One of the most accomplished American writers of the early 20th century, Edith Wharton achieved both critical recognition and popular acclaim. This Student Companion provides an introduction to Wharton's fiction. Beginning with her life and career, the volume places Wharton in the context of her times, focusing on how she was shaped by the culture of wealth and privilege into which she was born. Her struggle to resist the demands of her social world paralleled her characters' lives and contributed to the power of her writing. Included are an in-depth discussion of her writing, along with analyses of thematic concerns, character development, historical context, and plot. A close critical reading covers each of her major works, with a full chapter devoted to each: The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), Summer (1917), The Age of Innocence (1920), and her two novellas, Madame de Treymes (1907) and The Old Maid (1924). Another chapter addresses Wharton's short stories and considers some of her most famous and anthologized tales, such as The Other Two and Roman Fever. This companion is ideal for students who are reading Wharton for the first time, or for general readers who are seeking a greater understanding of her writing. A select bibliography offers suggestions for further reading about Wharton and includes criticism and contemporary reviews of her work.
Well-researched, insightful essays. . . . An important book on literary mentoring in American belles lettres."--Elizabeth Hayes, LeMoyne College Presenting a rich and suggestive picture of the complex relationships between aspiring writers and their mentors from the 1870s to the late 20th century, these essays cover an extraordinarily productive era in American letters. In the context of significant changes in the nature of authorship and publishing during the period, they show the importance of guidance in establishing a successful literary career. This book offers a new, wider definition of mentoring and suggests fruitful ways for critics and readers to explore the careers and works of writers, especially women writers, from the realist and modernist periods. [Clean, not edited, not numbered, version] Contents Introduction, by Irene C. Goldman-Price and Melissa McFarland Pennell 1. "The Last Letter of All": Reese, Stedman, and Poetry in Late-Nineteenth-Century America, by Robert J. Scholnick 2. The Mentor's Charge: Literary Mentoring in Howells's Criticism and Fiction, by Melissa McFarland Pennell 3. "In this particular instance I want you": The Booster as Mentor in A Hazard of New Fortunes, by Irene C. Goldman-Price 4. Henry James's Ghostly Mentors, by Cheryl B. Torsney 5. Negative Mentorship and the Case of Alice James, by Esther F. Lanigan 6. Female Models and Male Mentors in Wharton's Early Fiction, by Julie Olin-Ammentorp 7. Edith Wharton and Partnership: The House of Mirth, The Decoration of Houses, and "Copy," by Carol J. Singley 8. Meetings of Minds: Edith Wharton as Mentor and Guide, by Helen Killoran 9. "Someone Young and Teachable": Dimensions of Mentoring in the Fiction of Willa Cather, by Deborah Carlin 10. "Efforts of Affection": Mentorship and Friendship in Moore and Bishop, by Margaret Wooster Freeman 11. Eudora Welty: The Silent Mentors, by Jean Frantz Blackall Irene C. Goldman-Price is a lecturer in English and women's studies at Pennsylvania State University, Hazelton. She is the author of several book chapters and of articles in the Journal of Popular Literature and Modern Language Studies. Melissa McFarland Pennell, professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, is the author of The Student Companion to Nathaniel Hawthorne and of essays on 19th-century American literature.
One of the most accomplished American writers of the early 20th century, Edith Wharton achieved both critical recognition and popular acclaim. This Student Companion provides an introduction to Wharton's fiction. Beginning with her life and career, the volume places Wharton in the context of her times, focusing on how she was shaped by the culture of wealth and privilege into which she was born. Her struggle to resist the demands of her social world paralleled her characters' lives and contributed to the power of her writing. Included are an in-depth discussion of her writing, along with analyses of thematic concerns, character development, historical context, and plot. A close critical reading covers each of her major works, with a full chapter devoted to each: The House of Mirth (1905), Ethan Frome (1911), Summer (1917), The Age of Innocence (1920), and her two novellas, Madame de Treymes (1907) and The Old Maid (1924). Another chapter addresses Wharton's short stories and considers some of her most famous and anthologized tales, such as The Other Two and Roman Fever. This companion is ideal for students who are reading Wharton for the first time, or for general readers who are seeking a greater understanding of her writing. A select bibliography offers suggestions for further reading about Wharton and includes criticism and contemporary reviews of her work.
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