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Definition of Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved directly or indirectly, by making... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the story. Foreshadowing can be achieved... read full definition
Foreshadowing is a literary device in which authors hint at plot developments that don't actually occur until later in the... read full definition
Key Examples in The Portrait of a Lady
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Lord Warburton's Feelings:
In the first chapter of The Portrait of a Lady, Mr. Touchett tells Lord Warburton not to fall in love with Isabel, foreshadowing this very occurrence:
“Well, you may fall in love with whomsoever you please; but you mustn’t fall in love with my niece,” said the old man.
His son broke into a laugh. “He’ll think you mean that as a provocation! My dear father, you’ve lived with the English for thirty years, and you’ve picked up a good many of the things they say. But you’ve never learned the things they don’t say!”
“I say what I please,” the old man returned with all his serenity.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Isabel as a Book:
In a conversation between Isabel’s sister Lilian and her husband Edmund in a flashback to the United States, Edmund metaphorically compares Isabel to a book:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Well, I must say I should have no particular desire to marry her,” Edmund Ludlow was accustomed to answer in an extremely audible tone. “I know you say that for argument; you always take the opposite ground. I don’t see what you’ve against her except that she’s so original.” “Well, I don’t like originals; I like translations,” Mr Ludlow had more than once replied. “Isabel’s written in a foreign tongue. I can’t make her out. She ought to marry an Armenian or a Portuguese.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 5
Explanation and Analysis—The Ghost of Gardencourt:
In Chapter 5, Isabel has just arrived in England asks Ralph to show him the ghost of Gardencourt, as her reading of English novels taught her that all old manors must have at least one ghost. In an example of foreshadowing, Ralph tells her that she will only be able to see the ghost after she has experienced true suffering:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“But I like you all the same,” his cousin went on. “The way to clinch the matter will be to show me the ghost.”
Ralph shook his head sadly. “I might show it to you, but you’d never see it. The privilege isn’t given to every one; it’s not enviable. It has never been seen by a young, happy, innocent person like you. You must have suffered first, have suffered greatly, have gained some miserable knowledge. In that way your eyes are opened to it.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 19
Explanation and Analysis—Madame Merle the Iron Pot:
In a conversation between Isabel and Madame Merle (before Isabel learns about Madame Merle’s secret past affair with Osmond), Madame Merle describes herself using an extended metaphor:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“It’s very true; there are many more iron pots certainly than porcelain. But you may depend on it that every one bears some mark; even the hardest iron pots have a little bruise, a little hole somewhere. I flatter myself that I’m rather stout, but [...] I’ve been shockingly chipped and cracked. I do very well for service yet, because I’ve been cleverly mended; and I try to remain in the cupboard—the quiet, dusky cupboard where there’s an odour of stale spices—as much as I can. But when I’ve to come out and into a strong light—then, my dear, I’m a horror!”
Related Themes:
Chapter 22
Explanation and Analysis—Pansy's New Mother:
Before the narrator has officially introduced readers to Osmond or Pansy, Madame Merle goes to visit them at Osmond’s villa in Florence. In an example of foreshadowing, Madame Merle tells Pansy that she will have a new mother one day, as seen in the following passage:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“Shall you miss mother Catherine?” she went on.
“Yes—when I think of her.”
“Try then not to think of her. Perhaps some day,” added Madame Merle, “you’ll have another mother.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 34
Explanation and Analysis—Isabel's Unhappy Marriage:
In an example of both foreshadowing and irony, several different characters in the novel tell Isabel not to marry Osmond since, they believe, he is just using her for her wealth and she will end up unhappy.
This is an example of foreshadowing, as Isabel does go on to be very unhappy in her marriage to Osmond, who wants her money but does not value her as the independent person that she is. It’s simultaneously an example of situational irony because Isabel believes incorrectly—yet confidently—that she knows Osmond better than anyone else, viewing him as a humble art collector deserving of her love and financial support.
The following conversation between Isabel and Ralph captures the irony of Isabel’s resistance to her loved ones’ critiques of her fiancé:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“How little you trust me!”
There was a moment’s silence; the warm noon-tide seemed to listen. “I trust you, but I don’t trust him,” said Ralph.
She raised her eyes and gave him a wide, deep look. “You’ve said it now, and I’m glad you’ve made it so clear. But you’ll suffer by it.”
Related Themes:
Chapter 55
Explanation and Analysis—The Ghost of Gardencourt:
In Chapter 5, Isabel has just arrived in England asks Ralph to show him the ghost of Gardencourt, as her reading of English novels taught her that all old manors must have at least one ghost. In an example of foreshadowing, Ralph tells her that she will only be able to see the ghost after she has experienced true suffering:
Unlock with LitCharts A+“But I like you all the same,” his cousin went on. “The way to clinch the matter will be to show me the ghost.”
Ralph shook his head sadly. “I might show it to you, but you’d never see it. The privilege isn’t given to every one; it’s not enviable. It has never been seen by a young, happy, innocent person like you. You must have suffered first, have suffered greatly, have gained some miserable knowledge. In that way your eyes are opened to it.”
Related Themes:
