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courted by two suitors, at least one of whom is very much in love with her and has her father's approval. She repels both and cultivates a life of her own that includes charity work and caring for her aging father. Eventually, Dr. Sloper, whom
Catherine has not confided in, demands of Catherine that she will not some day marry Townsend after his death. Although she has no contact with Townsend and no intention of ever marrying him, she refuses to be forced by her father into making any such commitment. We later discover that her father (whom she subsequently nurses at his demand on his deathbed) has responded to her refusal by cutting her inheritance to a mere fifth of what it otherwise would be, accompanying this decision with some cutting wording in a codicil to his will. Catherine, although not pleased with the wording, accepts the reduction in her inheritance without any resentment, living as she has been in any case well within the means willed to her by her deceased mother.
201:. After the deaths of his wife and infant son, Dr. Sloper lives with Catherine with his widowed sister, Mrs. Penniman, who effectively converts her temporary residence into a permanent arrangement and in effect comes to be charged with Catherine's education. Although never disclosed directly to Catherine, Doctor Sloper does not hold his daughter's quiet, reserved personality or plain appearance in high regard, finding these a disappointing contrast with her deceased mother. Catherine is not particularly socially gifted or possessed of great dress sense (a situation not helped by her father's rather parsimonious approach towards her).
212:, Marian introduces Catherine to Arthur's cousin Morris Townsend, who flirts with her throughout the party, the first time any man has paid her any attention. Catherine is smitten by the handsome, attractive and charming Morris, who has wasted his own relatively modest inheritance on wild living, and is now impecunious but claims to be a changed man. Morris is aware that Catherine has an inheritance from her mother and should normally inherit a vastly greater fortune from her father. Catherine, unused to any man paying her attention, is immediately taken by the charming handsome Morris.
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and been widowed. Surprised and dismayed by his unwanted reappearance in her life — which is informed by his knowledge that she has inherited from her father, even if not as much as he expected — she decisively rebuffs
Townsend's attempt to re-establish any relationship between them or presence in her life, and continues her unmarried life.
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Despite her father's demand that she end the relationship, Catherine continues to entertain
Townsend. Mrs. Penniman, a romantic foolish busybody, invests herself in their relationship as well, taking Townsend's side. When Catherine discloses to Dr. Sloper that they are engaged, the doctor makes plain
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After Dr. Sloper's death, the ever-interfering Aunt
Penniman suddenly orchestrates, without permission, a meeting between Catherine and the now middle-aged but still handsome Morris Townsend, who has reappeared in New York, having enjoyed little financial success in life and having married in Europe
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Once the
Slopers arrive back in New York, however, a calculating Townsend, now unwilling to go through with the marriage in the clear knowledge that Dr. Sloper will disinherit his daughter, breaks off his engagement to Catherine, indifferent to the distraught emotional state he is leaving her in and
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for a year, hoping she will forget the now somewhat-vacillating
Townsend (who, in contrast, hopes Catherine will win her father to his cause during the trip). Aunt Penniman invites Townsend to visit the Sloper home often in their absence (a fact later confirmed by Dr. Sloper by viewing his depleted
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Deeply wounded by
Townsend's desertion and with her formerly adoring relationship with her father badly damaged, Catherine — who finds herself with no-one in whom she can confide her trauma — continues her life at their home in Washington Square with her father and aunt and never marries, although
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Highly skeptical of
Townsend's motivations, Dr. Sloper has him to dinner in the Washington Square home, evaluates the younger man, and relying on his own shrewd judgment, decides that the younger man cannot be trusted and is really only interested in Catherine's inheritance. His suspicions of
232:, Dr. Sloper, after several months of declining to discuss Townsend, confronts Catherine angrily over her refusal to renounce Townsend in a way that momentarily leaves her feeling physically threatened. She, however, resolutely refuses to back down, upsetting Sloper with her disobedience.
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Townsend's mercenary motivations are confirmed when he seeks out an interview with
Townsend's sister, a woman of modest means but considerable integrity who Townsend is effectively living off of, and who advises (contrary to her own interests) against Catherine marrying her brother.
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that any such marriage will result in her exclusion from his will, and he reinforces this message by treating his loving and sensitive daughter with deliberate and extraordinary coldness, in an attempt to bend her to his will.
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about a father's attempts to thwart a romance between his naïve daughter and the man he believes wishes to marry her for her money. The novel was adapted into a play,
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with the first section taking its title from the novel and loosely following the same setup though re-imagined in an 1890s New York where same-sex marriage is legal.
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rationalizing it to the meddling Mrs. Penniman (whom he secretly holds in contempt) that without her full inheritance
Catherine will be at a disadvantage.
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James himself did not think highly of the novel. He described it as "poorish" and said, "The only good thing in the story is the girl."
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wine collection). She forwards letters from Townsend in her own letters to her niece. While Dr. Sloper and Catherine are in
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663:(Volume 15: 1970–1971) by Emilio García Riera, Universidad de Guadalajara, 1992, pp. 210–211.
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for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1985. The time period was updated to the early 1900s.
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as Dr. Sloper, and revived a number of times since. The play was
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as Tia Paula (Aunt Lavinia). The screenplay was written by
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and Augustus Goetz adapted the novel for the stage as
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Works originally published in The Cornhill Magazine
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525:. MIT Press. p. 88.
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709:. 25 January 2013.
469:as Mrs. Penniman.
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248:List of characters
193:In 1840s to 1850s
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588:, pp. 68–75.
577:
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489:
484:
478:
471:
467:Maggie Smith
448:
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417:
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401:Charles Ives
391:
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346:Wendy Hiller
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183:Fanny Kemble
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1377:The Heiress
1342:The Heiress
1320:Henry James
1119:Non-fiction
1092:Theatricals
830:Henry James
698:RVA Staff,
497:To Paradise
463:Ben Chaplin
368:as Morris.
341:The Heiress
331:Adaptations
230:Switzerland
162:The Heiress
157:Henry James
49:Illustrator
43:Henry James
1394:Categories
1271:Lamb House
1006:The Outcry
886:Confidence
508:References
177:Background
1231:Notebooks
1135:Hawthorne
568:, p. 797.
476:in 1976.
169:starring
77:Publisher
1350:Victoria
1033:Novellas
794:LibriVox
779:web site
646:13 April
620:13 April
418:Only You
382:Victoria
59:Language
1249:Related
775:at the
687:Reviews
465:, with
387:Julissa
206:engaged
131:9746895
71:Romance
62:English
1380:(play)
1361:(1997)
1353:(1972)
1345:(1949)
1328:(1880)
1241:(1917)
1226:(1914)
1218:(1914)
1210:(1913)
1202:(1909)
1194:(1907)
1186:(1905)
1178:(1903)
1170:(1893)
1162:(1893)
1154:(1888)
1146:(1884)
1138:(1879)
1130:(1878)
1111:(1895)
1103:(1895)
1095:(1894)
1076:(1903)
1068:(1898)
1060:(1888)
1052:(1878)
1044:(1874)
1025:(1917)
1017:(1917)
1009:(1911)
1001:(1904)
993:(1903)
985:(1902)
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969:(1899)
961:(1897)
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921:(1886)
913:(1886)
905:(1881)
897:(1880)
889:(1879)
881:(1878)
873:(1877)
865:(1875)
857:(1871)
846:Novels
765:(1881)
756:(1880)
584:
564:
461:, and
397:ballet
225:Europe
118:266 pp
39:Author
1369:Other
1334:Films
1084:Plays
447:made
144:813.4
115:Pages
67:Genre
648:2022
622:2022
582:ISBN
562:ISBN
440:.
336:Ruth
189:Plot
125:OCLC
1322:'s
745:at
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531:^
487:.
457:,
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416:(
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