Cultural Collision of the Old World and the New World in the 19th Century in The Portrait of a Lady

張媛媛

【摘要】This novel chiefly discusses Isabel Archers love and marriage.The process of selecting a qualified husband actually reflects the antithesis between innocent Americans and Europeanized Americans.This paper tries to reveal the inevitable cultural collision between old European aristocratic culture and young Americanized liberalism in the 19th century.

【關鍵詞】The Portrait of a Lady，Cultural Collision

【中圖分類號】H319 【文獻標識碼】A 【文章編號】2095-3089（2018）06-0020-01

Europe，full of cultural atmosphere，has a long history of two thousand years focusing on brilliant art creation，rigid hierarchical system，multifarious courtesy and propriety and noble elegance.While，America，an innocent young nation lacks enough cultural deposits to match her strong national force and highly praises democracy，equality，freedom，industriousness，audaciousness，straightforwardness and simplicity.When numerous wealthy American people flowed into Europe for culture edification，the cultural collision happened necessarily.

Isabel Archer is the heroine of The Portrait of a Lady，a thorough American country girl，was brought to Europe by her aunt，Mrs.Touchett upon the death of her father.She laid much emphasis on her overwhelming liberalism and independence.Although lacking enough knowledge or rich experience，Isabel still considered her judgment was absolutely right with stubborn self-conceit.She had developed “the habit of thinking for granted，on scanty evidence，that she was right.” （James，1983：52）So，when she just arrived in Europe，she couldnt admit and accept the denial of her absolute freedom and self-reliance.Besides，Isabel was deeply shocked by the ancient and brilliant European civilization where she found mysterious castles，excellent sculptures，outstanding paintings and splendid classic furniture.

Isabel Archers stubborn self-confidence decided she would prevail over all dissenting views and follow her own heart to made a wrong choice of marrying Gilbert Osmond.In order to pursue Isabel and then occupy her treasure legally，Gilbert Osmond disguised himself as an elegant art collector defying fame and wealth.To unworldly Isabel，Gilbert Osmond was more cultured and gentle as a native American living in Europe and possessed much more freedom and independence compared with European noblemen because he had no power nor money.Isabel thought Gilbert Osmond is “the most cultivated，the most beautiful，the most civilized person she has known.” （Borland，1981：118）

This unhappy marriage sharpened the existed cultural collision between pure Americans and Europeanized Americans.This wrong choice of husband made Isabel feel dismayed and anguished.However，at the end of the novel，Isabel still chose to return to her husband and stepdaughter which enables many readers to blame Isabel for her cowardice.In fact，Isabel thought she should take responsibility for all her deeds.Although she was cheated by Gilbert Osmond，her sacred marriage was completely out of free spirit.

As mentioned before，Madame Merle was a seemingly gracious lady who was actually the distorted combination of American and European cultures.She had no honesty as American women possess nor culture as European ladies hold.She plotted to betray the lifelong happiness of an innocent girl for providing her illegal child，Pansy with a certain future through instigating her lover，Gilbert Osmond to marry Isabel who got a large inheritance from her uncle，Mr.Touchett.Faced with the challenge of old European civilizations dark side，Madame Merles American straightforwardness and sincerity were fully defeated.She was the embodiment of duplicity and artfulness in the ancient civilization.

Caspar Goodwood was a typical wealthy American businessman with industriousness and audaciousness like a pioneer.He had proposed to Isabel for many times even at the time when Isabel felt extremely miserable about her unhappy marriage with Gilbert Osmond.However，Caspar Goodwood showed his love too directly and too arbitrarily which gave Isabel a measure of threat.Although Caspar could endow her with a feeling of security，he seemed to strip her freedom and self-reliance.In Isabels eyes，Caspar Goodwood had a strong will to conquer the world including her destiny.Like other average Americans，he longed for individual wealth and power infinitely and lack cultural deposits.The culture represented by Caspar Goodwood is exactly what Isabel Archer was trying to elude.

Lord Warburton，a representative of British nobleman，is cultivated，conservative，courteous and wealthy.He is the symbol of power and aristocracy in ancient civilization.Isabel Archer was deeply impressed by his superior family background and personal charisma.However，for Isabel，Lord Warburtons remarkable social position，excellent noble personality and even his perfection were unbearable burden which would deprive her of the right to confront destiny.Standing by the side of Lord Warburton，she was overshadowed and irritated.Lord Warburton symbolized ancient civilizations brilliance and magnificence，but also inherited its flaw such as the rigid hierarchical system.

In this novel，Henry James successfully portrayed a naive but self-willed young American girl，Isabel Archer who was brought to Europe by her aunt after her father passed away.However，her beauty，liberalism，self- reliance and unexpected legacy gained from her uncle tempted insidious Europeanized Americans （Madame Merle and Gilbert Osmond）.They set a trap and made innocent Isabel become their prey.Isabel unhappy marriage displays the intensified cultural conflict and her courageous return sublimes her personality.

This paper combines Henrys novel，The Portrait of a Lady with its social background to reveal the profound cultural encounter behind international theme.Hopefully this point would not only enlighten our generation but also has significance in the future.

Bibliography

Borland，Alwyn.Culture and Conduct in the Novels of Henry James[M].Cambridge：Cambridge University Press.1981.

James，Henry.The Portrait of a Lady[M].New York：Bantam Books.1983.