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 intellect to effectively guide his family, making him the patriarch of his home. 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. Because of his not taking his daughter’s love life seriously, Catherine ultimately does not cave to her fathers will. Though Dr. Sloper is experienced and intelligent, he belittles his daughter and finds amusement in her romantic difficulties, …show more content…
Sloper is intelligent and has a high social status in the community, making him the patriarch of his family. Because he is well educated, he is able to care for his family and has the authority to rule his home. Dr. Sloper is described as “the ‘brightest’ doctor in the country, he daily justified his claim to the talents attributed to him by popular voice,” (James 28). From this quote one can perceive that Dr. Sloper is very smart considering that you must be educated to be a doctor, and even more educated to be “the brightest doctor in the country”. Being a part of the pantheon of the smartest doctors in America, showing his high intellect and qualifications, Dr. Sloper is eligible to be the head of his house. As for the other members of the house, Catherine and Mrs. Penniman, they are not seen as intelligent by Dr. Sloper. When Dr. Sloper says, “Catherine was not wise enough to discover that her aunt was a goose-a limitation of mind that could not fail to be agreeable to Mrs. Peniman,” (James 35) it shows his belief that neither of the women in his home are intelligent. During this time period men were commonly the patriarchs of their homes, even if the women in the home were educated, so the fact that neither Catherine nor Mrs. Penniman were considered smart made them even more unfit to be the patriarch of their home. From these quotations one can see that Dr. Sloper is a prominent and educated man, making him the patriarch of his …show more content…
Sloper is well-educated and prominent making him qualified to be the patriarch of his home. Though Dr. Sloper is wise and accomplished, he belittles his daughter and finds amusement in her romantic difficulties. Before Dr. Sloper catches on and takes Catherine seriously, she is already in love with Morris. Because Dr. Sloper does not take Catherine’s love life seriously, when he finally does, it is too late for him to undermine the relationship and Catherine has already formed an inexorable opinion: She loves Morris and wishes to marry him. This lack of respect and authority by Dr. Slopers leads Catherine to develop her own will and not follow her father’s commands. Dr. Sloper is a partially effective patriarch because his lack of seriousness and respect for his daughter engenders Catherine’s own opinion causing Dr. Sloper to lose his authority over her, which a successful patriarch must