Henry James Washington Square :: Henry JamesWashington Square

Henry JamesWashington SquareHenry James Washington Square is more than a ingenuous novel with simple characters connected by a simple plot. There are more complex issues brought forth within the text besides a daughter heartbroken over her fathers control and the departure of her money grubbing suitor. Yet only if the simplistic issues and characterizations are brought forth in the critical article pen by Elizabeth Hardwick.Within the pages of On Washington Square, published in English 3230, Hardwick offers her readers the entire plot, including the ending of James novel, without shedding new light on the text. She offers little indication of the material and only provides readers with the obvious.Hardwick explains the novel in such detail one could almost use it as a Cliff Notes edition to the book. She uses what is said close Townsend to demonstrate that he wants nothing more than Catherines money, yet she does not look close enough to realize that he is more complex than the information that the cashier provides (On Washington Square 26).The biggest fault in On Washington Square is that Hardwick does not recognize that the narrator of Washington Square provides the reader with only the information he wants to, leaving out details that could slant the story. There are several times in the novel when the narrator waffles on his truth using phrases like, It might very well be in regards to describing Catherines emotions (James 36). The narrator also leaves out information, which the reader assumes is unimportant, but cannot be sure, for the narrator has already shone that he does not guarantee to know the emotions of the characters, let alone the importance of their actions. For example, during a conversation between Morris and Catherine the narrator cuts off the conversation and states, This is all that need be recorded of their conversation (66). These statements and several like them show the narrator to be unreliable, yet Hardwick explains the novel through the narrators eyes, portraying the information as accurate.