Washington Square Dr Sloper Quotes

In the novel Washington Square, by Henry James written in 1880, Dr. Sloper demonstrates that he has the ability and wisdom to effectively guide his family, making him the patriarch of his family. A patriarch is the male head of the family and can be justified by the fact that the father has the highest level of ability, knowledge, and wisdom and therefore is the best one to rule. Although Dr. Sloper is the patriarch of his family, being well educated and wise, he is only a partially effective patriarch. Due to him not taking his daughters love life seriously, Catherine ends up disobeying him. Though Dr. Sloper is wise and capable, he belittles his daughter and finds amusement in her romantic difficulties, making him only a partially effective

Sloper belittles his daughter and finds humor in her romantic relationships. All Catherine wants is her father’s approval, with Dr. Sloper recognizing this he takes advantage of her and pokes fun at her, “He is in love with this regal creature, then? The doctor inquired, humorously,” (James 47). Dr. Sloper knows Catherine is not regal, so from this quote one can see how he makes fun of her without her even noticing. The way Dr. Sloper inquires “humorously” shows that he takes Catherine and her love life as a joke. After Dr. Sloper and Catherine have a fight over Morris Dr. Sloper reacts in this way, “The Doctor took several turns round his study, with his hands in his pockets, and a thin sparkle, possibly of irritation, but partly also of something like humor, in his eye. "By Jove," he said to himself, "I believe she will stick--I believe she will stick!" And this idea of Catherine "sticking" appeared to have a comical side, and to offer a prospect of entertainment. He determined, as he said to himself, to see it out,” (James 129). After reading this quote one can really see how Dr. Sloper does not take his daughter seriously. Uses of words like “humor”, “comical”, and “entertainment” shows that Dr. Sloper views his daughter’s life as something like a joke or a game. Dr. Sloper is more interested in what happens for entertainment purposes than for the well-being of his daughter. This lack of authority to stop his daughter and the comical way he views the situation makes

Sloper only a partially effective patriarch. Because Dr. Sloper does not take Catherine’s love life seriously, he never really sets any rules for Catherine regarding Morris. When Dr. Sloper realizes that Catherine and Morris getting married is an actual threat he takes Catherine to Europe for a year in an attempt to make her forget about Morris. However this strategy does not work and can be seen as a failure when Dr. Sloper questions Catherine towards the end of the trip, “Have you given him up?” The question was unexpected, but Catherine was only superficially unprepared. “No, father!” she answered (James 154). From this quotation one can see that Catherine is still in love with Morris and intends to marry him. Because Dr. Sloper did not take Catherine seriously in the beginning of her and Morris’s relationship and try to stop her, Catherine ends up falling in love with Morris and disobeying her father. Even though Catherine and Morris do not end up getting married, Dr. Sloper is scared Catherine will marry Morris when he dies. Dr. Sloper begs Catherine, “Promise me not to marry Morris Townsend after I am gone." This was what made Catherine start, as I have said; but her start was a silent one, and for some moments she said nothing…I don't think I can promise that,” (James 205). Even after Morris leaves Catherine, she still refuses to promise her father she will never marry him. This shows how much love Catherine has for