Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence In The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton there is a cynical silence that creates tension between the main characters in the novel. An entire family is affected by the deception of one man who decides to lay his eyes on the cousin of his soon to be wife, May Welland. He continues his normal life, as a man who seemed to be devoted to his family while May grows resentment towards her cousin Ellen Olenska but still chooses to fight for her marriage. Even though Newland…

After its debut in 1920, Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence challenged many social and political norms of its time through a combination of historic fiction and heavy-handed sarcasm. Wharton became the first woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize when the novel was given the award in 1921 (Wikipedia, “Age of Innocence”).). Throughout the 20th century, the novel was adapted and re-adapted on both film and stage (Wikipedia, “Age of Innocence”). However, with the rise of the 21st century, Age of…

appearance, the nation was struggling with corruption and greed. I believe this is the backbone of Edith Wharton's book, The House of Mirth. She created a unique story which showcased the actions of the wealthy people in her time and found that it closely resembled the era she was living in. Despite all appearances, most of the people who were fortunate enough to live in the upper class would…

society? Although one may not agree, by analyzing Alida Slade and Grace Ansley, rivals in love and life, one can concur that by utilizing juxtaposition and tone, Wharton creates a dynamic character foil: two women that share distinct characteristics, but also possess contrasting personalities. In the short story, “Roman Fever,” by Edith Wharton, the audience learns about two characters whom share a long and complicated past. Wharton’s tone is harsh when illustrating Slade’s relationship with…

possess a personality of their own. Natural and man-made elements of landscapes can work together to create strong forces that behave almost like characters in a story. Author Edith Wharton harnesses the power of carefully selected landscapes to energize her works. In the short story "Roman Fever" and the novel Ethan Frome, Wharton uses dramatic landscapes that fuel the actions of the characters and subsequently lead to the emotionally charged…

In her short story, “The Valley of Childish Things,” Edith Wharton creates an analogy between an experienced man and society in order to portray how women are criticized if they contrast with society’s expectations. In a fictional valley where children enjoy games and study the same books, a lame and weather-beaten man crosses paths with a grown and experienced woman and scolds her for the way she’s aged. Wharton writes, “As she turned away, he added in the kindest possible way, ‘Really…

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is a novel about the lavish lifestyles, and social nuances of New York’s elite during The Gilded Age. While the novel gives a facade of hope and achievement, it is actually about failure and despair. The characters face many challenges, Newland Archer is in despair about his world and his future, Countess Olenska is in despair about being trapped in her marriage, and Archer and Ellen both fail at being with the person they truly love, each other. Archer…

The Age of Innocence: Affairs of Ignorance and Knowledge Good authors use different strategies to emphasize the main ideas of their writing, and the type of narrative style is an important strategy that is often used. Edith Wharton wrote “The Age of Innocence” in limited-omniscient, third-person narrative point of view to illustrate Archer’s ignorance of how transparent his relationship is with Ellen, and she uses Chapter XXX to prove this by using Archer’s thoughts, May’s actions, and Mrs…

Agatha Christie, she makes us get into the book by using suspicion. Christie makes us believe anyone could of been committing the murders by giving us their background to show they have all could be suspects. In contrast the poem “All Souls,” by Edith Wharton it only talks about the dead coming back to life. All Souls compared to And Then There Were None, they both have a gothic setting, the novel And Then There None is held on a remote island in an old house, in addition “All Souls,” is held at…

Being a life-long friend to someone is a special gift. Knowing their innermost feelings and deepest secrets can bring two friends together or ultimately tear them apart. Edith Wharton’s short story Roman Fever (rpt. in Greg Johnson and Thomas R. Arp Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2015] 387-397) gives an example of two well-bred ladies that have been intimate friends from childhood into ripe middle age. The two ladies, Grace Ansley and Alida Slade,…