This thesis argues that Isabel Archer of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady and Lily Bart of Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth were nineteenth-century characters struggling to assert their social and sexual independence in a male dominated society. Although Isabel inherits a fortune that allegedly enables her to have more autonomy than Lily, both characters are negatively affected by their inability to conceive of their lives outside of social convention.
","abstract_html":"<p> <p>This thesis argues that Isabel Archer of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady and Lily Bart of Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth were nineteenth-century characters struggling to assert their social and sexual independence in a male dominated society. Although Isabel inherits a fortune that allegedly enables her to have more autonomy than Lily, both characters are negatively affected by their inability to conceive of their lives outside of social convention.</p> </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Braden, Heidi Elizabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Boyd-Rioux, Anne","Malmgren, Carl","Lackey, Kris"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-08-04T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-08-04T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:28:10Z","subjects":["Feminism, patriarchal society, independence, free will, marriage, money, sexuality, choice","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/453","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Boyd-Rioux, Anne","Malmgren, Carl","Lackey, Kris"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Braden, Heidi Elizabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Feminism, patriarchal society, independence, free will, marriage, money, sexuality, choice","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/453"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["
This thesis argues that Isabel Archer of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady and Lily Bart of Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth were nineteenth-century characters struggling to assert their social and sexual independence in a male dominated society. Although Isabel inherits a fortune that allegedly enables her to have more autonomy than Lily, both characters are negatively affected by their inability to conceive of their lives outside of social convention.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Lily Bart and Isabel Archer: Women Free to Choose Lifestyles or Victims of Fate?"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Boyd-Rioux, Anne","Malmgren, Carl","Lackey, Kris"],"dc:creator":["Braden, Heidi Elizabeth"],"dc:description.abstract":["
This thesis argues that Isabel Archer of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady and Lily Bart of Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth were nineteenth-century characters struggling to assert their social and sexual independence in a male dominated society. Although Isabel inherits a fortune that allegedly enables her to have more autonomy than Lily, both characters are negatively affected by their inability to conceive of their lives outside of social convention.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/453"],"dc:subject":["Feminism, patriarchal society, independence, free will, marriage, money, sexuality, choice","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Lily Bart and Isabel Archer: Women Free to Choose Lifestyles or Victims of Fate?"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A."]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:28:10Z"}