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The character of Miss X in T.S. Eliot's 'Portrait of a Lady' was inspired by the poet's memories of Adeleine Moffat and although not much is known about Miss X, critics universally condemn her for her supposed sexual designs on her visitor. A discussion seeks to challenge this interpretation of Eliot's lady in an effort to rebalance the reading of the poem, which captures a relationship in which neither person can accept the gifts or satisfy the preferences of the other.

'[T]he art required for making this delusion natural!' exclaims Henry James about the challenge of crafting Isabel Archer (Notebooks 13-14). As the chronicle of a deluded character, perhaps The Portrait [...]

Henry James' representation of women in the Preface to 'The Portrait of a Lady' reveals a preoccupation with metaphors of vision and power. The focus of the narrator is on surveillance and masculine control, yet the self-referential structure makes authorship problematic. This narrative reflects on the sadomasochistic desire involved with sympathy and voyeurism.

The apparently unresolved ending of Henry James's 'The Portrait of a Lady' suggests the ways Isabel, the central character, encourages readers to complete her story. Showing Isabel as both a portrait and the source of the book's plot demonstrates James's inquiry into how selfhood produces variant critical views. Isabel's hesitation in resolving the issues that face her stimulates readers to make up solutions.

The theme of women discovering freedom links Jane Campion's motion picture 'The Piano' and Henry James's novel, 'The Portrait of a Lady.' The protagonist of each work searches for self-actualization, discovering it when she abandons the male-imposed burdens that had controlled her life. Ada in 'The Piano' must abandon the instrument that symbolizes her civilized identity, while Isabel in 'Portrait' needs to give up her passionate, sexual self, and this is how each woman liberates herself.