Mutual Misunderstanding: Intercultural Competence and the Unconscious/Conscious Dialectic in Henry James’ 'The Portrait of A Lady'

Abstract

Henry James, in his novel The Portrait of a Lady, builds a world around a main character who temperamentally and then circumstantially appears to every chance for happiness, especially when compared with others. As many critics have noted, Isabel Archer experiences tragedy because of this great potential for fulfillment rather than in spite of it. However, what critics have tended to overlook is the other parallel, though “minor,” irony of the novel: her friend Henrietta Stackpole’s fulfillment and move to England. The infamous ending of Isabel can be better understood by looking at it through the lens of intercultural competence and by comparing it with that of Henrietta. Building off the theory of unconscious versus conscious cultural identity that James sketches in his essay 1878 “Americans Abroad,” this article analyzes the role self-consciousness and awareness of cultural differences in the development of the novel’s characters.