Whirling Atoms: Continuity and Distortion in Edith Wharton's Fiction

Indianapolis, IN

Edith Wharton's fiction is replete with characters engaged in fractured or distorted relationships, from the troubled marriage at the center of Ethan Frome to the blend of guardian and husband in Summer. Lily Bart, the heroine of The House of Mirth, seeks the security of marriage only to find herself entirely without family and human support by the end of the novel. Yet in The House of Mirth, Wharton offers a glimpse of a cohesive family, in which the marriage and children serve as security in a lonely, hostile world. Through Lily's eyes Wharton identifies this as an image of "the continuity of life" established by familial bonds, of which Lily has only known a disjointed version (311). This image comes in sharp contrast to Lily's sense of isolation and ennui, feelings which many of Wharton's other characters share. I intend to explore major works of Wharton's fiction through the concept of familial continuity, including Ethan Frome, Summer, The Age of Innocence, and The House of Mirth, and draw comparisons to The Portrait of a Lady, written by Wharton's friend and contemporary Henry James. I will particularly focus on Wharton's portrayal of the distortions of this continuity by analyzing the degree of agency which individual characters possess in shaping the outcomes of their narratives. Thus, I will determine whether the continuity of life is an achievable prospect in Wharton's fiction, or if the pre-existing distortions are inevitable.