But there is one "saint " in this novel and her name is Catherine Sloper. Throughout the arc of the story, she loses almost everything that she holds dear in her life except her sense of self. Her father, scared that his money is going to be wasted when Catherine marries Morris the degenerate gambler, decides to not give her a dime. Upon hearing that the fiduciary petals had been clipped from his newfound rose, Morris decides to ditch Catherine. And all the while Lavinia, her loving aunt, hustles her until there is almost nothing of Catherine left, financially or spiritually. But Catherine survives, her innocence gone, bank account depleted but soul intact. In the end, she's more than a plaster saint, she's a real, brave and vividly written woman who's been through a lot and come out a survivor. Few female characters by male novelists I have read have been more believable.
Again, I must admit that I am only a rank amateur in the scope of Jamesophiles. My personal favorite James era is between 1881-1890, in which the psychological thought was married to his prose and the prose became psychological thought in itself. While The Golden Bowl and some of his later stories have many moments of brilliance, they are works that are too insular and don't have the deft craftsmanship of James at his very best. But I could read another one of his late era novels and be proven dead wrong. Henry James is a writer that all people should read, and Washington Square is a good place to start. To those who want to obtain a high amount of coherence in American literature, or literature in general, his is a bridge that you must pass.
Article comments
1 - wawan eko yulianto
thanks for the review. i'm reading washington square myself, and in agreement with most of the things you write here. to me, almost each of the characters in the novella has the quality that makes me clench my first in anger: dr. slopper's always-wanna-see-perfectionness, catherine's passiveness and innocence and naïveté, morris' too cultivated yet deceitful manner.
however, what makes me angry the most is the fact that catherine's blindness to see through the morris. she's just too unsuspecting yet stubborn.
i feel there's some kind of gap here. and i'm trying to reveal it. anyway, thanks for sharing your invaluable thoughts...
2 - Farnoosh Brock
Excellent review of Washington Square. I just finished this amazing, mesmerizing, supremely well-written novel and finished writing my book blog post on it but before doing so, I did a search and came across your website. I think Catherine is why I kept reading and reading. Excellent story really! Jamesophile you say? I like it! :)!