Portrait of a Laday: Osmond's Art of Possession

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One of the most present themes in Portrait of a Lady is that of possession. James postulates extensively in this novel on the posessor’s and posessees’s psyches as well as their individual motivations. In no better place is this pondering more present than in the relationship between Osmond and Isabelle. Osmond exemplifies best the theme of possession in the way he feels about and treat Isabelle. Throughout the novel he treats her like an object to be conquered and controlled, expecting nothing more (and nothing less) of her than to be quiet and pretty. This becomes clear very early on in the novel; what is less clear is Osmond’s reasoning or motivation behind his obsession with being in control of Isabelle. His speech and thought processes, however, reveal that his rationale behind his overbearing possession is directly correlated to his love of collecting art. He, simply put, is a collector of fine things. One of the first moments in this novel when Osmond’s desire to collect things beyond inanimate art is first alluded to is when Ralph tries to politely describe him to Isabelle in Chapter 34. He says of Osmond, “He’s the incarnation of taste, Ralph went on, thinking hard how he could best express Gilbert Osmond’s sinister attributes without putting himself in the wrong by seeming to describe him coarsely”…”He judges and measures, approves and condemns”. Ralph is being vague here but what this moment implies is that Osmond’s exquisite taste is his driving force. This moment also speaks to other aspects of Osmond’s person. Ralph uses the word “sinister”. This word implies not only that Osmond is a hard, mean person, but that he also has no moralistic limitations. He would have no qualms with taking his love for collecting fine art to an inappropriate level; to the point of treating people as pieces to be collected. Then, Osmond’s off character is
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