American Writers: Edith Wharton, Her Life, Her Works as a Writer - Essay Example

7 May American Edith Wharton, Her Life, Her Works as a Writer Edith Wharton is considered to be one of the best novelists and short story writers in American literary history. She is also the first woman to win the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her novel The Age of Innocence that was published in 1920. Edith Wharton showed interest in novels and short stories since she was little. She was born Edith Newbold Jones on January 24, 1862 in the city of New York to George Jones and Lucretia Jones. Her family was famous of being opulent and was part of the noble families in New York. As a well-known young child, she had early thoughts of how she was being observed closely by the society; hence, her task was to learn the gestures, the customs and how the way a rich and aristocratic young lady should behave during her time; although, when she grew up, she learned to deviate from the customary practices of the family. Her father owned a very huge library and became the significant setting of her home-schooling activities. She was schooled at home and was taught by educators and tutors. In the vast library of her father took place the focal point of her journey towards being an excellent writer. Finally in 1885, Edith Wharton found the man of her dreams and married Teddy Wharton. Teddy was twelve years older than Edith and together they have shared a home filled [Student’s Last Name] 2 with comfort, luxury and affluence, situated in different states: New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. But they did not live "happily-ever-after" as Edith realized she was worn-out of being a housewife and was exhausted of her part as a matriarch of the society. Finally, after finding out that her husband was pinching her money for his "kept woman", their marriage finally came to an end. Nevertheless, Ediths love affair did not come to a stoppage, instead, when she was 46, she met another man in the name of Morton Fullerton who had roused back her sexual interest but their relationship likewise did not survive and fell apart in 1913. For thirty-eight years, beginning 1900 until 1938, Edith Wharton wrote manifold novels. Her book entitled House of Mirth which she completed and published in 1905 was thought to be the commencement of her literary career. She pursued on publishing and writing more and more novels and short stories and one of which is her novel entitled Ethan Frome which was published in 1911. She had an active participation during the World War I by travelling in long miles via her motorcar, aiding persons in exile in Paris and she almost completely left her native nation until during the time when she came back to the United States to receive her Pulitzer Prize Award for The Age of Innocence. Most people believed that The Age of Innocence was Whartons greatest literary artwork and was even referred to as a "Masterful portrait of desire and the betrayal set in the New York of her youth." ("Biography of Edith Wharton"). The book was in fact a reflection of her adolescence and her experiences in New York, depicting the changes that occurred in the city. As a matter of fact, the initial title of the novel is Old New York. All throughout her lifetime, she organized meetings and gatherings wherein thinkers and intelligentsias gathered together to discuss the different issues and thoughts revolving around the [Student’s Last Name] 3 community. Recurring visitors in her salon included Teddy Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway. She had also a close relationship with Henry James who influenced most, if not all, of her writing strategies and styles. Albeit, many critics regarded Henry James as a finer writer than Wharton, considering that there was a significant reduction of prejudice counter to the women authors, by and large, they were considered on level pegging. Edith Wharton carried on writing up until her demise in 1938 and was laid to rest in the American Cemetery in Versailles, France. Henry James became so closed with Edith Wharton and together they have travelled in different places of the globe. In fact, although Edith already established herself in Paris, she still travelled to Europe to see her friend, Henry James, which turned out to be one of her greatest influences. Most of Edith Whartons literary artworks are depictions of various societal themes. In effect, some of her novels, most especially Ethan From - the novel she published in 1911 - was a depiction of the conflict between social values and customs and the quest for happiness. The Reef which was published in 1912 shadows Whartons dominant dispositional progress. Another exceedingly much-admired work, The Custom of the Country in 1913, sardonically scrutinizes the United States nouveau riche class in its frantic and now and then avaricious callousness. After the World War I set off, and before she fled to Paris to help in aiding the persons in exile, she stayed in North Africa. During the World War I, she took part in the fund-raising activities and was engaged in erecting schools for the refugees. She helped women in independence by obtaining them methods of occupation. Edith Wharton and her friend, Walter Berry, wandered the battlegrounds and hospitals and took care of the ailing people which gave [Student’s Last Name] 4 rise to the completion of her diary entitled Fighting France published in 1915 as well as The Marne published in 1918. For her unwavering exertions of documenting the undesirable events that blighted the people of France through her literary artworks, she was conferred the title of "Chevalier (Knight) in the French Legion of Honour in 1916." (The Literature Network, "Edith Wharton"). Several subsequent events inspired Edith Wharton to write more novels and short stories. As soon as she learned the death of her friend, Henry James in 1916, she wrote a passage that goes “We who knew him well know how great he would have been if he had never written a line.” (The Literature Network, "Edit Wharton"). She published two of her characteristic contribution to literature in the same year, Summer and The Bunner Sisters, which she both completed in 1917. Likewise, by the same year, she took a voyage to Morocco which eventually led to her writing about her travel experiences in the country, giving birth to a compilation of essays entitled In Morocco published in 1920. Edith Wharton made manifold visits in different parts of Europe including the one that took place in 1925, after moving to Pavilion Colombe in 1918, when she had an appalling visit to F. Fitzgerald. Several collections were published just like the French Ways and Their Meaning published in 1919 and The Age of Innocence published in 1920. More and more novels and writings of Edith Wharton were published during the 1920s including The Glimpses of the Moon published in 1922, A Son at the Front published in 1923, and during this year, he was also conferred the Honorary Doctorate of Letters award from the prestigious Yale University. In addition, her works like The Mothers Recompense in 1925, The Writing of Fiction published in [Student’s Last Name] 5 1925, Twelve Poems published in 1926, the Twilight Sleep published in 1927, The Children published in 1928 - after recalling her childhood as an aristocrat - Hudson River Bracketed published in 1929 and its follow-up The Gods Arrive published in 1932, Certain People, Human Nature and A Backward Glance which was an autobiography published in 1930, 1933, and 1934 respectively, according to The Literature Network. She was then voted to become a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Most of Edith Whartons novels are depicted by an understated utilization of "dramatic irony". Being a woman whose childhood and youth were spent in a noble, aristocratic and chaotic type of community, Edith Wharton turned out to be one of her own shrewd critics, being the direct and first-hand evaluator of his own works like The House of Mirth and the award-winning novel, The Age of Innocence. Moreover, aside from composing and publishing numerous esteemed novels, Edith Wharton created a cornucopia of short stories and essays and was specifically appreciated because of her creepy ghost stories. By and large, Edith Whartons writings are all but inspirations of her childhood and reflections of various societal events and ordeals; nevertheless, these themes which are portrayed in her novels have all died out, however, many of her literary artworks have lived on. Her extraordinary character depicted in almost all of her literary artwork was reborn to life through various exhibitions of her works that brought Edith Wharton into an alive being once more. Her works did not only remind us of the things in the past, especially during the World War I, but it recovers for us a societal evolution that even before was coming to an end. References: American Writers. Edith Wharton and the Gilded Age Writers, 2012. Web. 5 May 2012. Grade Saver. Biography of Edith Wharton (1862-1938), n.d. Web. 5 May 2012 “Portraits of People and Places.” Npg.si. Edith Wharton’s World, n.d. Web. 6 May 2012 The Literature Network. Edith Wharton, 2007. Web. 7 May 2012 Read More