Henry James' "Washington Square" is generally construed as a novel focusing on female victimization in a patriarchal society. The heroine, Catherine Sloper, is helplessly attached to an avaricious fortune hunter with charming looks, while her stern, protective father, Dr. Austin Sloper, remains till his dying breath intransigent in his opposition to the suitor's marriage proposal. Serious conflicts between the father and his daughter thus arise in the family and nearly ruin their relationship. As the story ends up being a tragedy, the protagonist is chastised for being a tyrannical parent who should be held ultimately accountable for his daughter's lifelong miseries. This paper, a textual analysis on the two major characters, the father and his daughter, is a denial of the general argument that the parent is a despot and the daughter a victim. As a conclusion, Sloper's paternal interference is justified, while Catherine's unhappiness is attributable to her own follies.