Catherine Sloper's Self-realization in Henry James' Washington Square

675 Words2 Pages

Catherine Sloper's Self-realization in Henry James' Washington Square

In his essay, "Washington Square: A Study in the Growth of an Inner Self," James W. Gargano argues convincingly that the Henry James's novel, Washington Square, revolves around the emotional, psychological, and spiritual development of Catherine Sloper. With one small exception, Gargano makes his case so persuasively that it seems hard to believe that there could be any other view of Catherine and her role in the book. Yet, Gargano asserts that James scholars before him have persistently focused elsewhere leaving Catherine to be categorized much the same way her father characterizes her as dull and listless (Gargano 355, 357).

Gargano rightly shifts the critical debate from fascination with the ethical conundrum of Dr. Sloper's behavior to concentration on the process of self-realization which takes place slowly and silently in Catherine's mind (Gargano 355). Finding proof of his thesis in the exacting way James investigates Catherine's growth, Gargano sees that James has purposely shown Catherine as innocent in the beginning of the story to demonstrate a contrast to who she becomes as she begins to wake up to herself as the story progresses, and contends that upon meeting Townsend, Catherine "emerg[es] from a sort of dormancy" (Gorgano 356). Gorgano astutely points out that meeting Townsend is not a horrible mishap in the life of Catherine Sloper, but an event which catalyzes the girl to mature in her thinking and feeling.

Gargano pays special attention not only to Catherine's behavioral changes, but to the way James notes those changes as part of an inner process (Gargano 356). From her deceptive replies to her father's straight forward questions t...

... middle of paper ...

...orsel of fancywork, [and] seat[ing] herself with it again-for life, as it were" imply an empty period of waiting for death (Gargano 362, James 219). This interpretation of the end of Washington Square is inconsistent with Gargano's earlier contentions, and should be re-examined. Another possible and significantly more powerful interpretation of the ending of the book-that James is showing Catherine as fully self-contained and ultimately satisfied with the choices that she has made-makes more sense. Despite his final reticence, the quality of his thinking and the quantity of his evidence suggest that James Gargano has a good understanding of Henry James's main artistic occupation in writing Washington Square.

Works Cited

Gargano, James W. "Washington Square: A Study in the growth of an Inner Self."

James, Henry. Washington Square. New York: Signet, 1979.

Show More
Related

  • Frances as the Devil's Advocate in "Fall On Your Knees" by Ann-Marie MacDonald

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...d longs for her elder sister and mother. Frances is a good person – at heart – and is always looking out for her younger sister. Moreover, even though she has different views that her father and will always do the opposite of what is expected of her, it is seen that this insecurity is caused by James indeed. Frances feels that in order to gain security in her life, she must perform these actions. She feels compelled to live her life the way she does. Frances’s naughty and mischievous behaviour can be viewed as a weakness she possesses, and she longs to correct these weaknesses by her actions. She is not a role model by any means, but she is by no means the Devil’s advocate. A sincere heart – compelled by circumstances – does its best to make the situation turn out for the better than the worse, and Frances, through her love for her mother, inevitably does just that.

    Read More

  • King’s Letter Considered a Classic Argument

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    In accordance to the TRACE elements needed in a rhetorical situation, all five are present. The text includes a letter type written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. explaining why he is in a Birmingham city jail and the injustices he sees in the state of Alabama. The targeted audience is the eight fellow clergymen whom he is replying to after being presented a letter by those clergymen. The audience also includes the general public like the whites and the blacks in the community. The author of the letter is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself, a Baptist minister who preached nonviolence and was a pivotal leader in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Dr. King was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a vital group that led many affiliations to peaceful marches and sit-ins throughout the civil rights movement. The main motivation for this letter is Dr. King’s own view of the injustices apparent in the Negro community and the intended actions the community is taking. Some constraints Dr. King faces...

    Read More

  • The French And Indian War Sparknotes

    1813 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...in which all of the tales and happenings are true. Having visited Mount Vernon for instance, Borneman’s portrayal and detailed information about George Washington brings so much more to the man and the character. Walter Borneman consistently connected the dots in describing what individuals did and what important things they had yet to do. With no real complaints and only a thirst for more, the author has scored big with this book and exampled narrative history at its finest! In the end, what is most important is the knowledge one can gain from such a vivid and living portrayal of the Seven Years War.

    Read More

  • Malpractice and Malediction in The Marquise of O. and The Yellow Wallpaper

    1031 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kleist begins his delineation of the Marquise with terms such as "widowed,", "a lady," and "the mother of several well-brought-up children" (Kleist 68). In this introduction the reader learns that the Marquise has experienced both marriage and childbirth. In respect to her deceased husband, the Marquise avoids remarriage and returns to her family's home with her parents, brother and children. The Marquise transforms her role as lover and wife to daughter and mother, therefore stifling an aspect of her womanhood. It is not until she is unknowingly sexually assaulted and made pregnant that her femininity is reborn.

    Read More

  • Synopsis of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the death of Jane’s parents, her uncle Mr. Reed has taken her in with his family to a mansion called Gateshead Hall. Nine years after Jane uncle has past she has been trapped in Gateshead Hall while suffering the bitter treatment of her aunt Mrs. Reed. Mrs. Reed was resentful of her husband’s favoritism toward Jane and takes every opportunity to neglect and punish her. When Jane is punished by Mrs. Reed she would be sent to the red room by two of Mrs. Reed servants, Bessie and Miss Abbot. The red-room was “a spare chamber, it was one of the largest and stateliest chambers in the mansion” and in this every same chamber is where Jane uncle past (8). Not only did Mrs. Reed treat disrespectfully but her own son, Jane’s older cousin John Reed. John Reed would abuse and punish Jane several times a day, in the words of Jane; “every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh on my bones shranked when he came near”(4). Everyone would ignore Jane’s plea for help especially Mrs. Reed who would act be blind and deaf on the subject. No one except for Mr. Reed show any love and care for Jane during her childhood in Gateshead Hall. Jane said “I was a discord in Gateshead Hall; I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed or her children, or her chosen vassalage” (10). Jane continued by saying that they did not love her not if as little she loved them. Although the family mistreats her, Jane still wished for the atte...

    Read More

  • King James II: A Reflection of Autonomy and Responsibility

    2008 Words  | 5 Pages

    James’s childhood was full of narrow escapes and secret dwellings. He, unlike his brother, Charles II, was dour and serious, in ad...

    Read More

  • Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette

    4243 Words  | 9 Pages

    Eliza Wharton has sinned. She has also seduced, deceived, loved, and been had. With The Coquette Hannah Webster Foster uses Eliza as an allegory, the archetype of a woman gone wrong. To a twentieth century reader Eliza's fate seems over-dramatized, pathetic, perhaps even silly. She loved a man but circumstance dissuaded their marriage and forced them to establish a guilt-laden, whirlwind of a tryst that destroyed both of their lives. A twentieth century reader may have championed Sanford's divorce, she may have championed the affair, she may have championed Eliza's acceptance of Boyer's proposal. She may have thrown the book angrily at the floor, disgraced by the picture of ineffectual, trapped, female characters.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the Gospel of John

    868 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...itten in, and can also be seen because there is no mention anywhere of the parables, Jesus' primary teaching method according to the synoptic gospels. Instead, John makes use of miracles and uses examples from Jesus' ministry to demonstrate his power and divinity. He uses his power over nature to raise people from the dead, heal a blind man and feed 5000 people with the physical amount of food for only a few.

    Read More

  • Virginia Woolf - Moving Beyond a Convoluted Memory of Her Parents

    2260 Words  | 5 Pages

    But what does Virginia’s mother have to do with Virginia’s writing? I chose to look at the problem of inheritance by starting with Julia’s first influences on Virginia, particularly her stories for children. I then move on to portraits of mothers in Virginia's novels. This essay is not only about Virginia’s task of overcoming "the Angel in the House" but moving past a confrontational and convoluted memory of a mother, into an orderly, whole picture of females working together.

    Read More

  • How Should Jesus Parables Be Read Analysis

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    If we are after the intent of Jesus, we must seek to hear a parable as Jesus’ Palestinian hearers would have it.

    Read More

  • Discuss the role of friendship in Northanger Abbey.

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    Catherine is very pleased to meet Isabella after being disappointed in not seeing Mr Tilney again. The narrator informs the reader that Catherine is fortunate in finding a friend as ‘Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.’ (p.18 NA). Isabella being the elder of the two has much more knowledge of fashionable society than Catherine and is, therefore, able to teach her a great deal about the expectations of society at that time.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Al Gore

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although Al Gore has proven to be both a capable politician and philanthropist, he has no credibility in regards to the scientific field he seems so concerned to inform the public about. Interestingly enough, some of the mistakes our esteemed presenter made were crucial details that weaken the anthropogenic global warming argument. In the film, Gore mistakenly asserts “that in each of the last four interglacial warm periods, changes in carbon dioxide concentration caused changes in temperature” (35 Inconvenient Truths: The Errors in Al Gore's Movie) . In reality it’s the opposite, because temperature is the factor that affects carbon dioxide levels. “Carbon dioxide,” Gore asserted, “is pollution.” That statement not only proves to be misleading, but also ignorant. Carbon dioxide is a food source for plants and a source of natural nutrition. Plants take in this carbon dioxide and in turn release oxygen, a component that all living species, including humans, breathe. In fact, “well-managed forests, such as those of the United States, are growing at record rates [due to] the extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere [, which] is feeding the trees” (35 Inconvenient Truths: The Errors in Al Gore's Movie). If one were to look at the concentration of carbon dioxide throughout the span of Geological Time, one would notice that carbon dioxide levels were significantly higher than present levels. Notably, the University of California estimates carbon dioxide levels to be approximately twenty times greater in concentration than present levels. This further strengthens the idea that carbon dioxide levels have existed at higher rates than before, so there is nothing “unnatural” or “man-made” in regards to carbon dioxide levels rising to higher l...

    Read More

  • Greenhouse Effect Essay

    1749 Words  | 4 Pages

    According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), carbon dioxide is the primary gas emitted through human activities and is the most important human contributed greenhouse gas (Overview of greenhouse, 2014). Carbon dioxide is naturally occurring in Earth’s atmosphere. The passing of carbon dioxide through the atmosphere, oceans, soil, plants, and animals is what is known as the carbon cycle. This carbon cycle is important to sustaining life here on Earth. Carbon dioxide is important to life on earth because it is the main component of many biological compounds, minerals, and exists in various forms in the atmosphere (Carbon Cycle, 2014). Humans are disrupting this carbon cycle however by adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere and by removing natural absorbers of carbon dioxide, like forests to remove the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This is where the greenhouse effect comes into play, since the industrial revolution there has been an increase in the human-related emission of carbon dioxide mainly due to the burning or combustion of fossil fuels for energy. Other contributors include certain industrial processes, the differen...

    Read More

  • Revenge in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights

    743 Words  | 2 Pages

    Catherine’s revenge does not make things better for her.  Her  revenge on Heathcliff by blaming him for her upcoming death does not meliorate her mind.  Just before she dies, she ascribes Heathcliff for her “murder.”   “You have killed me, and thriven on it, I think” (Bronte 158).  Catherine resembles what Oliver Goldsmith said,  “When lovely woman stoops to folly, and finds too late that men betray, what charm can soothe her melancholy?

    Read More

  • Parables Of Jesus Christ Essay

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    What are parables of Jesus Christ? The word parable in general may mean the placing of two or more artifacts together to make a comparison or explain an ideology. This same concept could be related to the parables of Jesus Christ the son of God. Some people may choose to define these in various meanings depending on their own understanding. However, in my opinion, a parable is basically an analogy consisting of human circumstances that is accompanied with a spiritual or biblical lesson. Altogether, there are thirty-two parables; which could be found in the books of Mathew, Mark and Luke. Out of all these parables, eighteen of them are found in Luke and ten in Mathew. The eighteen parables found in Luke include, the Lost Coin, the Lost Son, the Unrighteous Steward, the Rich Man and Lazarus, the Unprofitable Servants, the Unrighteous Judge, the Pharisee and Publican, the Pounds, the Two Debtors, the Good Samaritan, the Friend at Midnight, the Rich Fool, the Watchful Servants, the Barren Fig Tree, the Chief Seats, the Great Supper, the Rash Builder, and the Rash King. The ten in Mathew include, the Laborers in the Vineyard, the Two Sons, the Marriage of the King's Son, the Ten Virgins, the Talents, the Tares, the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl of Great Price, the Draw Net, and the Unmerciful Servant. Again, the parables of Jesus Christ could be compared to a class of students with a teacher in the front. Basically Jesus Christ was the teacher and the whole world would be considered as the students. Out of all the parables of Jesus Christ, the main ones I will be talking about will be the parable of the good samaritan, and the parable of the sower.

    Read More

More about Catherine Sloper's Self-realization in Henry James' Washington Square

Open Document