An Analysis Of Mother-Daughter Relationship In The House Of Mirth, The Custom Of The Country And The Age Of Innocence

Edith Wharton is one of the most important American female writers at the turnof the20thcentury. Since there is seldom work done on the relationship betweenmother and daughter in Edith Wharton’s fiction, this thesis chooses to focus on thisissue. Analyzing The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country and The Age ofInnocence, the three most representative of Wharton’s novels, the thesis intends toexplore the common characteristics among the novels in which the maternal figuresplay important roles in molding the fate of the female protagonists.Being raised in a rich family, Edith Wharton had troublesome relationship withher mother Lucretia Jones who believed in the patriarchal codes of Old New York.Wharton transformed her personal agonies into novels which represent the struggles ofdaughters who want to find what real happiness is. Unfortunately, as the mothers arethe teachers of patriarchal norms, the better the daughters learn, the more theyinternalize these norms, and the unhappier they become. It is through mother-daughterbond that one generation after another the patriarchal system produces women who areconsumers, men’s objects, and dutiful maidens, wives and mothers. In order toexamine the relationship between the mothers and the daughters, the thesis isstructured as follows:The first part is an introduction to Edith Wharton and her New York novels.Then in Chapter One, the thesis examines the maternal figure of Mrs. Bart in TheHouse of Mirth who lectures her daughter to marry well. Tragic life of Lily Bart ishighly influenced by her mother’s teaching. In Chapter Two, the first part is theanalysis of Mrs. Spragg, mother of the protagonist Undine Spragg in The Custom ofthe Country. From Undine’s ambition, her divorces and remarriages, we can see theshadow of Mrs. Spragg. Chapter three is a comparative study on female characters inThe Age of Innocence, especially three female figures May Welland, Ellen Olenska andMrs. Manson Mingott. May follows her mother’s orders. Ellen is a rebellious figurewho is orphaned at an early age. Mrs. Mingott tries to protect Ellen; however, her maternal influence on Ellen is ambivalent. In the concluding part, the thesis links EdithWharton’s depiction of mother-daughter relationship with her own experiences.In a word, In The House of Mirth, The Custom of the Country and The Age ofInnocence, Wharton examines the restrictions upon women. The mothers are thedefenders of the male-oriented world and their daughters become the victims ofpatriarchy.