As the other American-bred woman in the novel (with a very different approach to her time in Europe), Henrietta acts as a foil to Isabel. While Isabel is invested in her liberty—an American New World value—over the course of the novel she slowly assimilates into European Old World ways. This comes across in her decision to marry Osmond, as her decision to marry strips her of her liberty, and her decision to marry him in particular means she is assimilating into his very Old World life. Osmond prioritizes art and status above morals or close relationships, and Isabel finds herself adapting to this life, losing her own identity in the process.
Henrietta, on the other hand, comes to Europe committed to her liberty, and she ultimately holds onto it. This is true even after she meets and has a relationship with the English Mr. Bantling. Unlike Osmond, Mr. Bantling does not try to control his wife but instead enjoys her brash American nature. Many other European characters do not like Henrietta, however, as they feel like her independence and frankness go against their European customs of modesty and propriety. At one point, Osmond even refers to Henrietta as “the most vulgar woman.”
Henrietta’s position as a journalist also allows her to keep some distance from the European Old World ways—she is fascinated by the culture, but she never fully integrates into it—while Isabel loses her former self and integrates fully.
As Isabel’s two love interests at the end of the novel—whom she must choose between—Osmond and Goodwood act as foils to each other. Osmond represents the worst of the European Old World, prioritizing wealth and “sophistication” (via his art collecting) over all else. Goodwood, meanwhile, represents the American New World—he is a businessman with a modern outlook who says and does what he wants (rather than acting in a well-mannered fashion).
It is in their treatment of Isabel that the difference between the two men comes across best. Osmond, for his part, secretly works with Madame Merle to manipulate Isabel into marrying him, while maintaining the appearance of being a caring gentleman. Goodwood, on the other hand, is extremely frank and direct about his desire to marry Isabel and, rather than earning respect for his earnestness, is judged by the European characters for it.
Another significant difference between the two men is how Isabel relates to them. While she is initially drawn to Osmond because of his art collection and his daughter, her interest in Goodwood is much more passionate and romantic. This comes across at the end of the novel when Goodwood kisses her and she describes it as being like “white lightning” that spreads through her. It becomes clear in this moment that Isabel has never had a passionate moment like this with Osmond, causing her to consider leaving her husband.
As Osmond’s other love interest in the novel, Madame Merle acts as a foil to Isabel. Madame Merle represents the worst of European Old World values—she appears to be the epitome of sophistication, yet, beneath that façade, she is scheming and manipulative, especially when it comes to her relationship with Isabel.
Before Isabel learns of Madame Merle’s true manipulative character, she senses that there is something too “perfect” about her, as seen in the following passage:
If for Isabel [Madame Merle] had a fault it was that she was not natural; by which the girl meant, not that she was either affected or pretentious, since from these vulgar vices no woman could have been more exempt, but that her nature had been too much overlaid by custom and her angles too much rubbed away. She had become too flexible, too useful, was too ripe and too final. She was in a word too perfectly the social animal that man and woman are supposed to have been intended to be.
Unlike Madame Merle, Isabel is not “affected or pretentious,” “overlaid by custom,” or “too flexible.” Isabel is not at all sophisticated and not trying to be—when she arrives in Europe, she is a naïve American with no money to her name who consistently insults her aunt Mrs. Touchett by prioritizing her individual liberty over following her new European social rules. In spite of—or perhaps due to—her lack of sophistication, Isabel is a much kinder and sympathetic character than Madame Merle.
It is notable that, in spite of all of the harm Madame Merle has caused Isabel, Isabel does not dislike her but instead chooses to pity her. This shows the ultimate difference between the two women—Isabel remains compassionate and open-hearted while Madame Merle has become selfish and jaded.
