Description
First published in 1992, this volume of essays celebrates the revival of Edith Wharton’s critical reputation. It offers a variety of approaches to the work of Wharton and examines largely neglected texts. It differs from many other collections of Wharton criticism in its insistence that the entire body of Wharton’s work deserves attention.
This book will be of interest in those studying nineteenth century and American literature.
Table of Contents
Introduction Alfred Bendixen; Death of the Lady (Novelist): Wharton’s House of Mirth Elaine Showalter; Reading Mrs Lloyd Judith Fryer; To Form a More Imperfect Union: Gender, Tradition, and the Text in Wharton’s The Fruit of the Tree Deborah Carlin; Wharton’s Reef: The Inscription of Female Sexuality Rebecca Blevins Faery; Cold Ethan and Hot Ethan Cynthia Griffin Wolff; Charity at the Window: Narrative Technique in Edith Wharton’s Summer Jean Frantz Blackall; American Naturalism in Its "Perfected" State: The Age of Innocence and An American Tragedy Donald Pizer; Clocks and Mirrors, Dreams and Destinies: Edith Wharton’s The Old Maid Judith E Funston; Edith Wharton Reads the Bachelor Type: Her Critique of Merdenism’s Representative Man Judith L. Sensibar; Edith Wharton’s Subtle Revenge?: Morton Fullerton and the Female Artist in the Husdon River Bracketed and The Gods Arrive Abby H. P. Werlock; New Literary History: Edith Wharton and Jessie Redmont Fauset Elizabeth Ammons; Edith Wharton’s Poetry E. K. Brown; Lost Lands: Metaphors of Sexual Awakening in Edith Wharton’s Poetry, 1908-1909 Catherine Bancroft; Gender and First-Person Narration in Edith Wharton’s Short Fiction Elsa Nettels; "The Muse’s Tragedy" and the Muse’s Text: Language and Desire in Wharton M. Denise Witzig; Gothic Borrowings and Innovations in Edith Wharton’s "A Bottle of Perrier" Carol J. Singley; Edith Wharton’s Ghost Tales Reconsidered Margaret B. McDowell; "All Soul’s": Wharton’s Last Haunted House and Future Directions in Criticism Annette Zilversmit
