Set during the Victorian period in Washington Square, New York, this short classic depicts an era gone by (thank goodness) of women subservience. Catherine is the devoted only child of a wealthy and successful widower, Dr. Sloper. They live with Dr. Sloper's sister Mrs. Penniman. When she meets and falls in love with Morris Townsend, a carefree and handsome fellow, she finds herself manipulated by two conflicting views toward Morris: her father who dislikes him and suspects that he is only after her inheritance, and her Aunt who simply adores him. The battle of wills between all of these four main characters renders the read a bit of a gentle suspense.
'During a portion of the first half of the present century, and more particularly during the latter part of it, there flourished and practised in the city of New York a physician who enjoyed perhaps an exceptional share of the consideration which, in the United States, has always been bestowed upon distinguished members of the medical profession.'(opening lines)
'It is well known that in New York it is possible for a young girl to occupy a primary one. Catherine, who was extremely modest, had no desire to shine, and on most social occasions, as they are called, you would have found her lurking in the background. She was extremely fond of her father, and very much afraid of him; she thought him the cleverest and handsomest and most celebrated of men. The poor girl found her account so completely in the exercise of her affections that the little tremor of fear that mixed itself with her filial passion gave the thing an extra relish rather than blunted its edge.'(9)
'In front of them was the Square, containing a considerable quantity of inexpensive vegetation, enclosed by a wooden paling, which increased its rural and accessible appearance; and round the corner was the more august precinct of Fifth Avenue, taking its origin at this point with a spacious and confident air which already marked it for high destinies. I know not whether it is owing to the tenderness of early associations, but this portion of New York appears to many persons the most delectable. It has a kind of established repose which is not of frequent occurrence in other quarters of the long, shrill city; it has a riper, richer, more honourable look than any of the upper ramifications of the great longitudinal thoroughfare -- the look of having had something of a social history.'(13)
'He learned what he had asked some three or four days later, after Morris Townsend, with his cousin, had called in Washington Square. Mrs. Penniman did not tell her brother, on the drive home, that she had intimated to this agreeable young man, whose name she did not know, that, with her niece, she should be very glad to see him; but she was greatly pleased, and even a little flattered, when, late on a Sunday afternoon, the two gentleman made their appearance.'(21)
'The reason Catherine has received so little attention is that she seemed to all the young men to be older then themselves. She is so large, and she dresses -- so richly. They are rather afraid of her, I think; she looks as if she had been married already, and you know they don't like married women. 'And if our young men appear disinterested,' the Doctor's wiser sister went on, 'it is because they marry, as a general thing, so young, before twenty-five, at the age of innocence and sincerity, before the age of calculation. If they only waited a little, Catherine would fare better.'(30-31)
'You women are all the same! But the type to which your brother belongs was made to be the ruin of you, and you were made to be its handmaids and victims. The sign of the type in question is the determination -- sometimes terrible in its quiet intensity -- to accept nothing of life but its pleasures, and to secure these pleasures chiefly by the aid of your complaisant sex. Young men of this 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. These other in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred are women. What our young friends chiefly insist upon is that someone else shall suffer for them; and women to that sort of thing, as you must know, wonderfully well.'(65)
'She will cling," said Mrs. Almond, 'she will certainly cling.'
'Yes; as I say, she will stick.'
'Cling is prettier. That's what those very simple natures always do, and nothing could be simpler than Catherine. She doesn't take many impressions; but when she takes one she keeps it. She is like a copper kettle that received a dent, you may polish up the kettle, but you can't efface the mark.'(95)
'"She would touch me if she didn't irritate me. That's the effect she has upon me now. I have tried everything upon her; I really have been quite merciless. But it is of no use whatever; she is absolutely glued. I have passed, in consequence, into the exasperated stage. At first I had a good deal of a certain genial curiosity about it; I wanted to see if she really would stick. But, good Lord, one's curiosity is satisfied! I see she is capable of it, and now she can let go."
"She will never let go," said Mrs. Almond.'(122)
a Wordsworth Edition Limited 1995
162 pages
Book owned
Book qualifies for : 100+ Reading Challenge
The Victorian Challenge 2011
Happy July 4th to everyone!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment