Edith Wharton
By: Alyssa Haus and Rylee Wander
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
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
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
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
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
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
Horton, Scott. This is a picture of Edith Wharton
when she was middle-aged. Digital image. The