In describing the interior of Mrs. Montgomery's residence, the narrator employs rich visual imagery and a metaphor referring to a bowerbird’s mating ritual:
She received him in a little parlor, which was precisely the parkour he had expected: a small unspeckled bower, ornamented with a desultory foliage of tissue-paper, and with clusters of glass drops, amid which—to carry out the analogy—the temperature of the leafy season was maintained by means of a cast-iron stove, emitting a dry blue flame, and smelling strongly of varnish. The walls were embellished with engravings swathed in pink gauze, and the tables ornamented with volumes of extracts from the poets, usually bound in black cloth stamped with florid designs in jaundiced gilt.
This passage captures the cramped, gaudy ambiance of a middle-class household of late-1800s New York. While the dwelling is not falling to pieces, the author does emphasize several visual cues of declining wealth and faded charm. The detailed imagery here, from the "desultory foliage of tissue-paper" to the "blue flame" of the stove that exudes a "powerful scent of varnish," paints a picture of the cramped and over-decorated interior. It's as though things that aren't of good quality are "varnished" over to make them seem better.
The space feels crowded and claustrophobic. Descriptions of overblown embellishment, including "pink gauze" and "jaundiced gilt," hint at an attempt at grandeur that is cheapened by the passage of time. “Jaundice” is a disease of the liver, which turns the skin of its victims a distinctive yellow color. By saying that the gilt is “jaundiced,” the author implies that it’s yellowing and sickly-looking. It's not real gold, as one would undoubtedly find decorating the Sloper residence.
Referring to the home as an "unspeckled bower" likens it to a bowerbird's nest. These birds collect brightly colored objects and sticks to attract a mate, hoping to entice them with a bright display. A “speckled bower” in this context is a location crafted for allure and attraction. However, the adjective "unspeckled" suggests a lack of beauty or appeal. Mrs. Montgomery’s house is not appealing or alluring, it’s overcrowded and worn-out. Through this metaphor, James underscores the setting's feeling of cheapness and the tired, diminished elegance of this home.
Publicly deriding Catherine's character, Dr. Sloper employs a simile that he extends into a metaphor. He likens her flaws to indelible dents on a kettle:
She is like a copper kettle that receives a dent; you may polish up the kettle, but you can’t efface the mark.
This simile epitomizes Dr. Sloper's rigid, unforgiving view of his daughter. By equating Catherine's flaws to a permanent dent on a copper kettle, he implies that, regardless of her efforts to improve or "polish" herself, some defects are impossible to erase.
The Doctor extends this simile into a metaphor. Catherine isn’t just like a kettle, here: she is a kettle. This metaphor serves not only as a comment on Catherine's character, but also as an insight into Dr. Sloper's shallow and unwavering judgments. In likening Catherine to a kettle—a household object meant for service—he underscores his perception of her as an unremarkable object. Like a kettle, which has a simple, single job to do, he sees his daughter as having a utilitarian role in his life. The word "efface" is another way of saying “erase” or “remove.” Dr. Sloper believes that what he sees as Catherine's shortcomings (weakness, a perceived lack of intelligence, being a woman) are inherently and irrevocably part of her, and this viewpoint casts a lasting shadow on his perception of her worth.
In a telling moment, Dr. Sloper uses a metaphor to clinically dissect Catherine's emotions, presenting her love for Morris and her dutiful devotion to him as liquids blending together. He's very interested in this unpredictable outcome:
‘[...] The two things are extremely mixed up, and the mixture is extremely odd. It will produce some third element, and that’s what I am waiting to see. I wait with suspense—with positive excitement; and that is a sort of emotion that I didn’t suppose Catherine would ever provide for me.’
In this passage, Dr. Sloper's assessment of Catherine's emotions offers an intimate glimpse into his perception of women’s feelings. His likening of her emotions to chemicals that blend and react underscores his cold, analytical approach to her sentiments. A lot of his emotional life is rendered in this sort of medical language: it’s as though his work as a doctor bleeds through into everything else. This clinical detachment is evident in the way he describes the merging of Catherine's love for Morris with her devotion to him. He thinks love can be measured and studied like the components of a scientific experiment.
This perception paints Dr. Sloper as more of an observer than a participant in Catherine’s uncertainty. He is eager to see the outcome of this "experiment" rather than empathizing with his daughter's internal turmoil. By describing Catherine's intricate emotions as reactive compounds, he once again demeans her intelligence and downplays her value to him. Indeed, he’s more interested in this “new compound” than he has been in any of Catherine’s other feelings.
Furthermore, the fact that he feels able to dismiss Catherine's feelings as a curious “mixture” position him as the authoritative figure in this situation. It’s another moment where James emphasizes the gendered power dynamics at play. Here, Dr. Sloper is suggesting that he feels he has the ability—and the right—to dispassionately interpret and observe his daughter's emotional pain.
The disagreement between Dr. Sloper and Aunt Penniman regarding Morris and Catherine's relationship becomes progressively aggressive and antagonistic. This is evident in Chapter 27, as their words are metaphorically transformed into weapons:
‘I will answer you with your own weapons,’ said Mrs Penniman. ‘You had better wait and see!’
‘Do you call such a speech as that one of my own weapons? I never said anything so rough.’
‘He will hang on long enough to make you very uncomfortable, then.’
‘My dear Lavinia,’ exclaimed the Doctor, ‘do you call that irony? I call it pugilism.’
When Dr. Sloper and Aunt Penniman communicate in this passage, their conversation isn’t just a chat—it’s a battle. When Aunt Penniman says she'll use Dr. Sloper's "own weapons," she means she'll use his way of speaking against him. But Dr. Sloper, in his quick reply, makes it clear he thinks her words here are too harsh, even for him.
The narrator’s metaphorical equating of verbal exchanges to physical blows showcases the tension and underlying hostility in the relationship between Sloper and Penniman. Dr. Sloper feels undisguised dislike for Morris, but by this point Aunt Penniman has revised her negative opinion of him into something like affection. By invoking the imagery of "weapons" and "pugilism" (boxing or fighting with fists), the narrator emphasizes that their disagreements go beyond intellectual disputes. This conversation has gone beyond a disagreement to a literal “fight,” where words are being thrown like punches and overt threats are being made.
This passage not only underlines the stakes of their disagreements about Catherine's future—it also captures the broader tensions that have festered in the family. This is one of many “battles” to be fought over Catherine’s romantic and financial future.
