Washington Square often has the feel of an 18th-century comedy of manners, such as those of Oliver Goldsmith and Richard Sheridan. This kind of play and novel reemerged in popularity during the latter part of the 19th century. Most of the novel’s “action” takes place in the limited setting of a home’s parlors and studies and revolves around a limited number of characters, all of whom derive from the same social class. The witty verbal banter between characters, particularly seen in Dr. Sloper’s dry humor and Mrs. Penniman’s comic persona, illuminates not only their personalities and quirks but also their underlying agendas. The narrator, too, often observes the action (or lack thereof) with a satirical eye. In the drawing-room drama, the mannerisms and habits of the upper classes are skewered to critique the conventions of so-called sophisticated society.

The house in Washington Square serves as the setting—and symbol—for many of the interactions among the characters. The “solid and honorable” home functions to keep the upper-class characters separated from the rest of the bustling city, inviting an “ideal of quiet and genteel retirement” (16). The inhabitants are not corrupted by the chaos of the city, with its growing working class, immigrant communities, and urban sprawl.