Music and Manipulation: The Portrait of a Lady

From the earliest of times, music was believed to function as a mediator between an individual and the cosmos. In the Republic, Plato hypothesized that since both music and the universe are governed by the same mathematical principles, the “right” harmonies can keep one’s soul in alignment with the cosmos while exposure to the “wrong” harmonies can put one’s soul in cosmic danger. This theory of music has influenced and inspired Western music philosophers and theorists throughout the centuries. For example, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 AD – 430 AD), while conflicted about the sensory power of music, recognized its ability to also enhance Christian worship. Like Plato, he advised a cautionary approach towards music. In Book III of the Republic, Plato emphasizes how the ability to knowingly perceive faults in music and art is the pathway to a healthy soul. Interestingly, writers of the 19th and 20th century continued to use Plato’s basic principles on music as a plot device, with music being a main source of manipulation, and the ability to discern this manipulation as symbolic of wisdom and understanding. By looking back at how authors, namely Henry James, used music as a vehicle to manipulate his characters, perhaps we can glean more awareness into our present relationship with sound, as it is something we are presently and unawarely bombarded with all the time. 

“And therefore, I said, Glaucon, musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace, and making the soul of him who is rightly educated graceful, or of him who is ill-educated ungraceful: and also because he who has received this true education of the inner being will most shrewdly perceive omissions or faults in art and nature, and with a true taste, while he praises and rejoices over and receives into his soul the good, and becomes noble and good, he will justify blame and hate the bad, now in the days of his youth, even before he will recognize and salute the friend with whom his education has made him long familiar.” — Plato, Republic 

In the novel Swann’s Way, music helps the character Swann fall falsely in love with a woman who wasn’t even his “type.” Marcel Proust used music as a plot device, as the powers of the fictional “Vinteuil” Sonata helped to deceive and manipulate Swann’s emotions. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James is an illustrative example of how writers use music to represent deception and manipulation, and how a character’s reaction to music contributes to their journey from naïve and unknowing, to one who discerns and realizes their truth.

The Portrait of a Lady centers around Isabel Archer, a spirited and beautiful American young woman who, determined to live life on her own terms, has turned down two decent marriage proposals. Her cousin Ralph, who is dying of tuberculosis, secretly bestows upon her a grand inheritance, so that she can continue to live the life of independence that she desires. Unfortunately, Isabel somehow manages to make the tragic decision of marrying Gilbert Osmond, a cold and heartless American expatriate living in Florence who sees her only for her money, and as a beautiful object to be collected. At the end of the novel, she has lost her fortune, her independence, and her dreams of a brilliant and exciting life to her heartless husband. 

What literary devices did Henry James use to manipulate his main character? Henry James is known as a writer who elevated fiction to the level of “art,” and he used many analogies to other art forms in The Portrait of a Lady, especially painting, sculpture, and architecture. However, since the art of deception is central to the plot of the novel, James ultimately conveys deception through a musical instance. The key scene in Isabel’s deception is her first meeting with Madame Merle. As readers find out, Madame Merle devises a plan for Isabel and Osmond to get married after learning about Isabel’s grand inheritance so that her daughter (who is the result of her adulterous relationship with Osmond), can benefit from Isabel’s fortune. In the puppet show of Isabel’s life, Madame Merle is the grand schemer who leads Isabel to her tragic fate. Uncoincidentally, Isabel is first drawn to Madame Merle by the sounds of her piano playing – following the music, Isabel and Madame Merle meet for the first time. James first refers to Madame Merle not by her name, but as “the musician.”

“She was playing something of Schubert’s - Isabel knew not what, but recognized Schubert - and she touched the piano with a discretion of her own. It showed skill, it showed feeling; Isabel sat down noiselessly on the nearest chair and waited till the end of the piece. When it was finished she felt a strong desire to thank the player, and rose from her seat to do so, while at the same time the stranger turned quickly round, as if but just aware of her presence.” — Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady 

When James first began writing the novel, he had Madame Merle playing Beethoven. In James’s revision, Madame Merle was first playing Chopin, and in this final product, Schubert. It makes sense that James chose Schubert as the final choice, as it suits Madame Merle perfectly. Schubert’s music is filled with chromaticism and unexpected modulations, giving it a more mysterious and subtle quality than the music of Beethoven and Chopin. Schubert’s music can at times come across as mystifying, which adds to the atmosphere of the room and scene of Isabel and Madame Merle’s first meeting.  

“The lady played in the same manner as before, softly and solemnly, and while she played the shadows deepened in the room. The autumn twilight gathered in, and from her place Isabel could see the rain, which had now begun in earnest, washing the cold-looking lawn and the wind shaking the great trees. At last, when the music had ceased, her companion got up and, coming nearer with a smile, before Isabel had time to thank her again, said: ‘I’m very glad you’ve come back; I’ve heard a great deal about you.’” — Henry James, The Portrait of a Lady. 

In the above scene, James sets the stage for his novel’s grand deception. Immediately charmed by the stranger playing Schubert at the piano, Isabel begins to fall into her trap. James describes Madame Merle as possessing a manner that expresses “the repose and confidence which come from a large experience.” Although Madame Merle seems like a charming person, every action of hers is in fact calculating and knowing; she has a specific purpose in mind when she interacts with Isabel. While Isabel is completely oblivious, readers immediately feel something eerie and foreboding about Madame Merle’s presence. The room darkens as she plays the piano, and she doesn’t introduce herself by name until deeper in conversation with Isabel. “Well, she’s very charming…and she plays beautifully,” Isabel later remarks to her cousin Ralph, even getting defensive when it seems like Ralph doesn’t share her fondness and appreciation of Madame Merle, unknowingly walking herself into her own tragedy. 

It is not until later in her marriage with Osmond that she realizes the dire situation that she finds herself in. Isabel takes alarm as, after the first year of their marriage, “the shadows had begun to gather; it was as if Osmond deliberately, almost malignantly, had put the lights out one by one.” James uses shadows to represent Isabel and Osmond’s marriage, the same imagery he used in the scene of Isabel and Madame Merle’s first meeting as he described the room darkening with shadows as she plays Schubert on the piano. The entire novel can be seen as a study of contrasts in light and shadow – in the first chapter, James aestheticized the setting as “the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon…an eternity of pleasure.” Madame Merle is introduced into the novel during a foreboding chapter, in which Mr. Touchett, Ralph’s father (and the indirect benefactor of Isabel’s inheritance) falls ill. Most of the scenes that Isabel initially has with Madame Merle take place over a period of bad weather. After Isabel receives her fortune, she spends time traveling Europe, and James details stunning sceneries of Italian frescos and beautiful architecture. In Isabel’s final scene, she grieves Ralph’s death, and feels the presence of his ghost over her as she struggles to decide whether or not to return to her husband. The entire novel reads like a grand Schubert sonata, filled with subtle nuances as chiaroscuro effects, as Schubert frequently modulates from minor to relative major and vice-versa.

Charmed by Madame Merle and her piano playing, Isabel’s attraction to the music leads her into a fatal tragedy. In the wrong hands, music led Isabel’s soul into deceit and manipulation, as she was one who, at the time, was unable to distinguish between the “noble and good,” and the faulty and dishonest. As she had not mastered the “true education of her inner being,” as described by Plato, she found herself manipulated by the shadow which was often represented as music throughout The Portrait of a Lady. The Portrait of a Lady is an example of the power that music has to permeate into our inner life. Constant modulations in the novel manipulate readers’ moods, but readers can also be inspired by James’s literary techniques to perhaps be more intentional with their interactions with music, and to take notice of where certain pieces of music can eventually lead them to.