Abstract
Reassessment and interpretation of gender dynamics in the current social order has been prevalent theme within gender discourses. The yoke of subordination borne by women as readers, writers or fictional characters in the patriarchal pyramid occupies a central space across the whole spectrum of debates. This study utilizes a qualitative mode of inquiry which is centered on textual analysis. The present study evaluates the instances of gender subjectivity and patterns of subjugation within the textual arena invested with hegemonic ideologies as depicted in the novel The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. The paper employs feminist critical discourse analysis as a tool to analyze The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James in order to dissect the underlying ideologies present in the Victorian time period and investigates discourses of subjectivity. The findings of the study demonstrate that notwithstanding temporal advancements, gender power structures remain intact, and women continue to suffer under patriarchal power structures.
 
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Highlights
The current study explores the novel in the light of feminist critical discourse analysis in order to bring on surface the deep-seated ideologies about females, that how despite having the means to travel, despite being intelligent, they are a prey to scheming men and are assumed to be incomplete without the companionship of a man and every man thinks that they are indispensable to women and must possess them
Henry James The Portrait of a Lady reflects the plight of women and their inferior place in society, the plight has emerged because of the gender ideologies that women’s subordinate place and their marginalization as the “other” existing at the peripherals on the social strata, is taken to be normal
As analyzed under the prism of feminist critical discourse analyses, it emerges that power relations exploit discourse practices to create a chosen destiny for women and sustain it at the same time, suggesting that these identities of women are maintained and created so that patriarchal agenda remains intact
Summary
The Portrait of a Lady is a novel written by Henry James in 1881, and its protagonist, Isabel Archer, is introduced as a young woman with moderate means who later inherits a fortune from her uncle Mr Touchett in England It recounts the story of Isabel’s loss of innocence and her sudden encounter with maturity and apparently willful submission to authority after her marriage to Gilbert Osmond. The current study explores the novel in the light of feminist critical discourse analysis in order to bring on surface the deep-seated ideologies about females, that how despite having the means to travel, despite being intelligent, they are a prey to scheming men and are assumed to be incomplete without the companionship of a man and every man thinks that they are indispensable to women and must possess them It analyses Isabel’s acceptance of her wretched lot within the dominant patriarchal narratives. The purpose of the present research is examining means for the transformation and emancipation of women, a critique of the indefensible discourses that reinforce an unjustifiable station of women within the wider social order
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