Chapters 9 and 10 Summary and Analysis
Summary
At the customary Sunday evening gathering at
Mrs. Almond's, Morris arrives and devotes his time to Catherine. Dr. Sloper,
seeing the two together, pities his daughter. Although she knows her father's
disapproval of the courtship, she still insists on seeing Morris. Yet she
cannot be as openly defiant as she might assume to be. She is not an adequate
rebel, and it is that which Dr. Sloper pities. Considering how unattractive she
herself is, he acknowledges that she must enjoy the attentions of an attractive
young man. He also knows that she will defend him against Morris’s objections.
He decides to give Morris another chance. The two men discuss Morris’s
employment prospects, yet the subtext is the likelihood of Morris’s courtship
of Catherine succeeding. Dr. Sloper says that Morris should not despair if he
does succeed, but he must choose his line with discretion. He asks if there is
the possibility of Morris leaving New York if the right job came along. Morris
replies that he is bound to remain in New York due to his family duties. With
this, Dr. Sloper resolves to visit Morris’s sister, Mrs. Montgomery, to delve
deeper into this suitor of his daughter. Meanwhile, Morris returns to
Catherine, stating that he can no longer come to her house, that her father has
insulted him concerning his poverty. He tells Catherine that he has something
to ask her and that they must meet in Washington Square. Catherine insists that
he come to her house. Morris agrees, since this defiance of her father is
exactly what he wanted.
When Morris comes to the house the next day, he professes his love to Catherine and kisses her. Catherine accepts his kisses, having wanted them but not expecting them. She tells Morris that they must approach Dr. Sloper. She will talk to him that evening, and Morris will speak to him the next day. Morris prepares her for her father’s objections, stating that he will most likely tell her that Morris wants her only for her money, that he is proposing to her for purely mercenary purposes. Catherine states that she will simply tell him that it is not true. When Catherine says that she is glad that they will be rich, Morris replies that it will be the source of their difficulty.
When Morris leaves, Catherine asks him again if he truly loves her. He simply asks her how she can doubt it. He also asks her to promise him that, should her father forbid their marriage, that she will choose him over her father. She is over twenty-one, so she is old enough to make her own choices legally. Catherine murmurs his name, which Morris takes as assurance.
Analysis
Dr. Sloper continues to demonstrate that he
has no thought for Catherine’s feelings. At the Sunday family gathering, he is
able to look at her objectively and feel pity that she is not able to
effectively defy him. He observes her pitiful attempts to go against his
disapproval of Morris and marvels that she continues to speak to him. He knows
that Catherine will defend him from Morris’s “abuses,” regardless of her own
feelings for Morris. He knows he has Catherine effectively hooked and under his
control. She may play the part of rebel, but she will not be able to pull it
off.
In deciding to give Morris another chance, it is not out of compassion. Rather, it is out of a desire to see his evaluation of the man validated. He knows Morris is a cad and a mercenary. He plays with Morris like a...
(This entire section contains 934 words.)
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fish on a line.
The conversation concerning Morris’s job search has two meanings, and both men know it. They choose their words carefully, each revealing his own intentions over the courtship of Catherine. Through his “encouragement” of Morris in his search for employment, Dr. Sloper hints that Morris will fail and that he had best be thinking of moving on from New York. Morris defies him by saying that he will not leave the city. He will instead remain and he will win.
Morris’s account of his being offended by Dr. Sloper’s remarks is a pure ploy to get Catherine’s sympathy. He stretches the physician’s words in order to interpret them for Catherine as a taunt of his poverty. This is the line in the sand that Morris draws for Catherine. She must make a choice between him and her father. She refuses to choose between the two at the present time, although she insinuates that, should it be necessary, she will choose Morris. Morris carefully prepares the way, stating that it is not money that interests him, though he will be accused of it by Dr. Sloper when Catherine approaches him. This removes all doubt on Catherine’s part that Morris could be mercenary.
It becomes clear at this point to readers that Morris is indeed manipulating Catherine, just as Mrs. Penniman and Dr. Sloper are. The line, “…he got what he wanted,” reveals Morris's plans to push Catherine to a declaration for him against her father. Yet he is running a risky game because it is possible that Dr. Sloper will indeed disinherit his daughter, leaving her with a very minimal income from her mother’s estate. He is counting, however, on Dr. Sloper’s methodical approach to life, that he must have an heir, regardless of the status of his daughter's marriage. He is underestimating Dr. Sloper, but all of them—Morris, Dr. Sloper, and Mrs. Penniman—are drastically underestimating Catherine.
