Passage of the Day: Henry James

This passage, taken from James’s Portrait of a Lady, describes Isabel Archer’s first impressions of Rome and how she is affected by the deep history of the city:

Vol 1: XXVII


This passage does a wonderful job exploring the complex blossoming of Isabel’s knowledge. The extensive history of Rome brings to light for her all the qualities that, up to this point, she’d kept private and imagined — the shock of this revelation is smartly conveyed by James through Isabel’s sudden silence; perhaps my favorite part of the entire passage “It seemed to her companions that she talked less than usual…”

Interestingly, though the passage is focalized through Isabel, James takes advantage, and kills two birds with one stone, so to speak, by making Isabel’s silence equally important to Ralph’s character; we learn by his intense observation that Ralph is concerned and even disturbed at the changes occurring in Isabel’s life.

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