In 1884, when the actor Lawrence Barrett wanted James to turn the novel into a play, James replied that he did not think it could be done.[7] In his opinion, given in the preface to the New York Edition, the best scene in the book consists of Isabel sitting motionless in a chair.[8]
The story was adapted as a Broadway play by William Archibald, which opened in December 1954, with Barbara O'Neil in the role of Madame Serena Merle.[9]
In 1968 the BBC produced a television miniseries of The Portrait of a Lady, starring Suzanne Neve as Isabel and Richard Chamberlain as Ralph Touchett.
The Portrait of a Lady was adapted in 1996 by New Zealand director Jane Campion, into a film starring Nicole Kidman as Isabel, John Malkovich as Osmond, and Barbara Hershey as Madame Merle.
It was also adapted into the Urdu language in 1976 by a Pakistani television drama Parchaiyan. It was translated into Urdu by Haseena Moin and the central characters were played by Rahat Kazmi, Sahira Kazmi, Talat Hussain and Shakeel.
