In order to establish her novel in Darwinian terms, Wharton dehumanizes her characters to portray them as creatures that rely on money for survival. Specifically, this applies to the symbolic biome of the upper class. While Selden, a friend and spectator of the wealthy, talks with Lily he comments, “And so it is with [the] rich people-they may not be thinking of money but they’re breathing it all the while: take them into another element and see how they squirm and gasp” (Wharton 75). Wharton’s diction characterizes the wealthy as animals, rather than people, so she can relate the classes to biomes, or environments that are based on wealth. Instead of climate changing between the different environments, it is one 's income changing between …show more content…
Specific characters in which their names act as their genes are Bertha and Lily. Very few female characters’ names are not in the diminutive, and one is Bertha, a preeminent figure in the upper class. When Lily is about to reveal Bertha’s affair her “words died under the impenetrable insolence of Bertha’s smile…then without a word, she rose and went down to her cabin” (Wharton 221). Bertha’s superiority is evident in Wharton’s’ diction and Lily’s symbolic positioning. Because Lily’s words die under Bertha and she goes downstairs, or below Bertha, it signifies her subservience. Lily’s name is even in the diminutive, since it ends in “y”, which further represents her subordination. This enables Wharton to use Bertha’s name to foreshadow, or predestine, her eventual dominance over Lily. Like Bertha, Lily’s name denotes her fate, particularly her alienation. Her name represents nature, but, since a flower cannot survive in this metropolitan environment, it symbolizes why Lily cannot conform and will not prosper. A lily further allows Wharton to comment on Lily’s personality. If she were to succumb to the values of her class she would “…sacrifice [the] fineness of spirit that sets her apart” (Barnett). This fineness relates to Lily’s innate morality, such as a lily’s white coloring. Since she is characterized as virtuous, she will fail …show more content…
When Nettie first introduces her newborn child to Lily, she tells her “Marry Anto’nette-that’s what we call her: after the French queen in the play” (Wharton 334). The significance of the baby’s name is because it is an allusion to Marie Antoinette. Her lavish lifestyle is similar to the aristocrats of New York, but she was soon murdered during the French Revolution. Her murder represents an imminent downfall, as Lily experienced. However, Wharton changes the spelling in order to signify that Marry will not belong among the wealthy, such as Lily did not. Therefore, Wharton creates a connection between Lily and Marry, because both will obtain wealth, but diverge from society causing their decline and untimely death. When Lily dies, Wharton continues to highlight Lily’s connection to Marry. After she has overdosed, Lily begins to hallucinate that she is holding Marry, in which “…the baby more likely symbolizes [Lily’s] desire to born again” (Dixon). From this wish, Wharton is able to symbolize that Marry will embody Lily, and then is doomed. But Marry is a child, who cannot control her life, and according to Social Darwinism, is forced to endure her unsuccessful future. By making Marry a futile and naive baby, Wharton employs a sense of pathos, so she can censure Social Darwinism for harming a child and
Despite the common cliché, ?don?t judge a book by its cover,? you never get a second chance to make a first impression, most first impressions are derived from appearance. Edith Wharton harshly juxtaposes the appearances of Mattie and Zeena, to such an extreme that it almost seems bias. From the beginning of the novel, Zeena is depicted as an old and ?repugnant? (46) housewife. Substantial background information is not given, nor causes for her worn out and ?bloodless? (53) demeanor. ?Though she was but seven years her husband?s senior, she was already an old woman.? (53) In harsh comparison, Mattie is portrayed as a youthful, vivacious woman, yet with natural beauty. This drastic juxtaposition is black and white, with no grey areas, just the strong Mattie and the feeble Zeena. However, the colors used to describe Mattie and Zeena are not black and white, they each ...
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen” (“Brainy Quotes” 1). In Edith Wharton’s framed novel, Ethan Frome, the main protagonist encounters “lost opportunity, failed romance, and disappointed dreams” with a regretful ending (Lilburn 1). Ethan Frome lives in the isolated fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts with his irritable spouse, Zenobia Frome. Ever since marriage, Zenobia, also referred to as Zeena, revolves around her illness. Furthermore, she is prone to silence, rage, and querulously shouting. Ethan has dreams of leaving Starkfield and selling his plantation, however he views caring for his wife as a duty and main priority. One day, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to assist the Frome’s with their daily tasks. Immediately, Mattie’s attractive and youthful energy resuscitates Ethan’s outlook on life. She brings a light to Starkfield and instantaneously steals Ethan’s heart; although, Ethan’s quiet demeanor and lack of expression causing his affection to be surreptitious. As Zeena’s health worsens, she becomes fearful and wishes to seek advice from a doctor in a town called Bettsbridge giving Ethan and Mattie privacy for one night. Unfortunately, the night turns out to be a disastrous and uncomfortable evening. Neither Ethan nor Mattie speaks a word regarding their love for one another. Additionally, during their dinner, the pet cat leaps on the table and sends a pickle dish straight to the floor crashing into pieces. To make matters worse, the pickle dish is a favored wedding gift that is cherished by Zeena. Later, Zeena discovers it is broken and it sends her anger over the edge. Furious, Zeena demands for a more efficient “hired girl” to complete the tasks ar...
For this literary analysis I am working with Edith Wharton’s short story “Roman Fever”. From the beginning of the story it is easy to see that Wharton uses gender stereotypes, from the time that the story is set in, to expose perennial antagonism of true human nature. The story’s two main charters, Grace Ansley and Alida Slide, early on in the story already have some past tension that continues to develop into a heated exchange until the shocking twist towards the end of the story. Gender stereotypes in Roman fever play an important role in creating tension between Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley that ultimately leads to reason of why there is an underlying conflict between the two.
Wharton’s parents raised her in aristocratic society. Her father, George supported the family working in real estate, while her mother Lucerita was a stay at home mom. Her mother was devoted to high society, and was unsupportive of her interests in writing. (Todd and Wetzel) Unlike her mother, Morton Fullerton supported Wharton. While in England, Wharton met Fullerton. As their relationship progressed, she became close friends with Katharine Fullerton. Katharine was Morton’s orphaned sister, that his family took in. (Witkosky) While Wharton was in England her husband was seeking “cures” for his depression. As portrayed in the novel, Ethan Frome’s wife Zeena was constantly seeking cures for her illness. Like Teddy, Zeena was isolated from society and kept to herself. Ethan’s wife was devoted to high society because she came from an aristocratic home. Therefore, Zeena never supported Ethan’s interest in becoming an engineer. Wharton’s mother was alike to Zeena when it came to how her life was lived. Ethan’s lover, Mattie Silver, was taken in by the Frome’s in the novel. She had no family who wanted her just like Katharine Fullerton. Mattie was raised by the Frome’s in a society she did not know how to adapt to because she was never taught how. “Mattie is attempting unsuccessfully to fit in a society she does not understand.”
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
In Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, there is a prevalent conflict of class struggles. Ethan Frome, his wife Zeena, and their maid Mattie all live in extreme poverty. Wharton portrays them as miserable beings, seemingly always encompassed in misfortune. Wharton herself, however, lived a near opposite life compared to that of her characters. She was born into fortune; money was rarely a concern for her (Lee). Through a Marxist lens, one could argue that Edith Wharton, a woman of extreme wealth and privilege, would characterize lower, working class people such as the ones in Ethan Frome in an inaccurately dismal light. The consistent image of winter and coldness, typically associated with misery, in Ethan Frome foreshadows an unhappy ending for the
Money and class was the context in which this work was written because in Horatio’s theory people were equal, started off equal, and have equal opportunity. I assumed that the author Horatio lived the American dream and didn’t see the reality of society and that’s another thing I feel like rich people tend to not notice is the reality of society.
Contrastingly, Mrs. Darling, his wife, is portrayed as a romantic, maternal character. She is a “lovely lady”, who had many suitors yet was “won” by Mr. Darling, who got to her first. However, she is a multifaceted character because her mind is described “like the tiny boxes, one within the other, that come from the puzzling East”, suggesting that she is, to some extent, an enigma to the other characters, especially Mr. Darling. As well as this, she exemplifies the characteristics of a “perfect mother”. She puts everything in order, including her children’s minds, which is a metaphor for the morals and ethics that she instils in them. Although ...
Edith Wharton, was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in literature, she wrote a lot of stories that focused on marriage. Many of her stories are set in the high society world of America in the 1900’s. An example of this, is the short story she wrote called “The Other Two” which takes place in 1904 in New York. “The Other Two” discuss the concepts divorce in the early 1900’s and adaptive behavior which is based on Darwin’s theory of “Survival of the fittest”.
In “Desiree’s Baby,” a short story by Kate Chopin, there were three major themes: identity, racism, and gender roles. Armand has demonstrated his actual true character. He was a coldblooded, one-sided, and non caring man who was not worthy of Desiree and her kid. Armand broke his marriage promise to Desiree and his parental obligation due to his prejudgment toward the child's race. Chopin also noted a lady’s place in marriage in the mid-nineteenth century. They had nothing to do with money related transactions, political, or social issues. Everything had its place with the man including the
In these two simple sentences Wharton, in such a subtle manner, starts to weave the story of Delia. Wharton introduces us first to the ruling families of New York and namely the Ralstons, and their crusty conservative lifestyle. As she does this she draws us in unconsciously to their world so that, by the time we meet Delia we accept the ideals of the "Race" just as much as she does. Without much notice she plants the seeds for a plot that is very devious in nature by way of the tremor of a muted keyboard.
The Novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte took a surprising twist when Bertha "Mason" Rochester was introduced. Bertha leaves a traumatizing impression on Jane’s conscious. However, this particular misfortunate event was insidiously accumulating prior to Jane’s arrival at Thornfield. Through Bertha, the potential alternative dark turn of events of Jane’s past are realized, thus bringing Jane closer to finding herself.
In realist novels, the author gives readers a sense of the real world by avoiding the dramatic aspects of other genre of novels. The realist novels are more focused on the character(s) rather than the action and the plot by showing the character’s real complications of nature and motives in society. Therefore, “realist novels typically end in fall or failure, often as an ironic commentary on social values of self-improvement or success. A character may get what he or she desires, but be faced with the unexpected consequences of that desire” [Prompt]. In Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, Lily Bart’s ending is an ironic rise because her meeting with Nettie and paying back her debts gives her the strength and courage to chase after her own happiness, but Lawrence Selden’s ending is an ironic fall because of his failure to overcome his cowardice and tentativeness to propose to Lily. The endings of both Lily and Selden defines the cruelty of the social system that forces women to marry for economic reasons and condemns them with poverty if they fail to do so.
This is supported by Bertha’s violent and indiscriminate tendencies, age during manifestation, and her Creole background, which is extremely susceptible to cases of schizophrenia. Bronte uses Bertha’s character and schizophrenia in order to subtly depict the disparities and discrimination between the colonists and the Creoles in terms of treatment, and branches out in order to address themes such as class roles in Victorian society, evident in Jane Eyre’s biased and outright derogatory narrative toward Bertha Mason’s character. While many read Bertha as an antagonistic being, some will see her as a tragic character who lost her character due to her genetics and the society she was
As to her first name, Blanche, it is clear to the reader that white stands for purity, innocence, and virtue. This descrip...