The Custom of the Country - Wharton, Edith
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The Custom of the Country is a 1913 tragicomedy of manners novel by the American author Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society. The title phrase is discussed in the novel. Charles Bowen asserts to Laura Fairford that it is "abnormal" that Ralph Marvell does not share his business life with his wife Undine. He does not "let her share in the real business of life" nor "rely on her judgment and help in the conduct of serious affairs". He believes that this behavior is typical of American men who, unlike Europeans,…mehr

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Produktbeschreibung
The Custom of the Country is a 1913 tragicomedy of manners novel by the American author Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to ascend in New York City society. The title phrase is discussed in the novel. Charles Bowen asserts to Laura Fairford that it is "abnormal" that Ralph Marvell does not share his business life with his wife Undine. He does not "let her share in the real business of life" nor "rely on her judgment and help in the conduct of serious affairs". He believes that this behavior is typical of American men who, unlike Europeans, spend money on their wives but undervalue them as individuals, while living passionately in their business lives. To do otherwise, says Bowen, would be "against the custom of the country". (Chapter XV) Edith Wharton said the title of the novel came from a play by English playwrights John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, entitled The Custom of the Country, in which the term referred to the droit du seigneur, the claim of a ruler to have sex with a subordinate female before her husband. Julian Fellowes has cited The Custom of the Country as an inspiration for his creative work, including Downton Abbey. Upon receiving the Edith Wharton Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 in Boston, Massachusetts, Fellowes said: "It is quite true that I felt this was my book; that the novel was talking to me in a most extreme and immediate way. I think it's a remarkable piece of writing. In Undine Spragg, Wharton has created an anti-heroine absolutely in the same rank as Becky Sharp, Scarlett O'Hara, or Lizzie Eustace. Undine has no values except ambition, greed and desire, and yet through the miracle of Wharton's writing, you are on her side. That's what's so extraordinary about the book...I decided, largely because of her work, that it was time I wrote something." In 2020 American filmmaker Sofia Coppola announced she planned to develop a miniseries adaptation of the work. (wikipedia.org)
Autorenporträt
Edith Wharton, born into old money, was brought up in the aristocratic society of New York in the late 1800s. She was a rebel of a woman, born before her time. Edith was raised with a lot of pressure to be a proper woman and wife, though her limited beauty and insistence to read and write brought trouble into her romantic life. What dalliances she did indulge in with men in her social circle always ended poorly. Even her eventual marriage was not a happy one, and she and her husband were both unfaithful. Ultimately, she moved herself to Europe and filed for a divorce. This theme of romantic frustration is seen frequently in her works as an author, which include well known stories like House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence. It was due to her father's extensive library and a governess's intentional teachings that Edith developed such a powerful literary voice. In 1921, Edith Wharton became the first woman in history to win the Pulitzer Prize with a story that criticized the mating rituals of New York society. She spent her golden years in the French countryside, where she passed away on August 11, 1937.