Edith Wharton

The foundations of American society in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were shaken by the revolutionary reality of women’s abilities, with high demand of political and social reform of gender inequalities by forthright women such as Charlotte Perkin Gilman. Expressing these views in her writings, both fiction and non-fiction, Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” acknowledges the power and control of women within patriarchal society, along with the effects on personality due to mental and…

The novel The House of Mirth written by Edith Wharton follows the tragic story of main character Lily Bart. The novel focuses on this upper class group in society and Lily's constant struggle and ultimate failure to keep her place in this group. Her decisions causes her social decline, ending ultimately with her death. Lily’s story follows the classic structure of a tragedy, most importantly including a tragic flaw and a great deal of suffering. After carefully analyzing Lily, it is clear that…

Tone: the attitude toward the subject and audience that is implied in literature. Example: In “Shooting an Elephant”, George Orwell states “The wretched prisoners huddling in the stinking cages of the lock-ups, the grey, cowed faces of the long-term convicts, the scarred buttocks of the men of the men who have been flogged with bamboos…” (50 essays Pg.277) Function: The gruesome tone here brings out a dark feeling from the author to the reader. Without this the message would not have come…

In the way she carries herself around others to please them to the way she constantly places herself in knowingly unpleasant situations, Lily Bart is seen as a very atypical character. Lily’s lifestyle is a cycle between wealth and poverty and relationships with different men. Lily follows these cycles rejecting the numerous opportunities presented to her to escape the lifestyle of poverty that she so resents. Many of these rejections represent an unrealistic image of marriage and the…

Literature often portrays and focuses on the characters that have many conflicts, and in this case they are internal conflicts. This perspective is noticed in “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov, “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton, and “Dead Poets Society” (script written by Tom Schulman). These writers focused on the theme of moral uncertainty with their main characters to compare and contrast what a person should believe in or do and what that person actually wants to do. Moral uncertainty is bound to be…

Throughout The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton leaves several parts open for reader’s imaginations to run wild with thought. In the end of her novel, there is no mistake on what caused Lily Bart’s death; an overdose of a sleeping drug. However, nearly 100 years after being published, readers who dip into the historical tragedy still find themselves debating if the overdose was intentional. An individual’s take on Wharton’s tragic ending is a product of their culture, upbringing, education,…

The Roaring Twenties Many wonder what put the “roar” in the Roaring 20’s. Women voting, Klan’s starting, secret hangouts being created and the start of the jazz age are just a few things that put the roar in the 1920’s. Cars were being bought, spectator sports were becoming popular, women were gaining rights, alcohol was banned, speakeasies were created, dance and music grew and markets reached an all-time high, only to come crashing down to conclude this historical decade. Bringing a…

States First American novelists Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810), Wieland (1798) William Hill Brown (1765-1793), The Power of Sympathy (1789) Hannah Webster Foster (1758-1840), woman novelist who wrote The Coquette; or, The History of Eliza Wharton; A Novel; Founded on Fact. By a Lady of Massachusetts (1797) The Romantic period: 1820—1865 Romanticism As an approach in literary creation, romanticism is ever present in literature of all times. As a literary movement, it occurred and…

In every book shop across America, individuals are confronted with the extreme inquiry of what book ought to be purchased. There are a great many books laying on racks all over the place however what makes a reader get a novel to purchase and read? Taking a gander at a book means individuals can get thoughts regarding what kind of book is in their grasp. Most books snatch their audience of people by the way that they look, all things considered. A wide range of writers and distributors pick…

Three Unique Writers Reforming Worldview “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass” (Whitman, v. 1-5). For many eras, authors and poets, like Walt Whitman have attempted to capture what it means to be an individual as a universal theme, and what it means to be an American. Multitudes of writers have come close to…