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The influence of henry james in the novels of edith wharton
Edith wharton influences
Edith Wharton's view on her society
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Edith Wharton once wrote, “Life is the saddest thing next to death (Johnson and Zimmerman).” She is also said to have been “among the first American writers to gain a sense of the world as an evil place (Johnson and Zimmerman).”
Edith Newbold Jones was considered to be a “product of New York City” (Johnson and Zimmerman) and was born on January 24, 1862 (a day she tried to keep secret (“Edith Wharton Biography” bookrags.com)) in the wealthier side of New York City. It is said that “her privileged lifestyle lead to many of her finest works (“Edith Wharton”).” However, even though her last name was Jones, there was a slight suspicion that her tutor growing up was her real father, and Edith believed this (“Edith Wharton Biography” bookrags.com). The ever-popular term “Keeping up with the Joneses” is also “a phrase coined about Edith Wharton’s family (“Edith Wharton”).”
Edith Wharton was born just a few years before the end of the Civil War. When it ended in 1865, many things began to change for everyone, and that was one thing that Wharton’s family strongly disliked—changes (Johnson and Zimmerman). Therefore, in 1866, her family traveled to Europe and visited Italy, Germany, France, and Spain (Johnson and Zimmerman), and this was where “she spent much of her childhood (Johnson and Zimmerman).” In fact they stayed there for about six years after the war (“Edith Wharton Biography” Bio.)
In 1872, she and her family came back to New York, but they spend their summers away from the city in Newport, Rhode Island. Then in 1873, Walter Pater publishes his “Studies in the History of the Renaissance (Davis “Timeline”).” This is an important fact because in her novel The Age of Innocence she writes,
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Johnson, Doug, and Phoebe Zimmermann. "Edith Wharton, 1862-1937: Wrote Novels of the Young and Innocent in a Dishonest World." voanews.com. Voice of America, 2007. 15 Feb 2012. .
Lewis, R.W.B. “A Writer of Short Stories.” Edith Wharton. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.
Naipaul, V. S. "A review of 'Of Age and Innocence'." New Statesman 56.1447 (6 Dec. 1958): 827. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz and Cathy Falk. Vol. 66. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991. Literature Resource Center. 27 Feb. 2012. .
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. New York: The Modern Library, 1948, “A Note on the Author of The Age of Innocence”- 68.
“For the first time in his life he sees her in a new light: he sees her as no longer the listless creature who had lived at his side in a state of self-absorption, but a mysterious alien presence an evil energy secreted from the long years of silent brooding…” (Wharton 117) Edith Wharton is best known for her books Ethan Frome and The House of Mirth. Wharton was often compared to another writer in her time, Henry James. Even though this occurred, she considered her books one of a kind. She was pleased with her work, but the critics were not. Often, she received poor reviews, but this did not stop her; in fact, she then went on to be the first woman to win The Legion of Honor Medal. Wharton also won the Pulitzer Prize and a gold
In Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, Ethan, a reserved young man was torn between two women. He was married to Zenobia Frome, but his true love was his wife’s cousin, Mattie Silver. Zeena and Mattie were different in all aspects. Mattie was a caring, loving, beautiful young girl, while Zeena was a sickly, shrewish woman aged well beyond her years. Ethan was continuously drawn to Mattie throughout the novel, as she was much more attractive and amicable than Zeena.
Perhaps Edith Wharton's reason for writing Ethan Frome, was that it so vividly reflected her own dreary life. Abandoned of any love as a child from her mother and trapped in a marriage similar to that of Zeena and Ethan, Wharton found herself relying on illicit love. This illicit love was also her favorite topic of writing, which helped her to escape her own tragedies. She spent many nights in the arms of other men searching desperately for the love she believed existed, but had never felt, which is evident in all of her writings.
Barry offers this biography of perhaps the most unconventional woman of her century. By drawing upon letters, diaries, and other documents, she integrates Anthony's personal story into the political, economic, and cultural milieu of 19th century.
Edith Wharton, originally named “Edith Newbold Jones”(Cliff Notes), was born on “January 24, 1862 in New York City to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander Jones and died on August 11, 1937”(Cliff Notes). She was born into a wealthy family and was a “designer, short story writer and American novelist”(Cliff Notes). Wharton descended from the English and Dutch cultures. She had two siblings, one known as “Frederic Rhinelander Jones” (Cliff Notes) who was sixteen years older than her, and “Henry Edward Jones eleven years older”(Cliff Notes). While her brothers attended boarding school, Wharton became “raised as an only child in a brownstone mansion on West Twenty-third Street in New York City”(Cliff
People have often pondered the reasons for the greatness of Edith Wharton's novel, Ethan Frome. What is it that causes this story to be considered an all-time American classic? One journalist quotes a humanities professor at MIT who states that, "We turn to Wharton because the truths she tells are a bracing tonic in a culture steeped in saccharine sentimentality." The journalist goes on to describe the typical, "popular" story and how they often have endings where "romantic ideals are magically fulfilled..." There is much more to Ethan Frome than simply an unhappy ending to contrast with the many other stories that have sugar-coated and sanguine endings. At first glance, the ending of Ethan Frome may appear to be only depressing. In truth, Wharton offers the reader a complex ending through the careful incorporation of poetic justice and irony.
Garcia, Angela. "Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome." American Writers Classics. Ed. Jay Parini. Vol. 2. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 89-108. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
Born into a fiercely political family, Florence’s life was influenced by her near-constant coquetry with abolition and other various civil rights efforts. Her father, William “Pig Iron” Kelley, was an ardent proponent of women’s rights, and was also known as the protector of Pennsylvania’s iron and steel industries, earning him his moniker. Kelley was educated at home for much of her childhood, as she was often ill, and her family’s home was rather isolated from nearby Philadelphia (Bienen, 1-“William”). Nonetheless, her education was satisfactory, and primarily influenced by her father. Through her atypical form of education, Kelley was allowed to develop an opinion on diverse topics that most children her age were oblivious to. Kelley traveled across the country with her father, exploring steel and iron manufacturing sites, prefacing her future career path. In addition to vocational learning, Florence Kelley absorbed knowledge through the massive library at h...
Mary Cassatt had a wonderful childhood filled with travel and a good education. Mary Stevenson Cassatt was born in Allegheny Pennsylvania, which is now part of Pittsburgh on May 22, 1885 (Encyclopedia of World Biography 2). She was one of seven children, two of which did not make it past infancy (Creative Commons License 3). Her childhood was spent moving throughout Germany and France, (Creative Commons License 4) until her family moved back to Pennsylvania, then continued moving eastward to Lancaster and then to Philadelphia (Creative Commons License 3), where Cassatt started school at age six (Creative Commons License 3). Then continued her schooling at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in
Baldwin, James Preservation of Innocence." Zero 1.2 (Summer 1949). Rpt. in Out/Look 6 (Fall 1989), 40-41
Churchwell, Sarah. "The Death of Innocence." New York Times 18 Aug 2008, n. pag. Web. 28 Feb. 2014.
In her lifetime, Edith Wharton experienced the restraining nature of societal expectations against her attempts to establish her individual identity, in both her sexuality and publication of her written works. Wharton specifically has an excellent opportunity to criticize the expectations placed on American women during the Realist era because she emigrated to France and experienced a radically different system to that of America’s. This enabled her to more clearly contemplate how society limited and impacted the personal development of women without Wharton being restricted by her knowledge of solely the American social system. The struggle with societal expectations establishes itself in her novella Summer, in which Charity Royall faces the
In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates an interesting plot revolving around two star-crossed lovers. Unfortunately, there is only one important thing that gets in the way of these lovers, a wife who’s a hypochondriac. Zeena, the wife, finds herself in a particular situation, a situation where she needs to figure out how to get rid of Mattie. She tries everything to get rid of her, especially her illness, using it as an excuse to get what she wants, oppressing Ethan’s desires and needs. Despite her malicious actions, she creates a justifiable reasoning of her intent. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates a psychological response in regards to Zeena. Rather than being depicted as the villain of the novel, Zeena is merely the victim of
Throughout history the concept of innocence in literature has been a topic in which author’s have held an obsession with. According to Harold Bloom, the loss of innocence has played a large role in western literature since the Enlightenment when man was said to be initially good and then corrupted only by his institutions. (Bloom 6) The institution in which Bloom speaks of is nothing more then society. Society is what is believed to be the cause for the loss of innocence in children. Bloom has stated that a return to the childhood mindset would eliminate the social problems in which people suffer. This is unerringly why the cause of many physiological problems can be traced back to a problem or unsettlement in one’s childhood. (Bloom 7) The history of innocence continues further back in history as it is said that the first encounter of loss of innocence or “original sin” was from Adam and Eve when they ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. (Bloom 7) These historical events and ideas are what influence the works of authors from the 19th century to modern day.
The "Autobiography". Abrams 1601 - 1604. Mulock, Dinah. Maria. A Woman's Thoughts About Women.