On Wednesday, our class got the opportunity to go see the play The Heiress. After reading Washington Square by Henry James, I was eager to see it in another light, and I was not disappointed.

I think the play was excellent. It wasn’t a carbon copy of the book, but that was not the purpose of it. It did a good job of maintaining the key aspects of the book while adding many humorous and dramatic touches. Unlike the movie, I did not feel the play modernized the book, but rather it just allowed readers to see it come to life like never before. For example, the part involving Catherine’s red dress was really able to be visualized as we could see the vibrant red dress and hear Dr. Sloper’s tone of voice as he spoke to Catherine. The ending was probably my favorite part, as the curtain went down to the fading sound of Morris crying out, “Catherine! Catherine!” It was different from the book, but the dramatic aspect of it was incredible. I never thought I would feel that way about a play, but I was really overcome with emotion when I heard the cries for Catherine as she walked away and the curtain went down. It was definitely another great experience for me, and I was happy I enjoyed it as much as I did.