Madame Merle figures largely in “The Portrait of a Lady” but James never wrote from her point of view; what we know of her is through dialogue with the other characters or what they said about her. We were never inside the conscious of Madame Merle so it is easy to write her off as a shady character with sordid motives who did our heroine Isabel quite a disservice but once again, James did not go in for such black and white depictions. He was an artist first and foremost, never caving to popular taste with easy characterization.
Ralph Touchett had his reservations about her--he suspected she was not quite as presented. He sensed a driving unfulfilled ambition. In Chapter XXV he says,“…she pushes the search for perfection too far--that her merits are in themselves overstrained. She’s too good, too kind, too clever, too learned, too accomplished, too everything. She’s too complete, in a word, I confess to you that she acts on my nerves…” When Isabel asks him if he knew anything that was not to the honour of her friend he replied, “Nothing whatever. Don’t you see that’s just what I mean? On the character of every one else you may find some little black speck…but on Madame Merle’s nothing, nothing, nothing!”
We do not know until Isabel knows that she was once Gilbert Osmond’s mistress, that the two made a pact to look out for each other after the affaire d’amour ended. We then learn along with Isabel that Pansy is the daughter not of Osmond and his first wife, but of Osmond and Madame Merle. It’s too bad Ralph could not find that little black speck before his cousin married. He may have been able to dissuade her with something more than a hint that Osmond was somehow “small.”
Madame Merle set Isabel up. She convinced Osmond to “make an effort” in regard to Miss Archer; Osmond, who had long ago given up on effort said he would only do so if certain contingencies were met: “Is she beautiful, clever, rich, splendid, universally intelligent and unprecedented virtuous? It’s only on those conditions that I care to make her acquaintance. You know I asked you some time ago never to speak to me of a creature who shouldn’t correspond to that description. I know plenty of dingy people; I don’t want to know any more.” To which Madame Merle replies, “Miss Archer isn’t dingy; she’s as bright as the morning. She corresponds to your description; it’s for that I wish you to know her. She fills all of your requirements.” To be fair to Gilbert Osmond he did connote she might be meant for something better. Madame Merle said that didn’t matter, only what use she could make of her and Osmond replied, “I’m sorry for Miss Archer!” It shows he had a sense of self-deprecation, that he may not be the rank egotist he is later depicted as.
Who is Madame Merle in private? What are her thoughts? She’s a compelling composite of the highly cultivated, sophisticated, ambiguous European. James has her heading to American, a pariah of sorts, to stay a good long time. As I said in an earlier post, I decided to bring her back to Europe with a rich husband in tow. I wanted to do something nice for her. She’s tarnished goods but I feel sorry for her. She's also a plein air painter, something I dabble in myself. I need her in my sequel; I need all the dark horses available to get this thing trotting at a good clip.
Excellent perception!
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