>Washington Square is a psychological novel of interest to those who enjoy the interplay of relationships among characters.  The intertwined drama and dialogue make this an interesting study of people.  Dr. Sloper is a witty, popular and honest physician.  He married a wealthy woman whom he loves and admires and  who brings him many patients by her associations.  They have a boy who dies at the tender age of three.  Two years later his wife has a baby girl and then dies within two weeks of the birth.  Dr. Sloper proposes to “make the best” of his little girl even though she is not what he desired. 
When Catherine is ten years old her Aunt Lavinia joins their household after her husband dies.  Dr. Sloper asks Lavinia to make his daughter a clever woman.  As Catherine matures we see that she does not become such a daughter, instead she is rather dull, quiet and extremely shy.  Her appearance is plain.  She is a disappointment in most every way to her father. Her one way of expressing herself was in her dress, and this was not always in the best of taste.  ”It made him grimace to think that a child of his should be both ugly and overdressed”
Catherine attends a party and meets a very handsome man of the world, Morris Townsend.  He has spent all of a small inherited fortune and begins pursuing Catherine for her money.  Catherine is enchanted with this handsome man and soon falls in love.  Dr. Sloper will not consent to a marriage with this mercenary who acts the gentleman yet has no career. Will Catherine defy her father?
 This novel written in the 1840s is an example of the worldview of that time.  Could Henry James have been making a social comment on the restrictions of that time?