The House of Mirth, Extract - Edith Wharton (1905)

Thèmes abordés

The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton, New York, réalisme, roman, société américaine, american society, féminisme, feminism

Résumé du document

The text that will be studied is an extract of the 1905's novel The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. As the author was born in the upper society of New York in the late nineteenth century, she found that no one really wrote about New York society, while she thought there was a lot to say about the struggle of rich people, between what society wants them to be and who they really are. In that respect, Edith Wharton wrote about Lily Bart, a young lady of the upper society of New York newly impoverished, who is desperately looking for a husband while starting to become a bit old to be married, as she is already 29. Her writing is sophisticated and her work is part of the 'realistic literature' of that era.

Extraits

[...] On the other hand, Mr. Rosedale 'raised his hat' (line 27) as a social sign of respect toward a woman and 'stood scanning her with interest and approval' (line 33) as she represents a woman perfectly corresponding to his social status and desire; the verb 'scanning' is of great importance to make me understand the reader that he is examining her appearance. But the author wishes to make us understand to the reader that M. Rosedale is of no interest to Miss Bart as his lids are 'screwed up' (line 30), and compares the fitting of his clothes to 'upholstery' (line 34): his eyes were giving him the 'air of appraising people as if they were bric-a-brac' (lines 35-36), a metaphor to make us understand the reader that he is judging others and makes them feel not important. [...]

[...] The House of Mirth, Extract - Edith Wharton (1905) - Rédiger en anglais un commentaire sur cet extrait du livre d'Edith Wharton "The House of Mirth" I. Introduction The text that will be studied is an extract of the 1905's novel The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. As the author was born in the upper society of New York in the late nineteenth century, she found that no one really wrote about New York society, while she thought there was a lot to say about the struggle of rich people, between what society wants them to be and who they really are. [...]

[...] Analysis The author uses short phrases throughout the text, which provides an easy lecture with the text overall. A. Description of the scene The characters playing a role in the extract are deeply described allowing the reader to imagine them. The charwoman is described in the semantic field 'stout person' (line 4), 'red fists' (line 7), broad sallow face, slightly pitted with smallpox, and thin straw-coloured hair through which her scalp shone unpleasantly' (line 8-9-10). Mr. Rosedale is a 'small glossy-looking man' (lines 26-27), a 'plump rosy man of the blond Jewish type, with smart London clothes' (lines 33-34) and 'small sidelong eyes' (line 35). [...]

[...] The tone of the text is pathetic as it is made clear the Miss Bart is embarrassed and annoyed with the situation of meeting the charwoman, but more importantly, Mr. Rosedale, and that she is desperately trying to escape him as she understands that he knows she might have lied to him because he seems to know that there is no dressmaker in the Benedick building. The author seems to be very aware of the moral codes and conducts that the upper class of New York was subjected to. She depicts them with great details. [...]

[...] Conclusion The author depicts, in this portion of text, the behaviour of two individuals of the upper class, Miss Bart and Mr. Rosedale, but also between a socialite and a chair-woman, a person considered to be part of a lower social class. The author produced a text were descriptions of situation and individuals are realistic and allow the reader to imagine the whole scene. Her work was largely inspired by another American novelist, part of the literary realism, Henry James, who is also depicting social relationships, like the relationships of an American woman and two American expatriates in The Portrait of a Lady. [...]