Course: Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady (SOLD OUT)

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Date / Time

  • February 7, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • March 7, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm
  • April 4, 2019
    6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
  • May 2, 2019
    6:00 pm - 7:45 pm

Location

2008-2010 Delancey Place, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19103, United States

Description

Some have called The Portrait of a Lady Henry James’s best novel. The plot corrects what James saw as a great flaw in George Eliot’s Middlemarch, in which an optimistic and energetic young woman enters into a marriage that turns out to be a disaster, and then, fortunately for that heroine, the husband dies. But James is interested in more than finding a happy marriage for his heroine. In examining the difference between Americans and Europeans the book moves on to deeper questions.

The instructor used to teach this book in a course called “Old Bonds, New Contracts, and the Problem of Money.” The bonds in the title referred to the old regime, in which society is held together chiefly by personal bonds of loyalty. The contracts referred to the 17th-century contract theories of government, as with those of Hobbes and Locke, in which society is held together by respect for an abstract law. For the money part of that title could have been substituted the word freedom, because, as with most of James’s works, behind the fates of his characters are profound issues.

As with any great book, the second reading is better than the first. The instructor recommends reading the whole book beforehand, if it is possible.

Recommended Text

The Portrait of a Lady,  Oxford World’s Classics, Ed. Roger Luckhurst, ISBN: 0199217947

Syllabus

There is no syllabus for this course, but the instructor will provide a series of topics to discuss for each meeting when the course begins.  Please read the entire novel before the first class meeting.

About the Instructor

Anne Hall taught for 25 years in the English department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and another 18 years in the English department at the University of Pennsylvania.

About Rosenbach Courses

Revisit beloved classics or experience new ones with Rosenbach courses. Book lovers delve into fiction, history, and poetry with the guidance of a literary expert and the company of other readers. Tuition varies according to length of the course; Rosenbach members at the Contributor level and above receive a 10% discount on tuition.