Edith Wharton Conformity

“. . .if others don’t love me, I would rather die than live -- I cannot bare to be solitary and hated, Helen. Look here; to gain some real affection from. . .whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken. . .’” (Brontë 82). Explanation: Jane Eyre, for all of her life prior to Lowood Academy, was disliked by her superiors and hated by those who should be considered her comrades. Finding comfort and love in Helen Burns, her first childhood friend, she confides her youthful desire to be loved. At such a young age, Jane desired even the most dilute of love, no matter the cost. Her immaturity hinders her happiness, causing her to feel as if she has been severely deprived of such fondness. Her tantrum not only leaves her friend stunned, but she learns a most valuable lesson in faith and doing what is most right with God that lasts with her throughout her journeys of woe and worry along Mr. Rochester’s side.

lthough one may think that residing comfortably near to the top of the Manhattan social pyramid guarantees inclusion, the protagonist of Edith Wharton’s Age Of Innocence, Newland Archer, comes to find himself on the psychological fringe despite his wealth and lofty familial status, isolated by the unique attitudes about life and love he develops after falling for Ellen Olenska. By presenting Newland’s emotional defeat at the end of the novel, despite his conscious attempt to diverge from societal rules, Wharton demonstrates the inescapability of high society and its nature as a hindrance to free thought.

Pressures in the community compels everyone, even the most well-reasoned people, to be amenable and to conform to society’s standards. In The Scarlet Letter, everyone follows and complies strictly to Puritan

Born in 1862, Edith Wharton Newbold Jones was brought up within the graceful, wealthy yet conservative, confining circle of New York society, which fostered sexual repression and prided itself on the innocence of its young girls. Edith Wharton herself was discouraged from expressing her emotions or developing her intellect which was supposed to be very unbecoming traits in a woman. This is the reason why she stressed in her fiction the need of growth, and has shown how painful and frustrating this process can be for a woman. This process of growth and development is revealed in her major works, Ethan Frome (1911), and Summer (1917) (Balakrishnan 1).

The Age of Innocence, written by Edith Wharton in 1920, is a novel about Newland Archer, set in New York in the 1870s. In the beginning of the novel, Newland is engaged to May Welland, however when her cousin Ellen Olenska returns from Europe, he begins to doubt who he really loves. Due to societal norms, Newland stays with May and never consummates his relationship with Ellen, despite their growing feelings towards each other. At the time of writing The Age of Innocence, Wharton was reading Sir James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough (1914), a 14 volume work on anthropology, which consisted of myths, customs, and magical practices. This collection sparked interest for Wharton, potentially inspiring her to enlist many allusions to classical

Novelist Edith Wharton wrote her defining work, 1905's the House of Mirth, on a subject she knew all too well: the style-over-substance realm of New York's upper-crust society during the Gilded Age. Having been raised in this "fashionable" society, Wharton knew both its intricacies and cruelties firsthand. The triumphant rise and tragic fall of protagonist Lily Bart demonstrate both the "sunshine and shadow" of the Gilded Age. The House of Mirth not only exposes the reality of how "the other half live," but also satirizes and condemns their elitist existence.

Edith Wharton was born in a wealthy home where she was sheltered to such an extent that she didn’t even know there was a civil war. In her autobiography, A Backwards Glance, she called her youth “safe, guarded monotonous” (Wharton 7). This upbringing caused a haughty tone to seep in to many of her works, one of which stated, “What can you expect of a girl who was allowed to wear black satin to her coming out ball?” (Turkington 69). Even though her early life was sheltered from the effects of the Civil War, Wharton

Conformity is an action in accord with prevailing social standards, attitudes, or practices. It is has the capability to cause unwanted pressure or social influence on a person. Even though people would like to see themselves as individuals, they have the need to fit into society’s “norms.” Throughout the two novels, “The Scarlet Letter” and “The Awakening,” the theme of going against conformity is present between the main characters and their respective society. In “The Scarlet Letter,” the main character, Hester Prynne, is ashamed for breaking the harsh Puritan rules. Edna Pontellier, the protagonist in “The Awakening,” tries to break away from the typical standards of womanhood during her time. In both societies, position and status is the most important thing. Despite the constant change of how people view them, both Hester and Edna go against this tradition in order to live the way they choose to.

Wharton's representation of the power of the social class of turn-of-the-century New York is expressed through the struggle between the individual and the collective force of society. The "rules" of society define each individual's place, and it is the group that reflects shared beliefs and dictates behavior. This dichotomy is multi-layered, reaching all the way down to the deep internal struggle of the individual human being. Lily's struggle with her individuality and the need to play by the rules causes her to commit social blunders and become an innocent victim of society's harsh cruelty.

In the book Fahrenheit 451 it says, “I like to smell things and look at things, and sometimes stay up all night, walking, and watch the sun rise ” (Bradbury 11). This is a perfect example because it shows how Clarisse is one of not many people who actually has her own individuality and is not afraid to be different from the others around her. Also in the story Fahrenheit 451 it says, “Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against” (Bradbury 62). So now everyone has to be almost if not exactly the each other. People should be able to be who they are and express who they are without having to ‘conform’ under what the expected or projected image should be. On top of that, in the short story “The Pedestrian” it states, “The street was silent and long and empty, with only his shadow moving like the shadow of a hawk in midcountry” (Bradbury 1). At least there are those who aren’t afraid to stand out and break the conformity that is being forced upon these people. Everyone is to busy trying to be like each other they can’t even notice how those who are different stand out or stand up, even if they don't realize

The arousal and provocation of my thoughts and emotions have occurred in many instances, while discussing the literature provided this year. The pieces of literature that have aroused my thoughts, and expanded my sympathies after reading have been “The Crucible”, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” and “The Yellow Wallpaper. Each of these pieces have had the largest impact on me while provoking the idea of conformity on characters in each piece. These three literary works have conveyed a large stress on conformity during the time period when the novel or short story has taken place and shows how that era put pressure on those characters to conform to a certain situation, just as society today pressures us to conform to situations. They have each incited my thoughts differently and similarly in numerous ways after reading.

The Value of Individuality Reading the works of illustrious American writers, students discerned much about the state of individuality. First, in Frederick Douglass’s autobiography and “The Scarlet Letter,” the two characters remained true to who they were throughout slavery. Then, the transcendentalist writers proved that one should be themselves to help society from afar. Finally, in “The Great Gatsby,” Gatsby’s death was an example of the dangers of conformity. The authors that we read this year showed us that one should hold true to who they really are.

Charlotte Temple is a seduction novel written by Susanna Rowson that tells a story about a British soldier, Montraville, who seduces a British schoolgirl, Charlotte, into falsely loving him and following him away to America, where Charlottes tragic life will unfold. Montraville takes advantage of Charlottes love for him and promises her that he will marry her one day and he also tells Charlotte that her parents would be proud and happy to hear that their daughter ran off with a man of honor. This manipulative and strategic doing of Montraville will continue up until the day Montraville leaves Charlotte due to the mistrustful actions of Belcour and Charlotte. The treatment and equality that the women have, or do not have, in the 18th century is evident in the novel by Rowson which is displayed by many factors such as Charlottes inability to live a happy life simply because the expectations of women during this time were standardized by men. Most jobs in the 18th century needed quite an amount of physical strength so jobs were mostly occupied by men, married women mostly did not work and many single women were private servants. The expectations of women in the 18th century that were set by men, halted the progress women were taking to try and step by step, alter the time ahead of women’s rights and equality so that the tales of Charlotte Temple would be one short told by women in the future.

Although she at times opposes what would be expected, like when she decided to pay the extra shilling to the man carrying her trunk, against Mr. Grummage’s orders (14). She always easily goes back to the fact that she “ had been trained to obey, educated to accept” (21). Charlotte dressed like a young woman and had never even thought about dressing differently (5). She “ certainly wanted to be a lady” (5).

All of the upper-class crowd looked down upon Ellen because of her ways. Newland wants to tell her how to act, and to stay away from certain people. Beaufort was considered a vulgar man in their society and Ellen was seen with him on many occasions, this type of thing is what Newland was trying to protect her from. She has enough shame for having left her husband, and he did not want anything else to add to her embarrassment. All of Ellen’s family discouraged her from filing a suit against her husband for divorce. She did not want his money; she just wanted to be free from him. This is true today one tries to protect others from the shadows of misfortune and to not be looked at by others in a demeaning way.