Portrait Of A Lady

Part I of Essay
Isabel Archer doesn't go away with Casper Goodwood because it would mean giving up what she values most, her freedom and independence. The very first time we meet Isabel she tells Ralph that "I'm very fond of my liberty" (p. 30) and that she is "not a candidate for ado ....

Part II of Essay
.... that eluded her in America. At the beginning of the novel, Isabel was very young morally. She had left everything she had known, and was ready to start anew. Throughout the novel, her morality grew, changed, and became more stable. Where at the beginning she refused two proposals of marriage, without giving any indication to wanting a third, she ends up accepting a proposal from Osmond. Goodwood's offer to Isabel came at an early stage of her moral growth, when she was not really sure of what she wanted, so she could accept. She ....