Rating: 
Summary: "Everyone likes Washington Square."
Review: "Everyone likes Washington Square. Even the denigerators of Henry James." This short novel combines the deeply insightful character analysis almost exclusive to Henry James, without all of his often difficult and tiresome prose style. The plot seems simple enough: Catherine, our strikingly three-dimensional protagonist, is faced with a difficult decision. Should she follow the advice of her sentimental aunt and marry Morris, the poor, jobless, seemingly benevolent lover? Or should she listen to her cold, intellectual father, to whom she is completely devoted, and examine Morris' admittedly questionable motives for wanting to marry Catherine, an heiress? James' depth of analysis of his characters psychology is unparalleled throughout American literature, and this too-often forgotten classic should appeal to most of us. "Washington Square" is one of James' earlier works, but it does not lack the brilliant psychological observations and social critique of his later novels. However, for those who find his sometimes laborious and complex prose style a bit tiring, "Washington Square" is a breath of fresh air. I recomend this book to anyone who enjoys American literature.
Rating: 
Summary: Three and a Half Stars
Review: "Washington Square" is one of Henry James's earliest, shortest, and most accessible novels. However, the term "most accessible" is relative: "Washington Square" is easy to read compared to James's later work like "Wings of the Dove," but if you have never read James, be prepared for unusual syntax, long, twisty sentences, and very dense description of characters and actions. Although this is a short novel, it is not to be read in an afternoon.
The book is about a young woman named Catherine Sloper, the only surviving child of a doctor. The doctor, while he treats his daughter kindly, regards her as dull, unattractive, and unspectacular in every way. He is therefore suspicious when a young man named Morris Townsend takes an interest in her. Townsend is charismatic, but poor; Catherine, because of an inheritance from her mother and money she is due to get from her father, is quite well off. Dr. Sloper suspects, and the reader is clearly meant to see, that Townsend is interested in Catherine only for her money. The doctor attempts to separate them, threatening to cut Catherine out of his will, while at the same time Catherine's idealistic, meddlesome aunt attempts to bring them together. Both are surprised when Catherine's will turns out to be stronger than they had reckoned.
In many ways this is a sad and affecting book, but I can't wholly recommend it. Part of it is just my own personal impatience with James's style. Also, short as the book is, it is still really too long for the subject. A note on the text indicates that it was originally intended as a short story, and it might have been better that way. But if you are looking for a relatively easy introduction to Henry James, this or "Daisy Miller" would be a good choice.
Rating: 
Summary: Most Accesible James Novel About Daughter, Father, & Suitor
Review: "Washington Square", published in 1880, is not, and will not be, regarded as Henry James's best novel -- the honor would go to "The Portrait of a Lady" or much later works like "The Wings of the Dove" -- but this short but richly woven book deserve our attention. The book is always readable and intriguing while it does not fail to deliver the amazingly realistic characters living in New York City of the 19th century. Certainly, this is the best place for any beginners of James to start.The book starts with an introduction of a New York physician Dr. Sloper and his only daughter Catherine. While the doctor gained respectable position among the patients, he loses his wife suddenly after the birth of Catherine, who grows up to be a not particularly clever nor beautiful girl. Catherine, painfully shy, becomes a dutiful, but perhaps dull, daughter, the kind of a girl whose awkward behaviors her father approves always with a little detached attitude. Then, comes a good-looking man Morris Townsend, who has no money but gives a word of "gentleman." But what does that mean when Doctor suspects this is just another fortune hunter, who is seeking for the money Catherine is to inherit after his death? Still, Doctor is half amused, even entertained, by this unexpected visitor who now seems to have gained the love of his daughter. But he didn't expect that Catherine would show surprising obstinate attitude in spite of his threat of disinheriting her. The book is written, as a whole, with a very tragic note, but as you read on, you will find that, just like Jane Austen's narrator, "Washington Square" has an amusing aspect of comedy at first. The meddling widow Mrs. Penniman, whose wild imagination is one of her weakness, is a good example. She runs around between Morris and Catherine, only to annoy both of them. Henry James's touch when he treats these characters, however, sounds more incisive and even colder than Jane Austen's, if not totally cruel -- and the cruelty is gradually obvious as the plot unfolds. Our main concern is about Catherine. The story is in itself trite and insignificant (James heard the original episode which the book is based on, in England from actress Fanny Kemble, and the brief note remains), but it is the growth (or change) of the apparently insipid heroine, and the interations between her and other characters (or between those other characters) that always impress us greatly. James's pen ruthlessly cuts into the hearts of those characters, and the intense, skillfully-constructed dialogue which show what is going on in the characters would instantly grip the readers' mind. Some readers might champion more condensed prose of "The Golden Bowl", deeming "Washington Square" as too lightweight. In a sense, it is, I admit; the novel is not long, and the syntax is very easy to understand (for James, I mean). Still, the book is never dull, always fast-paced (for James, again), and the touching fate of the heroine Catherine is not a thing to be missed. The novel is turned into films and they are also great, I must add. William Wyler's version is a masterpiece, with Olivia de Havilland/Montgomery Clift/Ralph Richardson trio, but more recent production made in 1997 is also good.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling and depressing.
Review: "Washington Square" is a story bursting with pain, sorrow, egotism, and shattered dreams. Having seen the movies "The Heiress" (1949) and "Washington Square" (1997), I possessed emotions and images going into the book, that others may not feel. Nonetheless, I came to many conclusions. Dr. Sloper, the father who emotionally-starved his only daughter, Catherine, used his money to pit his daughter into her own private Hell. The same money Dr. Sloper thought Morris, Catherine's beau, would use frivolously. He had no qualms about hurting his daughter in any form, and viewed Catherine as the object that took away all of his happiness. Catherine, the plain heiress who was said to lack beauty, intelligence, wit, and anything worthwhile, fears, but loves her father. She thinks he is magnificent, even when he spurts hatred towards her. She falls in love with Morris Townsend, who is said to only want her for her money, and this is when the trials and tribulations begin. Aunt Lavinia, Dr. Sloper's sister and Catherine's Aunt, is a young girl at heart, and only worsens things by her imaginative involvement. Although it must be so, I did not get a full impression that Morris was only after Catherine's money. The story is heart wrenching and you'll feel disgust for the characters, but will also feel shame for them. As a side note, the 1997 movie "Washington Square" is the most faithful of the two movies, excluding the ending, and in my opinion, much more fulfilling than "The Heiress." The latter is dramatic, but does not delve into the main parts of the story. I recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Life's an illusion, love is a dream...
Review: This novella by Henry James finds the prolific author uncharacteristically tight-lipped. It's a good primer to his later, much more challenging Wings of the Dove, which is also about the way money, or the lure of money, ironically cheapens and devalues human relationships. But Wings of the Dove is an experimental novel, where the story is decidedly secondary to James's psychological probings. Washington Square -- more unassuming, more unpretentious, more straightforward -- is also much more disturbing. The central character, Catherine Sloper, is martyred by James right off the bat as "plain," without compensatory wit or intelligence. She has a good heart, but it's implied that this is just a side effect of her rather bovine complacence. Her martinet father can't help but blame her for his beloved wife's death, and her only companion is an insipid, scheming aunt, the kind of woman whose modern day equivalent scours Cosmopolitan for advice on how to land a husband. With no outlet for her untapped stores of affection, and more than one void to fill, the ingenuous Catherine is easy prey -- carrion -- for a handsome and unscrupulous fortune hunter named Morris Townsend. Accustomed as we are to Jane Austen's tart-tongued heroines, not to mention modern day losers who have a knack for bucking the odds -- Forrest Gump, The Waterboy, almost any other piece of bogus Hollywood populism you care to name -- James's acceptance of Catherine's fundamental unredeemability leaves the reader in the lurch. It gets under your skin. The chilly effectiveness of Washington Square derives partly from the fact that seemingly everyone, author included, is conspiring against poor Catherine. Her aloneness is almost unbearable. We can't help but reflect how happiness is genetic, and that if she had been born with a more expansive personality ( or bust size ) the world of men would be at her disposal. Instead, the reader waits in vain for a reversal of fortune; either Catherine will blossom, her father will learn to love her unconditionally, or she'll come to her senses and shoot down her transparently insincere suitor. Nothing like that happens. In fact, there's the uncomfortable suggestion that Catherine knows she's being strung along, and lets it happen anyway. It's either that or stay home and knit. By the end of the novel, it's clear that James is attempting something like an American version of Flaubert's Sentimental Education. Both stories track a confused character through a long period of time, zeroing in on their obsession with an unattainable love object. In each novel, the reader's hopes are raised for change, epiphany, victory, only to be rewarded with disappointment, anticlimax, and the ruthless thwarting of expectations. However, where the resigned Flaubert is simply sighing "C'est la vie," James is pointing a few stubby fingers: at capitalism, at stubborn pride, at the simple unfairness of fate. James may seem mostly apathetic to Catherine but he, more than anyone, could relate to the agony of spinsterhood. This book seethes under its mask of propriety.
Rating:
Summary: A woman's life
Review: An excellent, short novel that probes the traditionally most important events of a woman's life -- her marriage opportunities. James portrays a woman who is as much the victim in society of her lack of beauty as she is of the two men in her life: a father who is at best negligent and often overtly cruel and a fortune-hunter who is breathtaking to behold but morally empty. James has the courage to demonstrate through Dr. Sloper's character (the father) the hardness and even abusiveness with which men treated women who lacked beauty or great wit. And he added a swain who pretended to treat the heroine in a finer manner, but who was merely after her money. Catherine Sloper learns her lessons slowly but seemingly well. Written beautifully, James has a small masterpiece of social commentary here, with a fair and objective presentation of one woman's life. Delightful to read, but sad that the heroine must cease to search for happiness merely because men have taught her not to trust their protestations of love.
Rating:
Summary: An Incredible Little Piece of Literature
Review: Being a lover of nearly all things Jamesian, this is yet another masterpiece that juxtaposes a painfully plain heiress against her newly found passion. James is as lyrically splendid as always and it's definitely worth a read.... I think if I would have changed anything I would have loved for it to be longer, in fact.
Rating:
Summary: Henry at his most accessible
Review: Even if (especially if!) you've never been able to get through one of the impenetrable longer novels (i.e., Wings of Dove, Golden Bowl, etc.), try Washington Square to find out what Henry James is all about. The short-novel format keeps James' winding, windy prose on story-telling task, without compromising his greatest novelistic qualities: his insights into his characters' motivations and his convincing renderings of the societies he describes. A really fantastic book!
Rating:
Summary: My First Henry James Novel--What an Observer He Is!
Review: Gosh! What a read! Has anyone ever committed to the page more thrillingly, closely observed fiction So deft! So amusing! Such a deep understanding of the psychology of his characters! What a verbose, but wonderful prose stylist Henry James is. The story wasn't as interesting as the stylish, extravagantly brainy way it was told. Morris seemed unnecessarily bright for a cad. Morris is a beautiful schemer who, with the help of Catherine's father and her Aunt Lavinia, somehow manages to ruin Catherine's life by ruining her for other men. Catherine is the passive center of the story. I saw her as unsympathetically as her father does as a virtually charmless, inarticulate, clumsy, unadventurous, passive-agressive, stubborn child woman. All in all, its a unique, involving story with an ending that screams minor masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A smart character portrayal, not a love story: 3.5 stars
Review: Henry James' work, Washington Square, is simply a love story with psychological undertones. In it, the main character Catherine Sloper falls deeply in love with a handsome suitor, Morris Townsend. The irony here is that Catherine is a plain girl who possesses a "poor dumb eloquence." As well, besides possessing great wealth of her own, Catherine has an enormous inheritance from her deceased mother. Conversely, Morris is a handsome, debonair suitor whose financial situation may only be described as relative poverty. His charm is enjoyed by almost everyone but Catherine's father, Dr. Austin Sloper. Suspicious of Morris' motives, Dr. Sloper accuses him of marrying Catherine for her fortune and vows to remove all inheritances in her name should the union occur. These circumstances create a bitter relationship between father and daughter, as Catherine must eventually choose between her family and fortune and her lover. In her struggle, however, Catherine gains an admirable strength of character, which is central to the message of the story. As examined through a brief plot summary, Washington Square contains no clear-cut revelations in its message. Upon careful investigation of the characters, however, it seems that James wants the reader to decide whether Morris' love is true or not. In other words, in terms of the main character's conflict, should Catherine have chosen her father or her lover? In the end, James has Catherine choose neither, thus carefully creating a plot that can be scrutinized from different perspectives. With each of Morris' actions, it is unclear whether he does it out of love for Catherine or out of greed for her money. The author achieves this effect by judicious word use and careful insertions of flaws in the characters of Morris Townsend and Dr. Sloper. Washington Square was a novel I read for school after having visited Washington Square itself many times. Having said that, although it's an excellent read for literary analysis, it's also a rather dry novel. For a student wanting to complete a literary analysis and enjoy a good book at the same time, this is not good news, thus the 3.5 stars. However, its strong points are the psychological power and the keen insight James has on human nature. Read it for those things, if anything.
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