Chapter 16

Isabel Archer had told Ralph Touchett to let her go home alone because she had realized lately that she hasnÂ’t had time alone for quite some time. She is interrupted, however, by the announcement of Caspar Goodwood. She reluctantly goes down to meet him in the parlor. She is upset to find out about Henrietta StackpoleÂ’s interference in setting up the meeting. It becomes clear that in their last talk in Albany before she left for Europe, she had told him to let her alone for at least a year while she went to Europe. He tells her it might as well have been twenty years since it is so difficult to be separated from her. Isabel tells him he doesnÂ’t fit into her present life. She feels as if she always has to defend herself against his assumption that he knows better than she does what is good for her. He always seems "large and hard" as if he is in armor and ready for aggression. Finally, she asks him to wait for two years. He wants to know what reward he will get for waiting, if she will be sure to marry him after that time. She says she cannot say if she will be able to. It is clear that he is in great pain and she feels sorry for him, but remains steadfast. She tells him she doesnÂ’t want to marry or even talk about marriage at this point in her life. She insists that she has a right to feel this way.

Caspar is worried that she will find some dazzling man who will sweep her off her feet. She tells him "I donÂ’t need the aid of a clever man to teach me how to live. I can find it out for myself." Finally, Isabel feels compelled to tell him of her recent rejection of Lord WarburtonÂ’s proposal. She does so in order to convince him that she is serious about not marrying and that she has even given up this great chance to keep her independence. Caspar isnÂ’t satisfied, though, because she says she only thought of him a little bit as a reason for rejecting the marriage offer. At his continued pressing, she tells him her recent "system" or "theory" about her independence. She tells him she is especially fond of her "personal independence." Caspar exclaims that it is just with the purpose of making her independent that he wants to marry her. He tells her that a girl her age is confined by social conventions.

Isabel insists that since sheÂ’s not pretty, she isnÂ’t "bound to be timid and conventional." She tells him she tries to judge things for herself, what is right and what is wrong. She adds, "I wish to choose my fate and know something of human affairs beyond what other people think it compatible with propriety to tell me." She tells him that if he hears that she is on the verge of accepting a marriage proposal, he should remember these words so he can doubt it. Finally, he agrees and promises to come back to her wherever she is in two years time. She tells him to remember that she promises him nothing. He leaves. She goes back up to her apartment and leaves the lights off and stands listening to him walk away. Then she drops to her knees beside her bed and hides her face in her arms.

In the scene between Isabel and Caspar, James traces out the outlines of the theme of a womanÂ’s independence perhaps more than he does in any other place in the novel. Caspar Goodwood is an excellent satellite figure in the sense that he is so pushy. He forces Isabel to come up with a reason for her choice to part from him for a year. Unlike Lord Warburton, who does not push Isabel to say exactly why she is rejecting his offer, Caspar stands in front of Isabel and makes her articulate her plans. Her plans are nevertheless vague and idealistic. She wants independence. It is clear that Isabel Archer is operating out of some subconscious sense that marriage to whomever, even the best of men, would be a severe reduction of freedom. She is just on the verge of a tour of Europe with her aunt. She has seen her two sisters tied down in unsatisfying marriages. The idea of finding a better man doesnÂ’t seem to be part of her reticence to accept either Caspar Goodwood or Lord Warburton. It is simply a desire for freedom. Isabel Archer is at no time in the novel as strong as she is in this chapter. She asserts her feelings and wishes, attempts to do so without hurting Caspar Goodwood, but refuses to let him bully her into denying herself. The effort at asserting herself seems to have drained her of all energy since, as soon as she returns to her room, she drops to her knees and hides her face.

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