Introduction


Edith Wharton

For her novel The Age of Innocence (1921), Edith Wharton became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for literature. Although wealthy and female, she was also one of the few American civilians who traveled to the front lines in France during World War I. She wrote a series of articles about that experience, and in 1916 was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. She remained in France until her death in 1937, but she did return to the United States on one occasion to get an honorary doctorate degree from Yale. Despite the time she spent away from the United States, Edith Wharton is celebrated for her novels that perfectly captured (and gently criticized) the upper class in America.

Essential Facts

  1. “Keeping up with the Joneses” is a phrase coined about Edith Wharton’s family. She was born Edith Newbold Jones, and her privileged lifestyle led to many of her finest works.
  2. Wharton had many influential ancestors, including Ebenezer Stevens who participated in the Boston Tea Party.
  3. Wharton once said this about the critical response to her writing: “After all, one knows one’s weak points so well that it’s rather bewildering to have the critics overlook them and invent others.”
  4. Wharton was divorced from her husband in 1913, but rather than view a divorce as scandalous she saw it as a “diploma of virtue.”
  5. Wharton was working on a novel, The Buccaneers, at the time of her death. The unfinished novel was published in 1938, and a version completed by author Marion Mainwaring was published in 1993.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. Edith Wharton - Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  2. Edith Wharton - Feminism in Literature
  3. Ethan Frome Study Guide (eNotes)
  4. The Age of Innocence Study Guide (eNotes)

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. Cecilia Macheski Special Commissioned Essay on Edith Wharton Criticism
  2. Edith Wharton - Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  3. Edith Wharton - Feminism in Literature
  4. Edith Wharton Biography
  5. Edith Wharton Biography / Profile
  6. Edith Wharton Biography / Profile
  7. Edith Wharton Biography / Profile
  8. Edith Wharton Biography / Profile
  9. Edith Wharton The House of Mirth Criticism
  10. Edith Wharton, an Extraordinary Life Review - Eleanor Dwight
  11. Ethan Frome Character Analysis
  12. Ethan Frome Lesson Plan (Teaching Unit)
  13. Ethan Frome Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  14. Ethan Frome Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  15. Ethan Frome Study Guide (eNotes)
  16. Ethan Frome Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  17. Ethan Frome Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  18. Pomegranate Seed Summary and Study Guide - Edith Wharton
  19. Roman Fever Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  20. Roman Fever Summary and Study Guide - Edith Wharton
  21. Summer Summary and Study Guide - Edith Wharton
  22. The Age of Innocence Character Analysis
  23. The Age of Innocence Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  24. The Age of Innocence Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  25. The Age of Innocence Study Guide (eNotes)
  26. The Age of Innocence Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  27. The Age of Innocence Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  28. The Buccaneers Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  29. The Custom of the Country Character Analysis
  30. The Custom of the Country Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  31. The Custom of the Country Summary / Study Guide
  32. The Fruit of the Tree Character Analysis
  33. The Fruit of the Tree Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  34. The House of Mirth Character Analysis
  35. The House of Mirth Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  36. The House of Mirth Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  37. The House of Mirth Summary and Study Guide - Edith Wharton
  38. The Letters of Edith Wharton Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  39. The Letters of Edith Wharton Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  40. The Old Maid Character Analysis
  41. The Old Maid Review - Edith Newbold Jones
  42. The Old Maid Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  43. The Other Two Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  44. The Reef Summary / Study Guide
  45. The Valley of Decision Character Analysis
  46. The Valley of Decision Summary - Edith Newbold Jones
  47. Wharton, Edith (1862 - 1937) | Introduction: Gothic Literature
  48. Wharton, Edith 1862-1937 - 1900's The Arts
  49. Wharton, Edith [Newbold Jones]: The Oxford Companion to American Literature
  50. Wharton, Edith: The Oxford Companion to English Literature