Edith Wharton

Considered by some to be her finest work, Edith Wharton's Summer created a sensation when first published in 1917, as it was one of the first novels to deal honestly with a young woman's sexual awakening. Summer is the story of proud and independent Charity Royall, a child of mountain moonshiners adopted by a family in a poor New England town, who has a passionate love affair with Lucius Harney, an educated young man from the city. Wharton broke the conventions of woman's romantic fiction by making Charity a thoroughly contemporary woman--in touch with her feelings and sexuality, yet kept from love and the larger world she craves by the overwhelming pressures of environment and heredity. Praised for its realism and candor by such writers as Joseph Conrad and Henry James and compared to Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Summer was one of Wharton's personal favorites of all her novels and remains as fresh and relevant today as when it was first written.

Kärlekens sprängkraft och människans hjälplösa sprattlande i ödets nät är temat för denna gripande roman av den stora amerikanska författarinnan Edith Wharton (1862–1937). På ett mycket övertygande sätt skildras enkla människors tillvaro under hårda villkor på den amerikanska landsbygden. Berättelsen präglas av en autenticitet som imponerar (särskilt med tanke på författarinnans utpräglade överklassbakgrund och på att boken skrevs i Paris där hon levde i luxuösa omständigheter), och den allmängiltiga problematiken gör att Ethan Fromes öde dröjer sig kvar i läsarens medvetande. Edith Wharton var på sin tid den kvinnliga författare som fick mest berömmelse i hemlandet. Hon var först med att som kvinna få ta emot några av USA:s viktigaste litterära utmärkelser. Ethan Frome anses vara hennes främsta roman. När den 1911 publicerades på svenska fick den titeln "Hans öde". Men den handlar inte bara om den manliga huvudpersonen Ethan utan också om de två kvinnor som han slits mellan. Ethan Frome är en djupt tragisk historia. De sociala konventioner som påverkar individens moraliska val framträder tydligt. Miljön är kongenial med berättelsens innehåll. Romanen utspelar sig på ett ofruktbart jordbruk i New England och vinterkylan håller både landskap och människor i ett järngrepp.

In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton depicts the glittering salons of Gilded Age New York with precision and wit, even as she movingly portrays the obstacles that impeded women's choices at the turn of the century. The beautiful, much-desired Lily Bart has been raised to be one of the perfect wives of the wealthy upper class, but her spark of character and independent drive prevents her from becoming one of the many women who will succeed in those circles. Though her desire for a comfortable life means that she cannot marry for love without money, her resistance to the rules of the social elite endangers her many marriage proposals. As Lily spirals down into debt and dishonor, her story takes on the resonance of classic tragedy. One of Wharton's most bracing and nuanced portraits of the life of women in a hostile, highly ordered world, The House of Mirth exposes the truths about American high society that its denizens most wished to deny. With an introduction by Pamela Knights.

Lily Bart, beautiful, witty and sophisticated, is accepted by 'old money' and courted by the growing tribe of nouveaux riches. But as she nears thirty, her foothold becomes precarious; a poor girl with expensive tastes, she needs a husband to preserve her social standing, and to maintain her in the luxury she has come to expect. Whilst many have sought her, something—fastidiousness or integrity—prevents her from making a 'suitable' match.

Shedding the turn-of-the-century social confines she felt existed for women in America, Edith Wharton set out in the newly invented "motor-car" to explore the cities and countryside of France. In A Motor-Flight Through France, originally published in 1908, Wharton combines the power of her prose, her love for travel, and her affinity for France to produce this compelling travelogue. Now back in print, this edition of will interest students of American literature as well as those who wish to see France through the eyes of a great American writer. The introduction analyzes Wharton's use of the genre of travel writing and places Wharton's work in the context of her life and times.

First published in 1913, Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country is a scathing novel of ambition featuring one of the most ruthless heroines in literature. Undine Spragg is as unscrupulous as she is magnetically beautiful. Her rise to the top of New York's high society from the nouveau riche provides a provocative commentary on the upwardly mobile and the aspirations that eventually cause their ruin. One of Wharton's most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a stunning indictment of materialism and misplaced values that is as powerful today for its astute observations about greed and power as when it was written nearly a century ago.

The text has been introduced and thoroughly annotated by the editor for student readers. Backgrounds and Contexts includes selections from Edith Wharton's letters; articles from the period about etiquette, vocations for women, factory life, and Working Girls' Clubs; excerpts from the work of contemporary social thinkers including Thorstein Veblen, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Olive Schreiner; and a consideration of anti-Semitism at the turn of the century by historian John Higham. Also included are Charles Dana Gibson's precautionary piece "Marrying for Money" (including four Gibson drawings) and a tableau vivant of "The Dying Gladiator." Criticism reprints six central contemporary reviews of the novel and six biographical and interpretive modern essays by Millicent Bell, Louis Auchincloss, Cynthia Griffin Wolff, R. W. B. Lewis, Elaine Showalter, and Elizabeth Ammons. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

On a bleak New England farm, a taciturn young man has resigned himself to a life of grim endurance. Bound by circumstance to a woman he cannot love, Ethan Frome is haunted by a past of lost possibilities until his wife's orphaned cousin, Mattie Silver, arrives and he is tempted to make one final, desperate effort to escape his fate. In language that is spare, passionate, and enduring, Edith Wharton tells this unforgettable story of two tragic lovers overwhelmed by the unrelenting forces of conscience and necessity. Included with Ethan Frome are the novella The Touchstone and three short stories, "The Last Asset," "The Other Two," and "Xingu." Together, this collection offers a survey of the extraordinary range and power of one of America's finest writers.

Since its publication in 1905 The House of Mirth has commanded attention for the sharpness of Wharton's observations and the power of her style. A lucid, disturbing analysis of the stifling limitations imposed upon women of her generation, Wharton's tale of Lily Bart's search for a husband of position in New York Society, and betrayal of her own heart, transformed the traditional novel of manners into an arrestingly modern document of cultural anthropology. With incisive contemporary analysis, the introduction by a leading scholar of American literature updates this increasingly important work.

Anna Leath is a young widow, an American living in France. Behind her lies an arid marriage and a life deeply influenced by the rigid code of Old New York. Ahead lies new hope: a chance encounter in London with George Darrow, the first love of her youth, has left her awakened, disturbed. Anna returns to her beautiful country chateau to await her future: between two short distances can anything happen to disrupt such promise? But the charming Sophie Viner, governess to Anna's young daughter, holds the key to a secret which comes to reveal that Anna's future - and the very foundation of her life - is fragile where it appears most strong.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton's novel is a complicated work of fiction which exposes a crucial viewpoint on early twentieth century American society. A review of its primary themes, characters as well as narrative format: Here is the analysis: Social Critique and Class Dynamics: The novel looks at a tremendous topic: the critique of social class structures, particularly the difference between old money as well as brand new money. Undine Spragg is a character who Wharton depicts as societal climbing and materialism of the nouvelle riche. The novel examines the values as well as actions of the established elite and the newly landed, exposing the superficiality and moral bankruptcy that might lie behind the quest for social status.Undine Spragg: Character bio: Undine is a complicated character, generally viewed as an anti-heroine. She is driven by a need for wealth & status and is ardent, manipulative. Wharton utilizes her character as a means of examining themes of ambition and greed and also the social expectations placed on women. Wharton accomplishes a level of sympathy for Undine despite her usually unfavorable characteristics, displaying the limitations placed on women in her society.Marriage as a Social Tool: The novel discusses marriage not as hot union but as a tool of social advancement. Marriages within Undine are merely transactions, a means of ascending socially. The portrayal mirrors the mercantile nature of relationships within some social groups and criticises the commodityization of marriage.Contrast Between American as well as European Values: Wharton compared American and European societal values and normative. The novel indicates that European society is grounded in tradition and more stable, while American culture is fluid and centered on newness and wealth. Undine's marriages to both American and European males and her adaptation to various cultural expectations are a clear illustration of this contrast.Consumerism as well as Materialism: The book is an examination of American consumerism. Undine's constant pursuit of luxury and standing illustrates the larger societal aversion to appearance and material possessions. Wharton critiques this materialism, indicating it results in moral emptiness and personal dissatisfaction.Realism as well as Narrative Style: Wharton's story style brings together realism with thorough social observation. She meticulously captures the settings and social customs in the time, offering a vivid backdrop against which the story of her characters unfolds. Irony and subtle humor are used to deepen her social criticism.Gender Roles as well as Feminism: The novel isn't explicitly feminist but does examine the limited roles that women played in early 20th century society. Despite being morally questionable, Undine's actions may be viewed as a response - towards the limitations put on her as a woman. Her drive for independence contrasts with the established roles of women.The American Dream: The novel may be regarded as a look at the American Dream. Undine's continuous quest for upward mobility and happiness via money as well as power eventually does not gratify her, indicating the hollowness of this dream when based entirely on material accomplishment.