User:Makamba Kinyua

Washington Square Novel Analysis

The novel, “Washington Square” by Henry James takes place in the Manhattan neighborhood of Washington square in the mid-nineteenth century. The novel starts with a picture of Dr. Austin Sloper, who is portrayed as a physician. It sadistically follows with his wife Catherine giving birth to a child who later dies at the age of three. Two years later, they are blessed with another kid, who is named after her mother, Catherine. Eventually, the childbirth is difficulty and the mother dies. The kid is the heroine of the novel.

  Dr. Sloper despises her daughter claiming she is neither beautiful like her mother nor clever like her father. According to him, her daughter was a strange genetic twist of fate. Dr. Sloper has two sisters with very different personalities. One is Elizabeth, wife of a merchant named Almond. She is a provident person who often gave Dr. Sloper good Advice. Unfortunately, he dismissed the advice.

His other sister is Lavinia, who was once married to a poor man called Penniman.