Edith Wharton's Treatment of Love: a Study of Conventionality and Unconventionality in Her Fiction
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1967 Edith Wharton's Treatment of Love: a Study of Conventionality and Unconventionality in Her Fiction. Jo Agnew Mcmanis Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Mcmanis, Jo Agnew, "Edith Wharton's Treatment of Love: a Study of Conventionality and Unconventionality in Her Fiction." (1967). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 1351. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/1351 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 67*17,334 McMANIS, Jo Agnew, 1941- EDITH WHARTON'S TREATMENT OF LOVE: A STUDY OF CONVENTIONALITY AND UNCONVENTIONALITY IN HER FICTION. Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Ph.D., 1967 Language and Literature, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan EDITH WHARTON'S TREATMENT OP LOVE: A STUDY OF CONVENTIONALITY AND UNCONVENTIONALITY IN HER FICTION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Jo Agnew McManis M.A., Louisiana State University, 1965 August, 1967 "Quotations from the following works by Edith Wharton are reprinted by special permission of Charles Scribner's Sons: THE HOUSE OF MIRTH, ETHAN FROME (Copyright 1911 Charles Scribner's Sons; renewal copyright 1939 Wm. R. Tyler) and THE REEF (Copyright 1912 Wm. R. Tyler; renewal copyright 1940)." acknowledgment s I want to express my appreciation to Dr. Donald E. Stanford for his continuing advice and direction in the writing of this dissertation as well as for his guidance throughout my graduate work. Also I want to thank Dr. James T. Nardin and Dr. Louis P. Simpson for their con structive criticism. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS........................................ ii ABSTRACT ............................................... V INTRODUCTION.......................................... 1 CHAPTER I. EDITH WHARTON'S L I F E ......................... 15 This brief biographical sketch empha sizes the unconventional aspects of Edith Wharton's life by showing her unhappy involvement with love and marriage. II. EDITH WHARTON'S CONVENTIONAL THEORY AND TECHNIQUE OF FICTION ....................... 48 This chapter summarizes Mrs. Wharton's theory of fiction as found in her book The Writing of Fiction and her actual technique as found in her fiction. III. SPECIFIC WORKS OF EDITH WHARTON ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY ACCORDING TO PUBLICATION.................................. 78 Edith Wharton's writings which deal with romantic love are summarized briefly. The best works of the major phase, in which romantic love is a central issue, are discussed more fully. They are analyzed and evaluated with emphasis upon the failure of love. Part A. Summary of The Valley of Decision ( 1 9 0 2 ) ...........* .......... 79 Discussion of The House of Mirth (1905)............................ 80 iii CHAPTER PAGE Part B . Summary of Madame de Treymes ( 1 9 0 7 ) ..................................... 110 The Fruit of the Tree (1907) ............. 110 Discussion of Ethan Frome ( 1 9 1 1 ) ......... 112 Part C. Discussion of The Reef (1912) . 135 Part D . Summary of The Custom of the Country ( 1 9 1 3............................................................ ) 163 "Coming Home" (1 9 1 6 ) ....................................................... 167 "Autres Temps" ( 1 9 1 6....................................................... ) 168 "The Long Run" ( 1 9 1 6....................................................... ) 168 "Bunner Sisters" ( 1 9 1 6.................................................. ) 169 Summer ( 1 9 1 7............................................................................. ) 170 Discussion of The Age of Innocence ( 1 9 2 0 )........................................................................................ 173 Part E . Summary of The Glimpses of the Moon ( 1 9 2 5........................... ) 200 The Old Maid ( 1 9 2 4............................................................ ) 203 New Year 1 s Day ( 1 9 2 4...................... ) 204 The Mother's Recompense (1925) ...... 207 Twilight Sleep ( 1 9 2 7....................................................... ) 207 The Children ( 1 9 2 8 )............................................................ 208 Hudson River Bracketed ( 1 9 2 9 )................................. 209 The Gods Arrive ( 1 9 3 2.................................................. ) 210 IV. CONCLUSION..................................... 213 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................. 222 VITA..................................................... 231 iv ABSTRACT The popular opinion of Edith Wharton is that she was a strictly conventional, Victorian writer of sentimental novels with soap-opera plots. One reason for this view is based upon the long accepted belief that her life was, for the most part, one of complete conformity. Known facts substantiated an opinion of her as the "grand dame," growing up in New York society, traveling in the best circles, sojourning in Europe, and, with the exception of her divorce from Edward Wharton, never defying the conventions of society. However, this established conception of Edith Wharton has been modified by the discovery of her love for and close relationship with Walter Berry before, during, and after her marriage. Nevertheless, foundation for the charge of conventionality is readily found in Mrs. Wharton's style of writing and in her subject matter. Her formalized, conservative technique is perfectly in keeping with her classical, traditional theory of fiction. Her subject matter is the quiet, internal, moral struggle of well-bred ladies and gentlemen. Her setting is most often aristocratic New York society, and her characters are made to conform to established social standards. Yet, there are unconventional aspects of Edith v Wharton's fiction. She is outside the mainstream of American literature in her concern with man's relationship to society. Unlike the typical American novel in which emphasis is placed upon man's lonely role as an alienated individual who will not or cannot communicate with others, Edith Wharton's novels are concerned with the individual's responsibility to society. Her major fiction is also distinguished from that of her contemporaries by the skillful way in which she handles love scenes and her attitude toward love as a destructive force. In The House of Mirth the love between Lily Bart and Lawrence Selden leads only to suffering for both. Lily's love for Selden plus the pressures of imminent poverty, social ostra cism, and Selden's seeming indifference result in Lily’s death. Ethan Frome also presents a doomed love which yields no happiness. The story employs a triangular situation in which one lover is trapped in a hateful marriage. Ethan's moral responsibility to his sickly, complaining wife prevents his one chance for happiness with Mattie Silver. In The Reef Anna Leath rebels against her love for George Darrow. She cannot trust him after she learns of his affair with Sophy Viner; she realizes that marriage to Darrow must necessarily result in her moral shrinkage. Yet, because of her love for Darrow, she lacks the strength to resist. In The Age of Innocence the consequences of the familiar triangular love situation are tragic because of the wasted potential for happiness. These consequences are all the more poignant vi because of the effective dramatization of the beautifully- done love scenes. Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska are very much in love, but Archer is hopelessly trapped by his mar riage to Ellen's cousin. The frustrating substitution of dreams for reality is all that is possible for the two. This same attitude toward love can be found not only in the major novels but also throughout Mrs. Wharton's other fiction. The style and plot of the minor novels, especially those written after 1920, are vastly inferior; however, even in the most conventional and sentimental novels her unconven tional attitude toward love can still be found. Thus, despite her traditional style, the unconventional aspects of Edith Wharton's life contribute to her treatment of and attitude toward love in her fiction, separating her from the writers for ladies' magazines with whom she is too often erroneously identified. vii INTRODUCTION The popular opinion of Edith Wharton is that she was a strictly conventional, old-fashioned, stuffy, Victorian writer of sentimental novels with soap-opera plots. She has been dismissed as a snob, and it has been said that her writing was limited and concerned with trivialities as the result of her emphasis upon the socially elect. Critics speak of her moral conservatism, her melodramatic quality, 2 and her traditional design and style. Her later novels have been described as the "slick" fiction of ladies' magazines, "a series of cheap novels," "a succession of intelligent regrets," and "a concession to the readers of serialized fiction." They have also been