Washington Square

Question 1

Author
(Washington Square)

Answer 1

Henry James

Question 2

Themes
(Washington Square)

Answer 2

• Family and Betrayal
• Home and Domesticity
• Truth, Deception, and Imagination

Question 3

How does the theme Home and Domesticity come forward in Washington square?

Answer 3

Home is a symbol of tradition, of culture, of family and the past. Washington Square is a residential neighborhood, a community of homes, in contrast to other areas of Manhattan. And Washington Square is the neighborhood where Henry James was born and spent his first years. Much of the narrative action of Washington Square occurs within the walls of the Sloper home.
One of the principal images connected to the idea of home is the image of the fireplace - the hearth. The hearth is a source of warmth and a venue for communal activities (the fireside). In ancient Greek literature, the hearth is connected to ancestors and guardian deities. Indeed, James mentions that when Dr. Sloper moves up from the City Hall area to he “moved his household gods uptown, as they say in New York” with him - in a figurative sense. These are memories, mementos, family heirlooms, inheritance, etc in the literal sense.
Certainly, we must consider Dr. Sloper’s lack of “family feeling.” More than once, the doctor is described as cold or cool, cruel or unemotional. And more than once, this cool/cold imagery is described in direct opposition to the loving warmth of the fireplace. Catherine cannot find warmth in her father’s eyes, so she focuses on the fireplace.
In Chapter 31, Dr. Sloper suspects that Morris has abandoned Catherine. Prying for information, Sloper wants to know when the wedding will take place, adding: “It would be a convenience to me to know when I may expect to have an empty houseŠ.When you go, your aunt marches.” Given that a house is built to contain (to house) a family, the lack of usage is an odd convenience. Instead of an empty house, however, Sloper gets no physical escape from his family. Lavinia and Catherine are very disconnected from Austin, but the house remains the center of the novel’s drama - nobody ever moves away. Catherine never leaves home, never gets married, never starts a family of her own. Even when Morris was courting Catherine, Catherine was reluctant to meet for romantic trysts in far-off or secluded locations. Her “unromantic,” almost “perverse” choice was to host her beau in her father’s parlor.
While she lives in her father’s house, Catherine must struggle to deal with his law. The home is like a small society in which Dr. Sloper considers himself a patriarch, an enlightened despot. Mrs. Montgomery’s ability to keep a clean and tidy house despite her financial limitations is evidence of her character. In a similar sense, Dr. Sloper manifests his intellect in his elaborate study, his den of academia and knowledge. Dr. Sloper’s “study” becomes the site of treason, however. In the most literal sense, Lavinia gives Morris full access to Dr. Sloper’s study when the doctor goes to Europe for a year. This year of indulgence is the closest that Morris can get to inheriting any of Sloper’s property. The more damaging treason comes from Catherine. Catherine steels herself and on two occasions she courageously goes to her father’s study and confronts him, respectfully, with the truth. In his own study, Sloper’s logical fallacies are exposed; in the study, Catherine asserts her rights, pleads for forgiveness, and is shut out of the room.
In the end, the Sloper home is such a contrast to the Almond home, just as the Sloper family line declines (downward slope), whereas the Almond family continues to flourish and blossom and grow (like a tree). The reader recalls that the Slopers visit the Almond house every Sunday and that Aunt Almond throws an engagement party for her daughter. Aunt Almond becomes a sympathetic mother figure, “spreading out carpets” for Catherine after the young woman is jilted. We don’t need to read too deeply into the casual phrase to detect that for Aunt Almond, as for most people in our society, ideas of family and home are interconnected. To the extent that we live indoors, our interior furnishings (carpets, but also beds, rocking chairs, wine and china) reveal the transactions that occur within a family household. At the end of the novel, the house becomes a living tomb for Catherine. In the final scene, Catherine sits in the parlor, focused on her knitting: “picking up her morsel of fancywork, [she] had seated herself with it again - for life, as it were.” Catherine has found domesticity, just as Dr. Sloper had found a house. But these physical aspects of domesticity are not enough to make a home.

Question 4

How does the theme Family and Betrayal come forward in Washington square?

Answer 4

Betrayal is perhaps the most dominant theme of the novel. Some characters fear betrayal, others astonished to find themselves betrayed. If we look at the four major characters of the novel, we find betrayals ranging from failed expectations to deliberately broken promises. In some cases, the over-sensitive individual perceives a betrayal when no true betrayal has actually occurred:
- Dr. Sloper feels betrayed by Catherine, because she is unwilling to follow his advice regarding her engagement to Morris. Dr. Sloper uses exceedingly harsh language and vows to disown Catherine for breaking his heart. Sloper’s behavior likens him to Shakespeare’s King Lear, a similarly paranoid father who causes great harm to innocent people. Dr. Sloper’s efforts to circumvent Catherine’s perceived betrayal actually push Catherine to limit the deference and respect she gives her father. Dr. Sloper becomes so hostile that he pushes Catherine towards the very betrayal of which he accused her.
- Dr. Sloper has been betrayed by his family. His wife and son have died and left him. Indeed, the reader should recall that after Catherine was born, her mother “betrayed alarming symptoms” even though she had been in good health. This has been a betrayal of expectations. Catherine has similarly betrayed Dr. Sloper because she is plain and ordinary - she is no daughter of his. Dr. Sloper goes so far as to accuse his sister Lavinia of “treason” because she advocates for Catherine and Morris’ wedding despite Dr. Sloper’s most strenuous objections. Dr. Sloper’s betrayals have come from his family, then. Ironically, Dr. Sloper does not seem to value family bonds, for he interrogates Mrs. Montgomery with the intention of provoking her to betray her own brother, Morris. The novel tells us explicitly that Dr. Sloper takes special pleasure in the fact that Mrs. Montgomery’s confession has come at the dear price of her “family pride.”
Dr. Sloper has done all of this on Catherine’s behalf. Despite his cruelty, Dr. Sloper is correct in predicting that Morris will prove himself a man of low character and low means.
- The most dramatic betrayal of the novel is Morris’ abandonment of Catherine, after Catherine has sacrificed so much for Morris’ sake. This is not the traditional story of unrequited love because Morris’ original intentions were always mercenary and Catherine had to struggle to convince herself to fall in love with Morris.
- Catherine is also somewhat betrayed by Lavinia. In one sense, Aunt Lavinia has painted the picture of romance and led Catherine into a pit of thorns. Catherine has suffered on account of her aunt’s very poor counsel. Perhaps more significant, Lavinia is working on Morris’ behalf as well as Catherine’s. Indeed, Lavinia comes to see Morris as a son, though she also harbors thoughts of Morris being the sort of “imperious” man that she ought to have mattered.
- Lavinia does not place her family obligations as foremost and principal. She has created a fictitious family with Morris and, to be honest, Lavinia looks out for Morris’ interests more than she looks out for Catherine’s. Lavinia realizes that Catherine will be hurt by Morris’ abandonment, but Lavinia is so enthralled with Morris that she fails to chastise him or even perceive the true extent of the young man’s depravity.
- Morris feels betrayed by Lavinia. Towards the end of the novel, Dr. Sloper warns Lavinia that Morris will become angry with her when he realizes that he is simply a “deluded fortune-hunter.” Just as Lavinia has pushed Catherine into a romantic engagement, Lavinia has lured Morris into a financial prospect that has soured.

Question 5

Published
(Washington Square)

Answer 5

1881

Question 6

Dr. Austin Sloper
(Washington Square)

Answer 6

=> father of Cathrine

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.
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Question 7

Catherine Sloper
(Washington Square)

Answer 7

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.
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Question 8

Lavinia Penniman
(Washington Square)

Answer 8

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.
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Question 9

Morris Townsend
(Washington Square)

Answer 9

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.
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Question 10

Mrs. Elizabeth Almond
(Washington Square)

Answer 10

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.”
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Question 11

Mrs. Montgomery
(Washington Square)

Answer 11

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.
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Question 12

Marian
(Washington Square)

Answer 12

Elizabeth Almond’s daughter. She marries Arthur Townsend, a stockbroker. Catherine and Morris first meet at Marian’s engagement party.Arthur Townsend
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Question 13

Arthur Townsend
(Washington Square)

Answer 13

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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Question 14

Mrs. Catherine Harrington Sloper
(Washington Square)

Answer 14

As a young, wealthy socialite, Catherine married Austin Sloper, a respectable young physician whose intellect and promise forgave his lack of inherited wealth. Catherine gave birth to a son who died at an early age; a few years later, she died soon after giving birth to her daughter, Catherine. Dr. Sloper remembers his wife as a uniquely intelligent and beautiful woman; he mourns the perceived lack of these same qualities in his daughter
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Question 15

setting
(Washington Square)

Answer 15

America

Question 16

How does the theme Truth, Deception, and Imagination come forward in Washington square

Answer 16

Dr. Sloper is very interested in pursuing and uncovering the truth. Dr. Sloper aims to prevent Catherine from marrying Morris but at the same time, he is interested in finding out whether Catherine will stick with her plans. When Dr. Sloper realizes that Morris is a charlatan, he believes that Catherine must be informed and convinced to change her mind. Dr. Sloper hurts Catherine in the process and his behavior raises the question of whether truth should always be pursued to the fullest extent. Even in moral terms, it may sometimes be better to leave certain truths unsaid.
Morris and Lavinia are both characters who prefer to leave a good deal of truth unsaid, though for very different reasons. Though Morris did not have good intentions, he did not intend to hurt Catherine. He lied with the expectation of gaining money without causing any harm to Catherine. When Morris decides to end his engagement, he feels guilty about the pain he will cause Catherine. He does not look forward to speaking this truth to Catherine. Dr. Sloper relishes his opportunities to speak the bitter truth to Catherine.
Of course, Morris has several reasons to avoid speaking the bitter truth, but the main reason is because he’s a liar. We can separate Morris’ hesitant and incomplete confession to Catherine from his energetic voluble self-advertisements at the beginning of the novel. Morris lied so much that gullible Catherine couldn’t help but consider him “artistic,” as Aunt Penniman considered him “imperious.” Morris is a fictional character who fictionalizes himself into a hero. His rakish poverty is redone as a moral tableau, some youthful excess from which Morris has drawn a lesson. Morris styles himself as a Spanish teacher, a stranger who has been around the world, and a commodities merchant who works downtown and most suddenly leave for New Orleans (Philadelphia) to speculate on cotton.
Lavinia Penniman also has a tenuous grip on truth and reality. Like Dr. Sloper, Lavinia seeks to counsel and advice others. If Dr. Sloper gives the right advice in the worst way, Lavinia has a “genius for consolation.” Her imaginative powers are incredible and she can uncover a glimmer of hope or possibility in any scenario. At times, her character resembles Polonius from Hamlet, because she is often spouting commonplace phrases and platitudes that contradict each other: “The important thing is to act” a few scenes after Lavinia warns the young ones to be patient.
Lavinia is a romantic. Just as Morris has become “artistic” and sculpted a new self for himself, Lavinia has invented the idea of Morris and Catherine falling in love and realized this as best she could, all the while imagining herself as the “manager” or director of a “drama.” In Lavinia’s world, truth is beauty and beauty is relative. Lavinia does not distinguish between shades of possibility or desirability. She prefers “first meetings” and “last partings” and, once the end of the engagement is inevitable, Lavinia looks forward to this as well - so long as there is drama. This beautiful dramatic quality is what Lavinia interprets as true. Whenever Catherine is not visibly depressed, she is hiding something; for seventeen years, Catherine does not speak of Morris, she must have unresolved feelings for him. These are Lavinia’s erroneous interpretations. Consistently, Lavinia looks at Catherine’s deficits of emotion and romanticizes them as hidden spaces. At the end of the novel, Lavinia is surely disappointed that Catherine has dispensed with Morris so permanently and without fanfare.
Lavinia’s artistic idea of truth as beauty is a contrast to Dr. Sloper’s ideas of science and logic. But just as Lavinia’s actions are a corruption of artistic ideals, Dr. Sloper’s idea of truth is a corruption of science and logic. Sloper describes himself as an “anatomist” and argues that just as he is accustomed to assessing and looking into human beings (as a doctor) he can see through Morris’ surface games and identify the man as a swindler. Sloper is entirely right in fearing Morris’ greedy intentions, but Sloper uses false logic and abuses rules and conventions in order to have his way. Having identified Morris as guilty, Sloper does not take the time to prove his case logically. Having satisfied his own need for truth, he requests of Catherine: “I don’t ask you to believe it, but to take it on trust.” The narrator identifies this as “an ingenious sophism” ( a sophism” is an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid). And Dr. Sloper’s interrogative methods undermines the values and truths he aims to support. He abuses the trust that Catherine has in him, as her father. As a great man of society, he bullies a widow into speaking ill of her brother, as a means of protecting his own family. Once Sloper has his “revenge” on Catherine and allows her to suffer, he is unable to undo the consequences of the truth. He cannot make Catherine forget the betrayal; he cannot coax her into marriage with a different man. Dr. Sloper’s accusations of treason and betrayal are ultimately documented in the codicil to his will - but that does not make the arguments, though legally binding, any more valid.