![]() ![]() The narrator often offers his comments directly to the reader (“though it is an awkward confession to make about one’s heroine, I must add she was something of a glutton”, Chapter II) The novel is told from a third-person omniscient point of view. This story shares the main four characters and the basic plot of what eventually would become Washington Square. More importantly for my interests, James also pulled from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Rapacinni’s Daughter,” which also features an imprisoned, innocent daughter, a tyrannical father, and a young male lover who appears to promise liberation. According to the Oxford World Classics edition introduction, written by Adrian Poole, Henry James wrote down the details of a story she told him in his diary. The most famous source is actress Fanny Kemble, who was known for her massive supply of gossip. James had multiple sources for the novel’s plot. In fact, he was unable to reread it, causing Washington Square to not be included in the New York Edition of his fiction. Although Washington Square was well received and beloved by his contemporary readers and beyond, Henry James disliked it. ![]()
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