Edith Wharton

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Edith Wharton

• By Alyssa Haus and Rylee Wander

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Biography

• Born in 1862
• Parents George Frederic and Lucretia Jones
• Came from Old Money
• Did not go to school
• Was a smart and creative child
• Married Edward ("Teddy") Robbins Wharton
• The Decoration of Houses

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Biography Continued...

• 1890- Treated for depression
• 1907- Settled in France
• 1908- Had an affair with Morton Fullerton
• 1913- Divorced her husband
• WWI- Dedicated to allied cause

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Biography Continued...

• 1921- Pulitzer Prize for The Age of Innocence
• 1923- Honorary degree from Yale
• Last years spent in France writing
• Continued to travel
• Died in France in 1937
• Career lasted 40 years and she wrote than more
  than 40 books

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Novels/Short Stories

• Wrote fiction, nonfiction and some poetry
• First book- The Decoration of Houses
• The Age of Innocence
• Ethan Fromme (Her best known short story)
• The House of Mirth
• Characters

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Style

• Social Realism
  
• Influenced by emphasis on science and the
  rational approach to philosophy
• Socialist realist novels often seem to be
  assembled from interchangeable parts

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Themes

• Wrote about
• art, architecture, and gardens
• The contemporary world of the very rich and its
  materialism
• Cruel social conventions
• Bad relationships
• Confining circumstances

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Bibliography

• Dwight, Eleanor, Viola H. Winner, and Guest
  Curators. "Edith Wharton." The National
  Portrait Gallery. Web. 13 Oct. 2011.
  lthttp//www.npg.si.edu/exh/wharton/ whar3.htmgt.
• "Edith Wharton BIOGRAPHY-LITERARY/HISTORICAL
  BACKGROUND Study Guide for The Age of Innocence
  Book Summary-Free Book Notes/Chapter
  Summary/Analysis/ Synopsis." PinkMonkey.com-450
  Free Book Notes,Study Guides,Chapter
  Summary,Online,Download Booknotes.
  PinkMonkey.com, 7 May 2007. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
  lthttp//www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/monkeynotes/
  pmAgeOfInnocence13.aspgt.
• Horton, Scott. This is a picture of Edith Wharton
  when she was middle-aged. Digital image. The OLM
  Blog - Scott Horton. WordPress, 7 Dec. 2008. Web.
  13 Oct. 2011. lthttp// openlettersmonthly.com/blo
  g/tag/scott-horton/gt.
• Morson, Gary S. "Socialist Realism and Literary
  Theory." JSTOR The Journal of Aesthetics and
  Art Criticism. The American Society for
  Aesthetics, Winter 1979. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
  lthttp//www.jstor.org/pss/430715gt.