Women’s Resistance and Capitalistic Patriarchal Ideology in Washington Square

This study notes how the capitalist patriarchy works at a citizen’s home and society in Washington Square. The author, Henry James, asserted a way in which economic power was combined with patriarchal control to suppress the lives of women in the free world. Dr. Sloper controls his daughter Catherine through the subjugation of economic power, showing that economic resources are one of the key components of power in a capitalist society. Sloper’s wealth control is used as a tool to suppress Catherine’s economic freedom; such a system highlights women’s economic dependence in capitalist patriarchy. Morris’s attempt to marry Catherine indicates that love and marriage can be reduced to just economic benefits in a capitalist society. In response, this paper explores the impact of capitalist patriarchy on the individual lives of women and aims to reveal Catherine’s recovery process of resistance and independence against structural oppression that suppresses women’s autonomy and freedom. This paper concludes by presenting the possibility of a new life of freedom and potential beyond capitalist patriarchy through Catherine’s resistance. (Chungnam National University)