Which Edith Wharton novel should I read first?
The best place to start with Edith Wharton is with her fourth (and second most famous) novel, The House of Mirth. The House of Mirth charts the falling fortunes of Lilly Bart, a bright, vivacious upper-class woman raised to be an ornament to society — and more specifically, to a wealthy man.
What is the story of Ethan Frome about?
Ethan Frome is a poor farmer, trapped in a marriage to a demanding and controlling wife, Zeena. When Zeena’s young cousin Mattie enters their household she opens a window of hope in Ethan’s bleak life, but his wife’s reaction prompts a desperate attempt to escape fate that goes horribly wrong.
What type of person was Edith Wharton?
writer
As a writer, Wharton was intent on witnessing the realities of war and was one of a handful of journalists and writers allowed on the front lines. In 1916, Wharton received the French Legion of Honor for her war work. “I am an incorrigible life-lover & life-wonderer & adventurer.”
What themes did Wharton write about?
Major themes in Wharton’s work include the effects of class on both behavior and consciousness (divorce, for example, often horrifies the established upper class as much for its offense against taste as for its violation of moral standards); the American belief in progress as actual and good (many “advances” Wharton …
What was Edith Wharton known for?
Edith Wharton, née Edith Newbold Jones, (born January 24, 1862, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 11, 1937, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, near Paris, France), American author best known for her stories and novels about the upper-class society into which she was born.
Why did Edith Wharton write Ethan Frome?
Wharton began the story that became Ethan Frome in the early 1900s as an exercise in writing for a tutor she hired to improve her French conversational skills. She based the tale on her experiences of several summers’ residence at the Wharton country home in Lenox, Massachusetts.
What happens to Ethan at the end of Ethan Frome?
Instead of finding escape in suicide, he and Mattie have ended up in a state of living death, in which all Mattie’s vitality has been leeched away, and she has transformed into a carbon copy of her former opposite, Zeena.
Why did Edith Wharton get divorced?
Her tragic love story, Ethan Frome, was published in 1911 to much success and acclaim. Eventually, Edith and Teddy began living apart, and in 1913, Edith divorced Teddy because of his unstable mental health and acts of adultery. Edith was also guilty of adultery.
What was Edith Wharton’s maiden name?
Edith Newbold Jones
Edith Wharton, née Edith Newbold Jones, (born January 24, 1862, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 11, 1937, Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, near Paris, France), American author best known for her stories and novels about the upper-class society into which she was born.
What was Edith Wharton famous for?
Was Edith Wharton a man?
The Age of Innocence (1920) won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature, making Wharton the first woman to win the award.
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