Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Washington Square
Go deeper: the whole of Washington Square
About 4 h 20 min to read.Für wen es gedacht ist
You will love this if you enjoy family dramas with sharp dialogue, quiet suspense about money and motive, and the old New York of brownstones and carriages.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
Would you want your father to be right about the person you love, if being right meant losing him? That question hangs over Catherine Sloper, a shy young woman in a handsome new house on Washington Square in New York. Her father is a celebrated doctor, witty and sure of himself, and he has never quite forgiven her for being plain.
Washington Square is a short novel by Henry James, published in 1880. He returns to the New York of his childhood and tells a small, sharp story of a father, a daughter, a meddling aunt and a handsome suitor with no money. You get an easy plot and a quiet argument about love, money and power.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1Dr. Sloper wanted a brilliant childFree
- 2A foolish aunt moves into the house
- 3A handsome stranger asks Catherine to dance
- 4The doctor studies the suitor and dislikes him
- 5Catherine announces her engagement and her father refuses
- 6Aunt Penniman schemes while Catherine stays quiet
- 7Catherine chooses Morris and is sent to Europe
- 8In a lonely valley the doctor shows his anger
- 9Love and money are tangled from the start
- 10A father's love can become a kind of control
- 11The narrator tells the story with a smile
Punkt 1 von 11
Dr. Sloper wanted a brilliant child
Dr. Austin Sloper is a celebrated physician in New York. He is clever, witty and rich. He married for love, and his wife brought him a large dowry as well.
Then life turns hard. His first child, a boy he adored, dies at three. Two years later his wife dies soon after giving birth to a daughter. The doctor blames himself more harshly than anyone else does.
The daughter is named Catherine, after her mother, and she disappoints him. She is healthy, kind and obedient, but she is not pretty and not quick. Catherine adores him, with a little fear mixed in, and she saves every scrap of praise he lets fall. He decides to expect nothing, so that any surprise will be a gain.
A parent's quiet disappointment can shape a child's whole life.
That’s 1 of 11 key points.
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Questions about Washington Square
What is Washington Square about?
It tells of Catherine Sloper, a shy heiress in nineteenth-century New York, her witty father Dr. Sloper, and the handsome Morris Townsend, who courts her. The doctor thinks Morris wants only her money, and the story follows the resulting family conflict.
Is Washington Square a true story?
It is fiction. Henry James published it in 1880, and set it in the New York of his youth. He said the plot came from a story a friend told him, but the characters and scenes are his own.
Who is Morris Townsend in Washington Square?
Morris is a charming, good-looking man in his thirties who has travelled widely and spent his small inheritance. He courts Catherine, and the novel keeps asking whether he loves her or her fortune.
Is Washington Square easy to read?
Yes, it has a clear plot with a small cast and short chapters, and the story moves through lively conversations. James writes with a light, ironic voice that makes the family drama easy to follow.
What is the main message of Washington Square?
The book shows how love, money and parental control can tangle in a family. It suggests that being sure you are right is different from being kind, and that quiet people can have strong wills.
Cite this edition
James, Henry. Washington Square. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/washington-square.
James, H. (2026). Washington Square. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/washington-square (Original work published 1880)
James, Henry. Washington Square. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/washington-square.
@book{james2026washington,
author = {James, Henry},
title = {Washington Square},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/washington-square},
note = {First published 1880}
}
