Other editions of book Washington Square

Washington Square is a tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, unemotional father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble. The book is often compared with Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. Dr. Austin Sloper, a wealthy and highly successful physician, lives in Washington Square, New York with his daughter Catherine. Catherine is a sweet-natured young woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, dull in terms of personality and intellect. His sister, Lavinia Penniman, a meddlesome woman with a weakness for romance and melodrama, is the only other member of the doctor's household.Henry James (1843–1916) was an American-British writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

Washington Square is a tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, unemotional father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble. The book is often compared with Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. Dr. Austin Sloper, a wealthy and highly successful physician, lives in Washington Square, New York with his daughter Catherine. Catherine is a sweet-natured young woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, dull in terms of personality and intellect. His sister, Lavinia Penniman, a meddlesome woman with a weakness for romance and melodrama, is the only other member of the doctor's household.Henry James (1843–1916) was an American-British writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

Washington Square is a tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, unemotional father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble. The book is often compared with Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. Dr. Austin Sloper, a wealthy and highly successful physician, lives in Washington Square, New York with his daughter Catherine. Catherine is a sweet-natured young woman who is a great disappointment to her father, being physically plain and, he believes, dull in terms of personality and intellect. His sister, Lavinia Penniman, a meddlesome woman with a weakness for romance and melodrama, is the only other member of the doctor's household.Henry James (1843–1916) was an American-British writer who spent most of his writing career in Britain. He is regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism.

Despite the fact that James himself never managed to show any real affection for “Washington Square”, it did become one of his most popular works. Critic, Donald Hall certainly echoed the general consensus that “Everybody likes “Washington Square”, even the denigrators of Henry James", Admired for its old fashioned simplicity, the novel unfolds the tragic comedy of the four central characters; Dr. Sloper, a brilliant, unemotional man, his sweet but plain daughter, Catherine, who is naively charmed by the romantic interest of Morris Townsend, and the Dr.’s sister, Lavinia, a meddlesome woman with a weakness for romance. The book has been adapted to theatre, opera and film, most recently in a 1997 production starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Ben Chaplin, and Maggie Smith.

Washington Square is a short novel by Henry James. Originally published in 1880 as a serial in Cornhill Magazine and Harper's New Monthly Magazine, it is a structurally simple tragicomedy that recounts the conflict between a dull but sweet daughter and her brilliant, unemotional father. The plot of the novel is based upon a true story told to James by his close friend, British actress Fanny Kemble. The book is often compared with Jane Austen's work for the clarity and grace of its prose and its intense focus on family relationships. James was not a great fan of Washington Square. He tried to read it over for inclusion in the New York Edition of his fiction (1907–1909) but found that he could not, so the novel was not included. Readers, though, have sufficiently enjoyed the book to make it one of the more popular of James' works. (wikipedia.org)

This ebook includes a biographical introduction, a short, critical analysis of James' career and a brief introduction to this work.Originally serialised in the Cornhill Magazine during 1880 and published in book form later that year, Washington Square is short novel relating the damaging relationship between the domineering Austen Sloper and his sweet but essentially dull daughter Catherine. When she meets and is courted by Morris Townsend, Austen Sloper disapproves, considering the suitor to have designs on the family inheritance. Although ultimately, this is shown to be true, the father's refusal to grant approval to a marriage that the daughter desires creates distance between them.In the context of James' full portfolio, Washington Square is a light work, however it presages the familiar Jamesian pattern of character development over plot. In ordinary circumstances, the level of plot movement might be dealt with in a few chapters, but James' preference is for the characters to enable a plot rather than be changed by it. What counts is that Austen Sloper is correct in his assessment of Townsend but heartless in his application, whilst Catherine is stricken and needs time to see the truth in her father's actions.

In 1880 Washington Square was published simultaneously in serialized form in both the United States and England. Very quickly it appeared in book form before the end of the year. It is one of James' shorter novels. By the time it was published Henry James was already at work on The Portrait of a Lady and showed no great enthusiasm for Washington Square. He excluded the latter work from his 1908 New York Edition of collected works. The story is told by an omniscient narrator. The story is well structured and relatively straight forward in its style. It is a tale of a young woman restricted by her class and times, who is dominated by her father.

- One of Henry James' most popular tales, Washington Square is the spellbinding tale of a handsome young man wooing the rather plain daughter of a wealthy doctor. Suspecting that money is driving the young man's keen interest, the doctor forbids their marriage. His meddling sister then tries to intervene on the young man's behalf and the intriguing story becomes yet more twisted and unpredictable.- Just as accessible and enjoyable for today's modern readers as it would have been when first published over a century ago, the novel is one of the great works of English and American literature and continues to be widely read throughout the world.- This meticulous digital edition from Heritage Illustrated Publishing is a faithful reproduction of the original text and is beautifully illustrated with a number of atmospheric historical paintings that reflect the mood of the novel.

Tells the story of Catherine Sloper, the plain, obedient daughter of the well-to-do Dr. August Sloper of Washington Square. When a handsome, man-about-town proposes to Catherine, her father forbids the marriage because he believes the man to be after Catherine s fortune & future inheritance. The conflict between father, daughter, & suitor provokes consequences in the lives of all three that make this story one of James's most piercingly memorable. This handsomely designed edition includes a portfolio of archival photos that provide a visual & social portrait of Washington Square & lower Manhattan during the era in which James wrote this novel.