"Poor Isabel, who had never been able to understand Unitarianism!": Denominational Identity and Moral Character in Henry James's The Portrait of a Lady

Abstract

The Portrait of a Lady 's chapter 42 vigil scene features Isabel Archer remembering Gilbert Osmond objecting to her moral sensibility by comparing her to a Unitarian minister. This article examines James's treatment of pre- and post-Civil War Unitarianism in book reviews and novels such as The American, The Bostonians , and The Europeans to evaluate James's reference and discovers that, far from being a minor part of James's characterization technique, his references to Unitarianism shed light onto the fundamental qualities that define Isabel Archer and thus shape the novel that centers so fully on her status as a moral being.