(The Portrait of a Lady/1996) Based on a novel by the 19th-century author Henry James, this romantic costume drama follows the life of a headstrong American woman who finally gets the chance to fulfil her dream of seeing the world and then throws it all away to marry a manipulative, oppressive man. Isabel Archer is first seen at age 23. Fearless and eager to travel after inheriting a fortune, the last thing she desires is a husband. As Isabel is quite beautiful, she has many suitors, but turns down every proposal because marriage will weigh her down. But then she travels to Italy and falls under the thrall of Madame Serena Merle. Sophisticated, exquisitely mannered and well-educated, Madame Merle is to Isabel the Perfect Lady. It is the lovely Madame who introduces Isabel to the American artist Gilbert Osmond. Though he is lazy, he somehow seduces Isabel into marrying him. She bears him a son, but, tragically, the child dies. Three years later the unhappy couple is living in Rome and Isabel realizes that she must escape or lose herself completely.