of them have made any attempt to compare and contrast the novel and film.As two different ways of literary expression,there may be some differences between the novel and film on their cultural themes.And space in literature and art has attracted much attention in recent years.This study is such an attempt to interpret the corresponding space construction in the novel and film versions of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady on the basis of“three spatial epistemologies”put forward by Edward Soja.More exactly,it will analyze the novel and film of The Portrait of a Lady from the Firstspace,Secondspace and Thirdspace to explore the differences in the aspect of space construction,and reveal the social and cultural significance underneath these differences as well.By analyzing,it can be seen that the novel The Portrait of a Lady pays more attention to the conflict and integration between American and European cultures,while the film The Portrait of a Lady focuses more on the oppression of women in the patriarchal society and the resistance of the female culture to the male culture,which is closely related to the different purposes of the creators,the different backgrounds and the different ways of constructing spaces.This thesis,by making a comparative analysis of the novel and film of The Portrait of a Lady from the perspective of space,may not only be helpful to understand the different cultural themes in the novel and film of The Portrait of a Lady,but also provide a new approach to the interpretation of James' other novels and adapted films from the perspective of space.In addition,this research may also help enrich the achievements in the studies of Henry James' fiction.