Washington Square as American Melodrama

Summary:

Henry James begins his novel by describing the life of Dr. Austin Sloper, whose wife and first and only son die tragically in the span on 5 years. The story then follows the life of Dr. Sloper’s daughter, Catherine. 

While Catherine is described as being loyal and faithful, her father is still disappointed in her. He resents Catherine because she doesn’t carry any of her parent’s traits, like her mother’s beauty and her father’s intelligence. Overall, she is viewed as a boring, plain girl, and Dr. Sloper struggles to love her despite his disappointment.

The other prominent characters in the work are Dr. Sloper’s sisters, Mrs. Almond and Lavinia Penniman. Lavinia and Mrs. Almond serve as maternal figures to Catherine. Lavinia wants the best for Catherine, but she is often preoccupied with melodramatic tendencies and delusional ideas of love. Mrs. Almond, on the other hand, is more calculated and realistic but still understanding and supportive of Catherine.

Early on in the novel, Catherine meets Morris Townsend at her cousin Marian’s engagement party. They are immediately interested and drawn to each other. Aunt Lavinia has also taken an interest in Catherine and Mr. Townsend’s potential relationship, and serves as a mediator between the two, trying fiercely to foster their romantic relationship.

Themes:

Familial relationships

Familial relationships are of paramount importance in Washington Square, especially the relationship between Catherine and her father. I found it interesting that, while we understand that Dr. Sloper does not particularly love Catherine, he develops strong feelings regarding her relationship with Mr. Townsend.

"Young men of his class never do anything for themselves that they can get other people to do for them, and it is the infatuation, the devotion, the superstition of others that keeps them going.” (page 70)

The above quote demonstrates Dr. Sloper’s dislike of Mr. Townsend. He is quick to place Morris in a box based on his profession, despite not knowing him very well. Dr. Sloper believes Mr. Townsend is manipulative and selfish, and that Catherine’s “infatuation” and “devotion” towards him will blind her to the truth of his evil character.

·        However, to a certain extent, I think Dr. Sloper is quite emotionally manipulative towards Catherine. He becomes angry when Catherine chooses not to listen to him, even though he hasn’t expressed interest or care throughout the entirety of her childhood. This shocks Catherine, but it doesn’t deter her from pursuing Morris. In fact, I think her father’s disapproval only heightens her defiance. Moreover, Dr. Sloper threatens to disown her if she marries Mr. Townsend. I think Dr. Sloper believes his behavior towards Catherine is justified because of their father/daughter relationship, but he is just as manipulative as the suitor he so despises. There are expectations associated with Catherine and Dr. Sloper’s relationship, namely that because Catherine was born into a family of high social class, she is expected to be modest, respectful, and obedient to her father; it is precisely in her disregard of these expectations that melodrama arises.

Fantasy vs. Reality

There are several characters whose ideologies exist in either reality or the fantasy realm. For example, Mrs. Almond serves as the foil to Aunt Lavinia; she is the rational to Lavinia’s imaginative, the grounding realism to Lavinia’s romantic fantasies. The juxtaposition of these two characters as well as their impact on Catherine heightens the overall melodrama of the novel.

In “The Melodramatic Imagination,” Peter Brooks says, “The desire to express all seems a fundamental characteristic of the melodramatic mode. Nothing is spared because nothing is left unsaid; the characters stand on stage and utter the unspeakable, give voice to their deepest feelings, dramatize through their heightened and polarized words and gestures the whole lesson of their relationship.” Lavinia embodies this “desire to express all,” she is never shy about her opinions and, consequently, is one of the driving plot devices.