Places Where Things Have Happened: The Psychology of Location in Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady

Abstract

This paper studies the psychological significance of the different locations in the novel The Portrait of a Lady and argues that each place symbolizes a stage in the main character, Isabel's growth. The paper also connects two trajectories: the physical and the psychological, showing their interactions and thematic significance in the context of the novel. In general terms, the three major locations, America, England, and Europe represent childhood, teenage, and maturity, with several nuances that are explained in the paper. The paper concludes with a philosophical observation about the constructed nature of spatial significance in literary works and in life in general, arguing how the meaning we give to places, on both the individual and collective levels, is always subjective.