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Washington Square
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Washington Square (1880) (edit title/settings)

by Henry James (Author) (edit contributors)

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What Catherine Sloper lacks in brains and beauty, she makes up for by being "very good." The handsome Morris Townsend would do anything to win her hand — even if it means pretending that he loves the homely ingénue, and cares nothing for her opulent wealth.

Summary edit see section history

This novel takes place in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Square in the mid-nineteenth century. Washington Square begins with a portrait of Dr. Austin Sloper, a respectable physician. His wife, Catherine, gives birth to a son who dies at the age of three. Two years later, Catherine... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

This novel takes place in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Square in the mid-nineteenth century. Washington Square begins with a portrait of Dr. Austin Sloper, a respectable physician. His wife, Catherine, gives birth to a son who dies at the age of three. Two years later, Catherine gives birth to a daughter named Catherine - but the childbirth is difficulty and the mother dies. The daughter, Catherine, is the heroine of the novel.

Dr. Sloper is almost immediately disappointed in Catherine. From the start, he views his daughter as a strange genetic twist of fate: she is not a boy; she is not beautiful like her mother; she is not clever like her father.

Dr. Sloper has two sister, both younger and both very different from each other. Dr. Sloper's favorite is Elizabeth who has married a merchant named Almond. Mrs. Almond is prudent and kind and throughout the novel she gives Dr. Sloper some good advice that he unfortunately discards. The other sister is Lavinia, a widow once married to an impoverished clergyman named Penniman. When Catherine is a few years old, Aunt Penniman comes to live in the Sloper household. Dr. Sloper finds his sister Lavinia to be excessively imaginative, unrealistic, and melodramatic. Nonetheless, Dr. Sloper thinks that Lavinia - as she is the girl's aunt - would be a good surrogate mother for Catherine.
Quickly, the novel moves forward to Catherine's late adolescence and early adulthood. Dr. Sloper remains decidedly disappointed in his dull, boring, plain-faced daughter. Though Sloper never explicitly says this to Catherine., Sloper's dismissive and sarcastic air really stunts Catherine's intellectual and emotional growth. Sloper expects little form Catherine and, for the most part, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Marian, one of Aunt Almond's daughters, has become engaged to a man named Arthur Townsend. At Marian's engagement party, Catherine meets Morris Townsend, a smooth-talking and very good looking young man. He is a far-flung cousin of Arthur's, and has been traveling the world. Hence, Morris is a stranger in polite New York society.

At this same party, Morris meets aunt Lavinia and, seizing the opportunity, he tells her that he very much enjoyed his conversation with Catherine. In the days that follow, Aunt Lavinia plays the role of a meddling middleman. In his successive visits to the Sloper home, Morris becomes a cause of concern for Dr. Sloper. The doctor sees through Morris: a lazy charmer who has identified Catherine as the source of his fortune. At the same time, Aunt Lavinia does such a good job of sparking up a romance between Catherine and Morris that Catherine comes to believe that Morris does love her. Though Morris' primary motivation is economic, he is kind to Catherine and he treats her with far more love and consideration than Dr. Sloper does. Consequently, Dr. Sloper finds it difficult to pry Catherine away from Morris.

Dr. Sloper realizes that he cannot literally impose his will on Catherine and enforce any sort of restriction. Dr. Sloper can rely upon fear and threats, however. Sloper cannot withhold Catherine's inheritance left to her from her mother, but the doctor vows that if Catherine marries Morris, he will disown her as his daughter. This poses a concern form Morris because Catherine is only half as attractive if she comes with only her maternal fortune and not Dr. Sloper's.

When it seems that Catherine will remain defiant, Dr. Sloper asks her to postpone her plans and accompany him on a trip to Europe. Sloper hopes that he separation will split the couple. After six months, Catherine remains firm in her intent, so the doctor extends the trip for another six months, but this proves ineffective. Left at home alone, Lavinia develops her own social circle and Morris Townsend is a regular guest at the Sloper home. Morris has not spent this time finding gainful employment, though he does concoct a story about suddenly becoming co-partner of a commodities firm. Catherine takes this as good news and she is eager to get married.

Realizing that Catherine will arrive with a seriously diminished fortune, Morris backs out of the marriage, cowardly. After a string of awkward encounters, Morris leaves town. Weeks later, he mails a five page letter from Philadelphia. Catherine reveals these details to no one, although it is not difficult to see that her heart has been broken. Dr. Sloper remains suspicious that Catherine is simply waiting for him to die so that she can marry Morris. When he is near death, Dr. Sloper asks Catherine to promise that she won't marry Morris but Catherine is so offended by the doctor's audacity that she stubbornly refuses to make any vow or commitment. In the end, Dr. Sloper dies in his folly, believing Catherine to be treacherous. He gives most of her inheritance to charity.

A few years after Sloper's death, Morris Townsend returns, having learned that Catherine has never married. Aunt Lavinia lets him into the house to meet Catherine and Catherine is visibly upset. She dismisses Townsend after a few minutes - it is clear that she does not love him at all. Morris thought that Catherine had been waiting for him all of these years - but he never made any contact with her, so why would she be waiting for him now? Catherine continues to live a spinster life and she is able to find value and take pleasure in her own personal hobbies and interests.

Characters/People edit see section history

  • Catherine Sloper: Catherine is the heroine of the novel and for most of the novel, Catherine is surrounded by dominating individuals who seek to make decisions for her. As a young girl and even as a young woman, Catherine finds herself unable to live up to her father's paradigm of what a good daughter would be. It is not at all difficult for Catherine to be "good," but Dr. Sloper would prefer a daughter who was "clever" and for all of Aunt Penniman's instruction, Catherine has remained not-so-clever in her father's eyes. As the novel progresses, Catherine discovers that she is intelligent and she gains the courage to defy her father. Between Morris Townsend's betrayal and her father's cruelty, Catherine gets more than her fair share of suffering.
  • Lavinia Penniman: Lavinia is one of Dr. Sloper's two younger sisters. The widow of a penniless clergyman, the eccentric and overly dramatic Lavinia comes to live with Dr. Sloper and his daughter Catherine not long after Dr. Sloper becomes a widower. Aunt Penniman functions as Catherine's mother and when Catherine reaches late adolescence, Aunt Penniman beings entertaining notions of Catherine meeting a young man and embarking upon some form of romantic adventure. Catherine is not at all romantic but Aunt Penniman works hard to bring Morris Townsend and Catherine together. In the face of many good and rational reasons why Morris and Catherine do not belong together, Lavinia hopefully persists. She even waits 17 years for another chance to bring the two former lovers back together again. All efforts fail. Despite her meddlesome inquisitiveness and her unwillingness to accept reality, Aunt Penniman remains an individual with only good intentions.
  • Morris Townsend: Morris is a young man who has blown into town, having been around the world and blow his own small fortune in a mater of a few years. Morris is a distant cousin of Arthur Townsend and Arthur is marrying Marian Almond (Catherine's cousin). We soon learn that Morris is not intentionally hurtful, but he is irredeemably selfish. He lives off his impoverished widowed sister, Mrs. Montgomery, because he refuses to work. Morris intends to marry Catherine and enjoy her fortune, but when Dr. Sloper makes it clear that he will disinherit Catherine (should she marry Morris), Morris has no alternative but to abandon Catherine. He flees to Philadelphia. Nearly twenty years later, Dr. Sloper goes to his deathbed believing that Catherine intends to marry Morris. Shortly after Dr. Sloper dies, Morris returns to Catherine hoping to court her. She rejects him outright.
  • Lavinia: Otherwise known as Aunt Penniman, she lets her imagination take her away into the romance novels that she has read once too many times. she thinks of life as a romantic game. she also seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong place.
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Almond: Mrs. Almond is Catherine's "Aunt Almond" and Dr. Sloper's favorite of his two sisters. Unlike Lavinia, Elizabeth has a rational temperament. At the same time, she is kind and sympathetic towards Catherine, especially when it becomes clear that Morris has less than noble reasons for becoming engaged to Catherine. Because Dr. Sloper disregards Catherine's feelings, Elizabeth criticizes him as "shockingly cold-hearted."
  • Mrs Montgomery: Morris Townsend's sister. Mrs. Montgomery is a widow with a very small income, though she maintains a respectable and tidy home. Morris lives with her and regularly borrows money. Morris also tutors her five children in Spanish, as a means of earning his keep. Dr. Sloper visits Mrs. Montgomery when Morris is not there and pressures her to admit that her brother (Morris) is selfish and that Catherine would be happier in the long run if she did not marry Morris.
  • Marian: Elizabeth Almond's daughter. She marries Arthur Townsend, a stockbroker. Catherine and Morris first meet at Marian's engagement party.
  • Dr. Austin Sloper: Doctor Austin Sloper is among Henry James' most complex characters. Certainly, he treats his daughter, Catherine, harshly. But Dr. Sloper's clever mind and admittedly accurate criticism of Catherine's suitor, Morris Townsend, make it difficult to write the doctor off as a simple villain. Throughout the novel, Dr. Sloper becomes a largely symbolic father figure. Even in his interactions with his two sisters, Lavinia Penniman and Elizabeth Almond, Dr. Sloper often neglects to credit these two (adult) individuals with their due respect. Dr. Sloper is a great man of society, a local celebrity in Washington Square. Because Dr. Sloper is so renowned, because Dr. Sloper is so intelligent - and especially because Dr. Sloper knows both of these facts so well - the contrast between his highs and lows is significant. A famous doctor, Sloper cannot save his wife or son from death once they take ill. And Sloper's celebrity is of little use in swaying Catherine to obey his wishes. When it counts most - in his family - the doctor's skills are judged and are found wanting.
  • Arthur Townsend: a distant cousin of Morris Townsend, he marries Marian Almond. Arthur is an ambitious and respectable stockbroker who typifies New York's commercial spirit. Arthur is an industrious young man, very much unlike Morris, who apparently comes from the bad side of the Townsend family. Arthur accompanies Morris on his first visits to the parlor of the Sloper home.
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First Sentence edit see section history

DURING a portion of the first half of the present century, and more particularly during the latter part of it, there flourished and practised in the city of New York a physician who enjoyed perhaps an exceptional share of the consideration which, in the United States, has always been bestowed upon distinguished members of the medical profession.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This book is in The Oxford Bookworms Library. (community list)
This book is in National Endowment for the Arts The Big Read Books. (authoritative list)
This book is in Guardian 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read. (authoritative list)
This is book 68 of 101 in Penguin English Library. (publisher series)
This book is in 100 One-Night Reads: A Book Lover's Guide. (authoritative list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Henry James (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Add the publisher.
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1880
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
Page Count: 220

Classification edit see section history

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

  • Rowland Book Collections - Henry James Series: Complete of free Henry James eBook, etc.
  • Washington Square was first published: In Harper's in serialized form. This site provides direct links to the pages of Harper's electronic archive where James' work is located. The image of the printed page is reproduced with the original font, illustrations, and advertisements.
  • The Henry James Review: An academic journal that published academic essays and reviews of academic books regarding Henry James and his works. A few articles are available online for free for anyone. Most universities and libraries have access to the entire Review. The Review is also available in print form and there is a table of contents that includes all of the essays that have been printed in the Review.
  • This site is called the Henry James Scholar's Guide to Web Sites: It offers links to websites covering a very wide range of information. One link offers a collection of film reviews of the 1997 movie version of Washington Square. Another link offers a comprehensive bibliography of the leading essays published on the novel.

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