Edith Wharton in Context

This collection of essays examines the various social, cultural and historical contexts surrounding Edith Wharton's popular and prolific literary career.

Laura Rattray (Edited by)

9781107010192, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 October 2012

424 pages, 7 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.7 cm, 0.7 kg

Edith Wharton was one of America's most popular and prolific writers, becoming the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1921. In a publishing career spanning seven decades, Wharton lived and wrote through a period of tremendous social, cultural and historical change. Bringing together a team of international scholars, this volume provides the first substantial text dedicated to the various contexts that frame Wharton's remarkable career. Each essay offers a clearly argued and lucid assessment of Wharton's work as it relates to seven key areas: life and works, critical receptions, book and publishing history, arts and aesthetics, social designs, time and place, and literary milieux. These sections provide a broad and accessible resource for students coming to Wharton for the first time while offering scholars new critical insights.

List of illustrations
Notes on contributors
List of abbreviations
Preface
Part I. Life and Works: 1. Edith Wharton: contextual revisions Laura Rattray
2. Chronology: Wharton in cultural and historical context Pamela Knights and Laura Rattray
3. Biography Melanie Dawson
4. Composition and publication Sharon Kehl Califano
5. Portraits of Wharton Susan Goodman
Part II. Critical Receptions: 6. Contemporary reviews 1877–1938 Heidi M. Kunz
7. Obituaries Linda De Roche
8. 'Justice' to Edith Wharton?: The early critical responses Melissa M. Pennell
9. Modern critical receptions Jessica Schubert McCarthy
Part III. Book and Publishing History: 10. Wharton and her editors Sharon Shaloo
11. Selling Wharton Gary Totten
12. Serialization Elsa Nettels
13. Short story markets Bonnie Shannon McMullen
Part IV. Arts and Aesthetics: 14. Stage adaptations of Wharton's fiction John Dennis Anderson
15. Wharton's writings on screen Anne-Marie Evans
16. Visual arts Emily J. Orlando
17. Architecture Cecilia Macheski
18. Interior and garden design Helena Chance
19. Images of Wharton Katherine Joslin
Part V. Social Designs: 20. The marriage market Pamela Knights
21. Leisured lives Maureen E. Montgomery
22. Wharton and gender Linda Wagner-Martin
23. Race and imperialism Margaret Toth
24. Social transitions Adam Jabbur
Part VI. Time and Place: 25. Wharton and France William Blazek
26. Wharton and Italy Robin Peel
27. Wharton and World War I Julie Olin-Ammentorp
28. The 1920s Gail D. Sinclair
29. Wharton and the Great Depression Carol J. Singley
Part VII. Literary Milieux: 30. Literary influences Judith P. Saunders
31. Wharton and the American romantics Linda Costanzo Cahir
32. The novel of manners Cecilia Macheski
33. Naturalism Donna Campbell
34. Modernism Jennifer Haytock
Further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literary studies: general [DSB]