Goodreads | Washington Square (Paperback) by Henry James

rating	frequency	%
5		18%
4		39%
3		29%
2		9%
1		2%

Jason rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

03/28/08

Read in March, 2008

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

The CCLaP 100: In which I read a hundred so-called "classic" books for the first time, then file reports on whether or not I think they deserve the label

Book #10: Washington Square, by Henry James (1880)

The story in a nutshell:
Agreed by most to definitely ...more

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Emily rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

05/26/08

bookshelves: 2008, my-very-very-favorites, novels, re-read-2008

Read in May, 2008

I love this book so much I can't bear it. As someone who adores just about every last word that Henry James (over-) wrote, it has never gotten any more deliciously (un-)satisfying than this -- a slim, tart little novel about plain, socially unpromising Catherine Sloper, whose wealthy father refuses to allow her to marry Morris Townsend, whom he believes to be mercenary. No matter how many times I read this book, the question still nags at me: "Does Morris have any feeling at all for Cathe...more I love this book so much I can't bear it. As someone who adores just about every last word that Henry James (over-) wrote, it has never gotten any more deliciously (un-)satisfying than this -- a slim, tart little novel about plain, socially unpromising Catherine Sloper, whose wealthy father refuses to allow her to marry Morris Townsend, whom he believes to be mercenary. No matter how many times I read this book, the question still nags at me: "Does Morris have any feeling at all for Catherine, or is he really just after her fortune?" But why is this even a question?

It's usually taken for granted that Morris is sketchily-drawn, the standard handsome and callow fortune-hunter of melodrama, and his own remarks to other characters in the novel seem to provide ample evidence. I'm not fully convinced of this, which isn't to say that he's fully-drawn; rather, I wonder if Morris Townsend might be a kind of failed stereotype, a failure *of* the novel to keep him in his appointed place. If he's so successfully sketchy, then wouldn't the novel be redundant, and its central ambiguity unambiguous? If that were so, then "Washington Square" would do little more than encourage the reader's contemptuous pity for its heroine, whose tragedy would be utterly generic: her inability to recognize her beloved's venal motives. That would be straight-up melodrama, or mean-spirited satire. That wouldn't be Henry James.

The tragedy of the novel depends, though, on Catherine's father, Dr. Sloper, one of James's most stunning and indelible creations. The man despises his daughter, yet wants to protect her; he sees through Morris's dandyish charm, yet is most offended by the idea that his awkward, unlovely daughter would win herself such a handsome, charming husband. His opposition to the match may be, on the one hand, patriarchal duty, but it is no less an act of cold-blooded cruelty, and it is through his refusal to allow that the young man may like the money and yet be a fine husband that the real drama of "Washington Square" emerges. In fact, the pressure of this character produces the novel's greatest and least predictable achievement: the transformation of Catherine Sloper from a non-character -- the pathetic, jilted heiress -- into a character, and the reader's tormented resistance to Dr. Sloper not only keeps the door of "Morris Townsend" ajar, but keeps the novel on a wonderfully shaky course, morally and aesthetically.

In later years, James himself commented that he started "Washington Square" with great disdain for Catherine, which metamorphosed into something much more complicated (similar, maybe, to Tolstoy's creation of Anna Karenina). Maybe it's possible, then, to read Morris Townsend (to whose consciousness we only have access in scant, sharp shards of observation) as the most reflexively novelistic in the book, in the sense that his own ambivalent heartlessness may well mirror the novel's own confused motives. James ultimately disavowed "Washington Square" -- he even omitted it from his "Collected Works" -- but it marks the first appearance of the central conflict that governs his later, greatest novels: the predation of love upon money, and vice versa. The moral puzzle of the passionate mercenary haunts his major work, and "Washington Square" may well mark the death of the non-characters (villain and victim) that started it all. A strange, beautiful, perfectly unsatisfying book....less

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Carol rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

02/09/08

bookshelves: fiction--literature

Read in February, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

It was rather hard for me to read further after finishing hte first thirty-something pages. Quite a long plot for the story with little twist in between.

The story is a melancholic one. It revolves around a young but rich daughter, Catherine, who has a lifelong devotion to a young man, Morris Townshed, who has no position and his character is morally questionable. Their marriage is strongly opposed by the daughter's father, who is a doctor and possesses a fortune.

Social status is not a...more It was rather hard for me to read further after finishing hte first thirty-something pages. Quite a long plot for the story with little twist in between.

The story is a melancholic one. It revolves around a young but rich daughter, Catherine, who has a lifelong devotion to a young man, Morris Townshed, who has no position and his character is morally questionable. Their marriage is strongly opposed by the daughter's father, who is a doctor and possesses a fortune.

Social status is not a barrier to their marriage. The crux is that the young man shows no real affection to the girl and he's idling after years of intentional separation. The innocent daughter enjoys the romantic love and is blind to the situation until late in the story. She turns into a wise, rational and mature female figure, with her confession to her father towards her determination to Morris Townshed - "If I live with you, I ought to obey you... But if I don't obey you, I ought not to live with you - to enjoy your kindness and protection'.

Henry James deals with the theme of love pessimistically which is reflected in the portrayal of doctor's daughter. Time proves everything when Catherine re-encounters Morris thirteen years later. The wound was so deep that Catherine thinks 'she felt it for years'. The feeling of hurt and pain, memories of sweetiness and bitterness of devotion are 'everything' to Catherine's life, and they are 'dead and buried'. On one hand, Catherine is a heroine as she stands against his father to fight for herself and she takes the courage to refuse Morris Townshed , who is not a true love. On the other hand, Catherine is a coward who ends up spend the rest of her life in needlework rather than choosing another man and living her life to the fullest.

Another important theme in the story, which is the struggle between 'moral comfort', or in Morris wording, 'intellectual satisfaction', and 'material comfort', is narrated and discussed in depth. For a man of no position and paying no apparent effort in making one is detined to be in subordination. For a woman who has a great deal of fortune and possesses wisdom in words of reasoning is never the one to be despised....less

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HRH rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

07/18/07

Read in July, 2007

recommends it for: Those who don't need resolution

I had read Daisy Miller and enjoyed it so I thought I would like another Henry James novel, Washington Square. Furthermore, one of the remarks on the cover said something about the man writing as good a family story as Jane Austen. What could be better?

A lot of things actually.

I even read somewhere that James didn't like the novel so he didn't include it in his anthology. I'm surprised he made it through the first time knowing the ending as he presumably did.
Staged in New York City, ...more I had read Daisy Miller and enjoyed it so I thought I would like another Henry James novel, Washington Square. Furthermore, one of the remarks on the cover said something about the man writing as good a family story as Jane Austen. What could be better?

A lot of things actually.

I even read somewhere that James didn't like the novel so he didn't include it in his anthology. I'm surprised he made it through the first time knowing the ending as he presumably did.
Staged in New York City, Washington Square is the story of Catherine Sloper, the twenty-something daughter of a wealthy physician. When the handsome, clever, and prospectless Morris Townsend courts and proposes to Catherine, her father vehemently refuses his consent which basically adds up to an inheritance a third of what was originally promised. The books tediously accounts the little meetings and conversations, the escapade of Catherine's Aunt Pennyman, Catherine's trip to Europe, and Morris's eventual "jilting" of Catherine. The reader believes that at any moment the real story will begin.

There are no side plots, only a handful of characters, and no other subject addressed that the "will they -won't they" question of Catherine's and Morris' wedding.

The ending was the worst of all. In a chapter or two, James leads us through Catherine's life after her engagement if broken off. For a moment one guesses that it will have an ending similar to Persuasion, where the slightly older version of the meant-to-be couple finally comes together. But then Catherine just keeps getting older. Thirty, Forty, Fifty. There is a reason why the romantic escapades of old people are not usual. It is not romantic to hear how the hero has become fat and bald. Finally, Morris shows up and one thinks, aah finally! But no, Catherine awkwardly refuses him and that is the book. It was the sort of moment where one looks about oneself, sure that something was dropped. If one could only find the last pages then the book would be good and resolved.

Alas, that was the book.
...less

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Cristina rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

12/16/07

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in November, 2007

I used to hate Henry James. I really did. I tried to read The Aspern Papers when I was deep into my thesis on Byron and couldn't get through it. I tried to read Portrait of a Lady and found Isabel Archer annoying at best, although I couldn't quite describe why she irritated me so much. I abandoned James for a long time. Last month I decided to start on his shorter novels and see if I could build up a tolerance for him. Lo, I seem to have done it.

I can't say that this bo...more

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Elena rated it:

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10/11/07

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: People who have sat through the 6-hour BBC version of Pride and Predudice more than once

Engrossed in this book after the first few chapters, I read further with slight irritation because I couldn't pin down why I was so into it. Even the Austinian precision with which James paints his characters should have been overshadowed by a heroine who was "plain, dull" and lacking in intelligence. But it wasn't. I read the introduction after fininshing the book, and I think this is why:

"James commends Balzac for the way he so obviously loves his characters, not for any ...more

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Katey rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

06/04/07

bookshelves: fiction

Read in May, 2007

I did not like any character in this book, and found myself actually despising Catherine the most(close runner-up: Dr. Sloper, her father). The only part of the entire novel that was even remotely likable was the last few chapters, and Catherine redeemed herself a bit for me in the end. James' actual writing is quite good of course (hence my 2 star instead of 1 star rating), but I would have to disagree with an assessment from Graham Greene that was on the back sleeve of my copy: "The delic...more

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Tracy rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

06/26/07

bookshelves: classics

Read in May, 2007

I enjoy the writing style of Henry James, but the story itself... Ugh.

I kept thinking surely there are going to be some major plot twists, some sort of revelations or scandal to spice things up, or even some drastic unexpected course of action taken by someone or another... Instead the story mostly consists of a pack of unlikable people sitting around either scorning or deluding each other, and one spineless, milquetoast "heroine" stuck in the middle of it all, whom I spent most ...more

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Hillary rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

09/12/07

Not my edition, but you can't get too picky on here or it won't let you add anything. Mine is a worn but still well-bound gray Modern Library copy from around the 1950s or 1960s, and I'm pretty attached to it. The type and layout seem to go very nicely with the crispness of the book itself. This is the book I ended up writing on at the end of my spring semester 07 class, after presenting on its connections to William James's pragmatism (even though that was written many years later). It's very A...more

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Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

08/08/07

Read in July, 2007

Hmmm... seeing how this is a "classic," I feel like I shouldn't give it only three stars; however, it was just so SAD. Heavy. I suppose credit should be given to James for eloquently capturing and displaying the world of the narcissitc and delusional. Apparently, many have been inspired by the determined, yet resigned heroine. Part of what makes her so heroic is her complete departure from what was appropriate of a girl at her age in her culture.

This is one of the five classics...more

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Denise rated it:

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04/13/07

Victorian New York as only Henry James could show us. There are several movie versions of this beautiful book, but this needs to be read. The complex and bitter relationship between the main character, the plain and gentle Catherine Sloper and her father, the intellectual and cold Dr. Sloper is painful to read, but is worth every word. How do the conventions of her time twist Catherine? Read this book and find out.

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Haley rated it:

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11/20/08

Read in November, 2008

Living with her father and aunt, Catherine Sloper seems destined for spinsterhood until the dashing Morris Townshend comes into the picture. They quickly fall in love, but her father DOES NOT approve of the match; he feels Morris is fortune-hunting. He threatens Catherine with disinheritance and forces Catherine to pick between the man she loves and her father.

I was really into the book for about the first 100 pages, and then it just seemed to drag on. The first 100 pages or so I found in...more

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Lauren rated it:

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10/01/08

I've recently decided to read more of Henry James. I've read much of Edith Wharton's work, and she and James were very close friends. A joke they shared between them was that Wharton bought a car with the proceeds of her first novel, while James's first book enabled him to buy a cart to carry his guests' luggage to his home from the train station. He hoped to be able to paint it with the royalties from his second novel. I must say that I much prefer Wharton's technique, but I think that I would ...more

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Dirk rated it:

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10/12/08

Read in September, 2008

I just reread this fine novel for the second or third time, besides having listened to the Mind’s Eye Theater radio play version several times while gardening or sweating at the gym. Set in the early part of the 19th century when Washington Square was uptown it recounts the painful relations between a rich doctor, his daughter who’s only striking virtue is integrity, her live-in aunt who is full of self-centered romanticism, and a fortune hunter who wants to marry the daughter. The father, a...more

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Gwen rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

04/21/08

Read in April, 2008

If you like sarcastic depictions of 19th century life among the relatively rich, which I do, you'll probably enjoy Washington Square. The strange thing about it is that the heroine isn't really all that interesting--her only real personality characteristics are that she's very loyal, fair, and kind. She's not funny or witty or smart.

Her father, who raises her alone, thinks she's a terribly disappointment--first, she's a girl, and then she's dull. He mocks her and clearly doesn't think much a...more

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Pa rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

01/02/08

Washingston Square tells a tragic, thwarted love story of Catherine Sloper, the plain-looking and dull daughter of a wealthy New York doctor and an heiress to a fortune, who fell for a penniless young fortuneseeker, Mr. Townsend. When Townsend found out that Catherine's father, Dr. Sloper, was determined to prevent the marriage by all means, including threatening to disinherit her, Townsend quickly broke his engagement. Jilted and heart-broken, Catherine chose to remain single and ultimately r...more

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Lesleylarson rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

11/26/08

It was interesting to follow a main character (Catherine) who I could relate to so little. Though her quiet ways and refusal take action to determine the course of her own life drove me nuts, I came to appreciate her by the end. And I think it gave me valuable insight into a personality type that was mysterious to me. The ending makes the book worth it.

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Avital rated it:

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06/03/08

Instead of a review, I'd have pasted here Michael Cunnigham's amazing Afterword. Unfortunately, it's too long and is probably the subject of authorial rights. It starts, however, with "Washington square is a novel about money." Which is not attractive-but it works!
Catherin Sloper is a wonderful central figure, and yet the only extraordinary thing about her is her money, and this will determine her destiny.
Cunningham says how he had felt about Henry James as you feel about an elde...more

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Elisha (Lishie) rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

10/20/08

bookshelves: classics, historical-fiction

Read in October, 2008

This is a classic steeped in irony. Catherine has grown up, with her widowed, doctor father and her widowed aunt, who depends on the doctor. Catherine's plain, ordinary and very obedient to her father. Because of her all around plainness, she does not get a suitor until she's in her early 20s. The suitor, Morris, seems to be after her money and her father makes clear his dislike for him. Catherine is divided between obeying her father and marrying Morris, whom she believes she loves. Although th...more

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Alana rated it:

(review of isbn 0451528719)

06/19/08

bookshelves: could-not-finish

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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