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Simile
Explanation and Analysis—Magnified Babyhouse:
James offers a picturesque portrayal of Mrs. Montgomery's home, filling this passage with intense visual imagery and a simile referring to a toy shop. This all comes together to differentiate it from the grand Washington Square residence:
There were green shutters upon the windows, without slats, but pierced with little holes, arranged in groups; and before the house was a diminutive yard, ornamented with a bush of mysterious character, and surrounded by a low wooden paling, painted in the same green as the shutters. The place looked like a magnified babyhouse and might have been taken down from a shelf in a toy-shop.
In this scene, Mrs. Montgomery’s house is described as endearing and unassuming from the outside. The recurring language of smallness—it has a "diminutive yard" and looks like a "magnified babyhouse"—underlines its humble, unpretentious aspect. In stark contrast to the grandeur of the Sloper home, Mrs. Montgomery's residence is all modesty and simplicity. This sets the stage for Dr. Sloper’s visit, which displays the differences in wealth and status between the physician and this older, less financially secure woman. All the imagery in this passage is related to neatness and smallness, from the matching green paint and “palings” to the endearingly small holes in the shutters.
The comparison of the dwelling to a "babyhouse" is not just an observation of its size but a reflection on its innocence and charm. The simile of it appearing as if "taken down from a shelf in a toy-shop" further amplifies how whimsical it seems to Dr. Sloper. It's so small to him that it doesn't seem like anyone could actually live there: compared to his own house, this doesn't seem impossible.
This description also serves a strategic narrative purpose. By juxtaposing Mrs. Montgomery's residence with the opulence of the Sloper house from which Catherine's father arrives, James sharpens the socioeconomic contrasts that play a significant role in Washington Square. This home, with its green shutters and peculiar bushes, becomes emblematic of a life less grand and less austere than the one Catherine is faced with. Mrs. Montgomery’s dwelling is unassuming and welcoming, like her. While the Washington Square house seems irrevocably tied to the haughtiness and aristocratic restraint of Dr. Sloper, Mrs. Montgomery is genuine, unassuming, and unpretentious.
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