Henry James's short novel Washington Square presents the story of Catherine, a young woman who lives with her father, a doctor, and who is dependent on him for her livelihood. Her story represents the plight of women in the nineteenth century, dependent on men and able to escape from one situation only if they find another man to take care of them. The woman had less choice in this matter in the nineteenth century than women do today. Her choices were limited first by social standing and economic realities, and second by decisions made by the paternal figure watching over her before she was betrothed. The novel addresses gender issues James saw in his own time and suggests that women should be given greater freedom. Catherine becomes stronger in the course of the novel, and though she remains alone, she has made a choice that is entirely her own, asserting her right to decide how she will live her own life.
The man who courts her is an opportunist, but he is also representative of his time, a man who takes a view of women that was prevalent in the nineteenth century. The role of women in nineteenth-century society was largely subordinate to the male and was also limited to the household to a very great degree. Middle- and upper-class women had an ideal for women, and the perfect woman was one who was devoted to the care and attention of her husband and children. For the unmarried woman, such devotion was to be directed toward a good cause serving the community. Some women were paid for work and had to work to make ends meet, but generally it was considered improper for women of a certain class to earn a living. Women could not vote, involve themselves in politics, or argue with their husbands, and they had no legal rights to possessions or their own children in case of divorce (Bartley and Loxton 29).
A doctrine that applied at the time was known as the doctrine of separate spheres:
This doctrine, which was bo...