Abstract

The Portrait of a Lady, one of the classic works by Henry James, mainly describes a simple-minded American girl with strong personality who pursues the freedom bravely. She desires to understand the European culture and pursues independent life, but encounters all sorts of difficulties and misfortunes. Her growth and personality changes are closely linked with the people she meets. The main character is Isabel in the novel, but readers can not neglect the portrayal of other characters around her. Through the description of Isabel, the author reveals the different life style, values the cultural collision between Europeans and Americans. The generation and propagation of works has attracted a lot of attention in the world.  "Freedom" and "independence" become a hot issue. It is of a conflict with a series of institutions of the British aristocratic life. It is also a very good display and analysis of the British images.

    The focus of the novel is not only on a series of events which show to us what Isabel does, but also through the Isabel's own thinking her views to herself and the people around her, which reveals her thoughts about where her vision touched of the world. By looking at this spatial content, we can not only witness the growth of Isabel, but more importantly, we can felt the collision of various cultures. The analysis of the British images that the author described in the novel shows the ancient European culture and charm to us. On the other hand, the novel describes the rigid feudal system of England and shows the author's critical attitude of the feudal system. The author also expresses his deep desire in his heart to integrate European and American culture, and an attempt and exploration of solving cross-cultural problems.

    This work mainly studies the image of the British from three aspects. First, it is about the author's experience, writing skills and social background; second, from the points of view of the main characters in the novel, the paper analyzes the British images from the dialogue, behavioral and mental ideas of Lord Warburton, Ralph  Isabel; third, from some British residences, their appearances, their values and other aspects, the novel shows the British people's habits and customs, and thus tells us the British images from another side.

Key words: British images; cultural collision; cultural reconciliation

CONTENTS

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-1

1. Henry James Between America and Europe-2

1.1Henry James’ growth process-2

1.2 The Writer’s Writing Style And Technique-3

1.3 the Background of Creating This Story-3

2. British Images-4

2.1 The British in the Eye of Isabel-4

2.2 Warborton’s Behaviors-5

2.3 Ralph Duche’s Love to Isabel-6

2.4  Mrs.Merle and Osmond’s Tricks-8

3. The Houses in the Novel-9

3.1 Garden Villa-9

3.2 Loughrey-10

Conclusion-11

Reference-13

Acknowledgments-14