Edith Wharton wrote about New York high society. She depicts the pressures of the conventions of the time on the people, both men and women. Some of her stories talk of the pressures of society on the individual to marry well, meaning someone with money and from their social class, such as in “The Introducers” and “The House of Mirth”. Wharton also shows how other conventions of behavior, such as single, young women not being alone, especially at night or in private rooms, with men, are expected to be followed in “The House of Mirth”. Wharton also depicts the ideals of fealty in marriage, and the consequences in society for both the men and women in how they follow the conventions of marriage. The ways people both behave within these ideals and the ways people ignore these ideals are shown in a wide range of her stories such as “The Age of Innocence”, “The House of Mirth”, “Souls Belated” and “Pomegranate Seeds”. The expectations of society during Wharton’s life were that a person would marry. To remain unmarried was a disgrace for a woman, but it was also a frowned upon status for men. Marriage was a way of gaining wealth and influence in society. The convention of marriage made an individual considered to be respectable and cemented their position in society. In “The Introducers” the main two characters, Miss Grantham and Frederick Tilney were unable to catch themselves a rich spouse, and are working as secretaries for people with new money that need help getting introduced into society. Miss Grantham and Frederick Tilney are from old society families but they have lost their money. They are attracted to each other, but they need spouses with money. Miss Grantham states this on page seven when she says, “Ah, you and I were not made to dance cotillons with one another; or do anything together, except conspire at sunrise for each other’s material advancement.” You see these two conspire together to help each other find a rich spouse, even though the person each is aiming at isn’t someone they are particularly drawn to. It should also be noted here that the potential spouses are the newly rich and as such are not seen as a good catch, but rather as vulgar and a last resort. In the story you also see relatives of these two go out of their way to attempt to help them catch their mark. The man in the story is limited in his options, just as the woman is. He was raised in society with the ideals and values that were prevalent; therefor he was restricted by society to gaining money and status in ways that were acceptable. This story reflects the need for money in society and how marriage, even to an undesirable person, was seen as the natural course for getting it for both genders. In “The House of Mirth”, again you see the pursuit of money through marriage, and how such behavior is seen as acceptable, even expected, for those who have little of their own. Lily, the main character is attempting to find a rich man to marry throughout most the book. There are a couple scenes that hint that the men are also fortune hunting. For instance, Jack Stepney, who is lacking money, is engaged in a romance with Gwen Van Osburgh, who has family money. However, Jack does not really like Gwen; he had said of her that “she was as reliable as roast mutton. His own taste was in the line of less solid and more highly seasoned diet”. (Wharton HOM pg58) Lily reflects on seeing the pair that “all Jack has to do to get everything he wants is to keep quiet and let that girl marry him”. (Wharton HOM pg58) Another example of men gaining through marriage is when Lily muses on an old crush she had on a man named Herbert Melson. Mr. Melson had “...blue eyes and a little wave in his hair. Mr. Melson, who was possessed of no other negotiable securities, had hastened to employ these in capturing the eldest Miss Van Osburgh” (Wharton HOM pg80) “The House of Mirth” also shows the consequences of disregarding the conventions of the time, as Lily is taken to task by her friend for losing Mr. Gryce’s interest, she does not receive the inheritance she expected from her aunt due to her behavior in gambling and being seen alone with a married men late at night, and she becomes shunned by society for what they see as multiple failures to behave with propriety. Other people in the book break the ideals of society, but because they are married and have money, society chooses to turn a blind eye to their behavior. It is clear that misbehavior by people who are married and have money is overlooked by society, while those who are unmarried with a lack of money must be extremely careful in their behavior; this appears to pertain to both men and women. In the story “Pomegranate Seeds” the main male character, Kenneth is haunted by a love, namely his first wife, that won’t let him go. When his second wife gets engaged to him, she is warned that “Elsie Ashby absolutely dominated him”. (Wharton pg.62) The first wife, who has died, is somehow able to contact Kenneth through letters. She is unwilling to give him the freedom to be married to someone else, as the only words readable in her letter, “mine” and “come”, suggest. (Wharton pg.87) Kenneth is clearly agonizing over the moral dilemma of loving his new wife, while his first wife is making her claim felt. He appears “years older, looked emptied of life and courage” (Wharton pg.62) after receiving a letter from his first wife. Wharton makes the character of Kenneth suffer from the legitimate expectations of fealty put on him by both his wives. We see the other side of fealty in marriage represented in the story “Souls Belated”, where a woman, Lydia, runs away from her husband with another man, Gannett. She receives a divorce from her husband, and then is required to marry Gannett in order to be accepted back into society. Gannett, while at first wants to marry Lydia, by the end he realizes that she is not what he thought she was. Gannett was “bound to her now by a hundred ties of pity and self-reproach” (Wharton pg.115). In order for him to reenter society he had to make good on his misbehavior in taking Lydia away from her husband. Finally, in “The Age of Innocence” the main character, Newland Archer is unable to be with one woman because of the scandal it would have made. The conventions of the time would have caused both of them to be shunned from society if he had tried to leave his fiancée, and later his wife, for the desired woman. Newland is constrained by convention to marry May, who is a girl that meets society’s standards for behavior, and before he meets the other woman, Ellen, he does think of May as being the perfect woman to fill his life. Ellen is different and captures Newland’s interest because she refused to follow the conventions of society. Ellen left her husband and wants a divorce. She has rejected the conventional ideas that a woman should ignore her husband’s indiscretions and excesses, and be loyal to him whatever he does. Society does shun Ellen, although the families she is related to are able to modify that a little, she is still considered to be a less then upstanding example of womanhood. Newland dreams of rejecting the ideals of society, but he is too bound by the traditions and standards of the society he lives in. He is not truly prepared to take the consequences of breaking with society’s dictates. These examples show how Wharton was commenting on the ideals and conventions of New York high society, and how these affected both men and women. The difference in how far society would go to punish those who broke with its standards depended on the severity of the offense, how much money the guilty party had, and the amount of powerful family connections that were willing to support the person. While the standards for a man’s behavior were different then for a woman’s they still existed. Wharton gives plenty of examples of men behaving certain ways because of the standards of behavior, and she shows men being shunned for refusing to behave according to the dictates of society. Therefore, I agree with Tuttleson in that Wharton was not a feminist. She was an author commenting and criticizing New York high society, its conventions, and standards. Wharton’s characters, both men and women, were influenced and made to suffer due to traditional ideals. References
Wharton- Wharton, Edith The best Short Stories by Edith Warton
Wharton HOM - Wharton, Edith The House of Mirth
Wharton, Edith “The Introducers”
Wharton, Edith The Age of Innocence
