Henrietta To The Rescue

I reread chapter ten of “The Portrait of a Lady” in which Henrietta Stackpole, a journalist and great friend of Isabel’s has followed her to England and arrives at Gardencourt where she immediately confronts Ralph Touchett with all her prejudices and exactitudes and sets to work on him. She accuses him of having abandoned his country, America, of having no work to do and refusing to marry and I assume produce children, all in her opinion, the price everyone must pay to be a part of the great future. Patriotism. Contribution. Establishment. The fact that the poor man is gravely ill holds no sway with her. She tells Isabel she does not believe in sickness, has never been sick and that one should work in spite of it. She’s quite a pistol.

She comes to England with the desire to meet the nobility, not to fawn over them but to write about the inner lives of the establishment. She wants to get to the heart of a thing, she says. When she finally meets Lord Warburton and his sister, neighbors and friends of the Touchetts, she cuts them no slack. While she rebukes Ralph for indolence, she has less respect for inherited wealth, the ownership of a vast estate, including its people and having a high position without working for it. She demands to know what the sister is about, chastises the poor girl for having nothing to say for herself and lets Lord Warburton know that he is most certainly remiss--she is not at all sure how deep it goes but that she intends to find out. That Lord Warburton is considered a radical reformer, she bypasses. He implies he can agree with her in principle but the system is deeply entrenched and reform will be long in the future. Henrietta is not impressed.

Ralph, once he finally understands Miss Stackpole finds delight in teasing her mercilessly. The banter between Ralph and Henrietta Stackpole is James in a lighter mood and these two characters remind us of how Isabel arrived in Europe in high spirits with a great deal of humorous jesting amongst her friends. Toward the end of the novel Isabel is so cowered by her husband she cannot even receive Henrietta or her cousin in her own home and in fact wishes them to leave Rome altogether. She is nervous and embarrassed to have them see what has become of her.

I wasn’t sure how much Henrietta would figure in the sequel to TPOAL but she is one of the more likable characters in James’s novel so I have given her a place. In truth, I can’t resist her. She’s a modern American career woman so I can get a feel for her. In fact I have a better feel for her than for Isabel who still eludes me. And Henrietta’s just the one to stick it to Osmond. Needless to say they can’t stand one another. He has no sense of humor to deal with her as Ralph and Lord Warburton had. He finds her unbearable and when he finds anyone not to his favor, they are banished from his kingdom. We’ll have to change that.