No Subject

[Guinnevere]

I'm about to re-read Washington Square, which I first read many years ago after viewing The Heiress, starring Olivia deHaviland and Montgomery Clift, on television. All my life, movie versions of classic books have inspired curiosity in me, to know what the author REALLY said, and how the film script was different from the book. Later I read it again in a college literature class.<br><br>My first reading of Washington Square impressed me very much with Henry James' subtlety and understanding of human psychology, which more than made up for the stuffy, old fashioned style of writing. Mr. James makes it abundantly clear that Dr. Sloper does not want Catherine to have even the illusion of romantic love, because he resents her for living, when her mother died giving birth. He misses no opportunity to remind her with his aloof manner and sarcasm that she is a "disappointment" to him: as plain and dull as her mother was beautiful and fascinating.<br><br>But the truth is that he is shifting the blame that he thinks ought to fall on himself. He is the famous doctor who could not save his own wife, and the cause of her being pregnant in the first place. He can never forgive Catherine, because he can never forgive himself. Poor Catherine must pay the freight for his guilt. As I recall (more or less) a quote from the book: "Morris Townsend had toyed with her affection, and her father had broken its spring."<br><br>Now I get to see how accurate my memory is. :)