Abstract
Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady has been generally recognized as a Bildungsroman. In this article, however, I argue that only by means of a Hegelian reading -- taking the novel as a Hegelian Bildungsroman -- can the simultaneity of Isabel Archer’s tragic return and the semi-open ending be understood. Portrait features a subject coming to understand that its subjectivity can only be affirmed by means of social recognition. By drawing largely upon Judith Butler’s insightful reading of Hegel, the paper addresses Portrait as a fictional illustration of a subject undergoing a dialectical negotiating process between an unbound, naturally pre-reflexive self and an artificially formed, socially conscious “I.” James uses theatrical elements to specify a complex spectatorial relationship between the characters, which further accentuates the subject formation derived from a mediation of mutual recognitions. Taking Hegel’s system not as a static totality but rather as a dynamic system that incorporates successive changes, enhances progress through opposition and re-integration and thereby holds infinite possibilities, I argue that Portrait exemplifies the coexistence between “a Hegelian scepticism towards metaphysical closure” and a Hegelian totality. James achieves this by tracing the developmental journey of Isabel and narrating her into being, while the title of the work highlights a quality of aesthetic stasis.