Isabel Archer is, of course, the lady of the novel's
title. Isabel is presented as a young American woman from Albany who travels to Europe
with her aunt, Mrs. Touchett. What happens to her in Europe in terms of being proposed
to by an English Lord, inheriting a fortune, and then is victim of a plot to marry her
to the villainous Gilbert Osbond, force her at every stage to face her own internal
conflict of having to choose between her desire for independence and being able to do
what she wants and then commitment to social norms and
values.
The novel focuses on this character and the
internal conflict that goes on within her as she faces these various situations and
circumstances. The ending, when she chooses to acknowledge the importance of social
conventions by returning to her loveless marriage rather than leaving him for Caspar
Goodwood, shows how the conflict is reconciled, but has been debated endlessly, as the
reconciliation seems to be more tragic than uplifting and we feel immense pity as Isabel
gives up her opportunity for happiness and returns to a marriage that has brought her
only sadness and pain.
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