JOURNAL ARTICLE

A Quickened, Multiplied Consciousness: The Light of Aestheticism in The Portrait of a Lady.

  • Published In: Henry James Review, 2025, v. 46, n. 2. P. 127 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Albrecht, Thomas 3 of 3

Abstract

This paper reads The Portrait of a Lady intertextually in relationship to Walter Pater's The Renaissance , a work that James knew well and to which he alludes throughout the novel. Contrary to a critical tradition that has approached the novel as a polemic against aestheticism generally and Pater specifically, it interprets James's depiction of Isabel's ethical Bildung in distinctly aesthetic and Paterian terms. In the novel, James portrays aesthetic experience as a kindling of an existentially and ethically heightened consciousness, revealing an alignment on his part with Pater's ideas that critics have generally overlooked or misunderstood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Henry James Review. 2025/04, Vol. 46, Issue 2, p127
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:0273-0340
  • DOI:10.1353/hjr.2025.a959411
  • Accession Number:184948958
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Henry James Review is the property of Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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