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Download (9MB) https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] l " r \ 1 f e w Y o r . e rli^roPrvD riw ProQuest Number: 10390686 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10390686 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ■Yl i % il GLASGOW tJNrvERsrrvl ï Y JLIBRARY <# A bstract # Johnny Finnigan, M.A. The New York Hieroglyphs Urban Ekphrases in the New York Novels of Edith WJiurton Supervised by Professor Susan Castillo (Department of English Literature, University of Glasgow) h is t h e s is c r it ic a l l y a p p l ie s the principles of classical T rhetorical ekphrasis to Edith W harton’s three major N ew York texts — The House of M irth, The Custom of the Countiy and The Age of Innocence. The opening chapter of this thesis analyses several basic concepts: the classical genesis of ekphrasis (a vivid verbal description in its simplest sense); the role of the city in literature; W harton’s own Icnowledge of New York City; the cognitive mechanics of understanding images in literature; and of vital importance, W harton’s own formal aesthetic strategies which underpin the entire thesis, and which connect with the former strategies mentioned above. Each of these elements are invoked and developed to illustrate the idea that the New York backdrop of W harton’s major New York texts can be ekphrastically decoded in order to generate a micronarrative which in turn refracts‘ the master narrative. In the following chapter, I analyse The Age of Innocence and its introduction of topographical sites which, singularly, have a refractive ' As a prism refracts light; changes simple white light into its component parts wliilst changing the direction of the light, the ekphrastic analysis of a master narrative both changes its ‘direction’ and opens up a view of its component parts. iFtP 1 quality on the master narrative, and, collectively, serve to colour the entire text. The ekphrastic model is likened to Bak luin’s chronotopic model and the city is at first viewed in terms of individual topographical sites. I then view these sites collectively as a cipher which when decoded, comments on the changing nature of the New York social hierarchy at the time the novel is set, and establishes the initial element in what — in looking at the three novels studied — is a narrative of change. This metamorphosis, the genesis of w hich is illuminated in The Age of Innocence, would eventually result in the social, commercial and geographical peripheralisation of its traditional patriarchs, whilst being replaced by an insurgent nouveaux riches. The House of Mirth is discussed in Chapter Three, where a different hieroglyph of the city is constructed by Wharton. This hieroglyph, once decoded, illuminates the peripheralisation of Lily Bart through her lack of a 'place of her own’. This chapter analyses the naturalist impulse which characterises W harton’s writing, and serves to substantiate the narrative of change which is apparent in The Age of Innocence, by showing a city in a state of flux, with Lily Bart’s journey being a journey of discovery for the reader, as they observe the difficulties, and possibilities, of social movement in de siècle N ew York. Chapter Four completes the individual analyses of W h arto n ’s New York novels by looldng at The Custom of the Countiy. It also provides the final component of the narrative of change. The catoptric structure of the text is investigated, once again highlighting the emergence of a different hieroglyph which serves to enhance the central thematic concerns which revolve around the palimpsestic sublimation of the patriarchs by the nouveaux riches. Individual n topographie sites are analysed ekphrastically and subsequently thematic exponents of the text are explored. Finally, the New York hieroglyphs, as defined in each of the novels, are seen as offering a view of a notional narrative of change which charts the evolution of the social fabric of New York City over a 30 year period. W harton’s naturalist credentials are then established with an overview of the entire thesis. 111 A cknowledgements # n d e a v o u r s o n t h is s c a l e a r e s e l d o m com pleted w ithin a Evacuum. I have been very fortunate to have support through every aspect of my life over the years that it has taken to travel on this particular road. Family, friends, colleagues and a whole selection of academic minds have all contributed to this research, and I would like to offer my thanks to all those not mentioned by name in this acknowledgement. In the first instance I would like to thank Susan Castillo for taking me on pretty much sight unseen. Moreover, I would like to thank her for allowing me the room to explore my ideas, offering direction when required, and letting my research develop as organically as possible while still respecting the need to channel it toward completion. As supervisors go, I feel that had my perfect m atch. I will always be eternally grateful to the Department of English of the University of Glasgow as a whole. This is th e environment in which I have been immersed for over a decade, and each member of the department through their teaching, their words of support and through their intellectual insights have inspired me in all my work. In particular, Professor Andrew Hook offered words of encouragement to me when needed, and it was those words in particular which opened the door to where I am now: for those words, I am thanlTul. Also, thanks must go to the librarians of the University of Glasgow, the New York Public Library, New-York Historical Society and the Beinecke Library at Yale University. IV To my good friends I also owe the very warmest of thanks: Todd & Angela Garner, Adrian McMurchie, Denis Donoghue, Colin Sutherland, Graham Yarr, David Young, Kieran Kearney and Eddie & Linda White: my closest friends, were a constant source of support in many ways throughout my whole academic life — cheers. Special thanks also go to my mother, mother-in-law and father-in-law for their support in many ways: needless to say, sustaining vigorous research without the help of family would make a challenging task more difficult. Finally, my devoted thanks go to the two people who have sustained me with their constant love and support — m y wife Christine and my son Sammy. W ithout them I may have finished this project sooner, but with them my happiness and love Icnows no bounds as they have both made my life richer and complete in all the important ways. JMP V A bbreviations D H — The Decoration of Houses E d ith W h a r to n & O g d e n C o d m a n , Jr. The Decoration of Houses [1897], New York; W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. HM — The House of Miith Edith W harton. The House of Mirth [ 1905], edited by Elizabeth Ammons, New York: W .W . Norton &_ Co., 1990. CC — The Custom of the Countiy Edith W harton. Nooels, New York: Library of America, 1985. NRB — Hudson River Bracketed Edith W harton. Huiison River Bracketed, London: Virago, 1986. TS— Twilight Sleep Edith W harton. Tivilight Skcp, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. AI — The Age of Innocence Editli W harton. Novels, New York; Library of America, 1985. BG — A Backward Glance Edith W harton. Novellas and Other Writings, New York: Library of America, 1990. WF — The Wri ting of Fiction Editlr W harton. The W riting of Fiction [1925], New York: Touchstone, 1997. IVG — Italian Villas and their Gardens E d ith W harton. Italian Villas and Titcir Gardens [ 1904], with pictures by Maxfield P.arrisli, New York: De Capo Press, 1988. EWB — Edith Wharton: A Biography R.W.B. Lewis. Edith Wharton; A Biography, London: Constable, 1975. iOP VI Table of Contents Abstract i Acloiowledgements iv Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter i Imaging' New York 15 Chapter 2 Still Moments in a Turning World 41 Chapter s ‘Beyond!’: The Bart Milieu 99 Chapter 4 “Til never tiy anything again till I try New York” 157 C h a p ter 5 Conclusion: The Three City Trilogy 199 Bibliography 2 19 iOP v i l P m U rbîs Am om ‘Spatidl images are the dreams of society.
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