Edith Wharton Exposing Aristocratic Society Essay

Visualize being at a lovely dinner in New York City during the early 20th century and scrutinizing some of the most affluent people the city has to offer. Edith Wharton was able to witness all of the arrogance in New York during this time and put those observations into her novel, The House of Mirth. Edith Wharton was born on January 24th, 1862 into a prosperous New York family. She lived in an expensive area of New York and was primarily educated by governesses and personal tutors (Olin 72). Her family inspired the phrase â€Å"Keeping up with the Joneses† (Lee 22). Edith’s personal experiences have definitely had a huge impact on her writing. Her high social status, the Gilded Age in America, and her love for nature influenced Edith Wharton†¦show more content†¦When Wharton was four years old, her family escaped to Europe in order to avoid post-Civil War inflation. When she returned to New York in 1872, she was upset with the way the city looked. The mock-E uropean chateaux erected by the newly rich depressed her. New York City transformed from a town surrounded by lush farmland to a metropolis that attracted financiers and industrialists. (Singley 21). In The House of Mirth, Ned Van Alstyne (Lily’s cousin) is walking on Fifth Avenue and gives Lily a tour of Fifth Avenue and comments on the buildings: â€Å"Thats the next stage: the desire to imply that one has been to Europe, and has a standard. Im sure Mrs. Bry thinks her house a copy of the Trianon; in America every marble house with gilt furniture is thought to be a copy of the Trianon. What a clever chaps that architect is, though — how he takes his clients measure† (Wharton The House 169)! Social-climbing mothers who married their wealthy daughters off to impoverished European aristocrats disgusted Wharton. This was a trend amongst the people of New York’s noveau riche. An infamous example of these weddings was Consuelo Vanderbilt’s marriage to the Duke of Marlborough. Wharton knew of this wedding and the vast attention it brought. In House of Mirth, Percy Gryce becomes engaged to Evie Van Osburgh and it is obvious that the only reason they are getting married is to merge