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Edith Wharton

エディス・ニューボールド・ウォートン

Edith Wharton

Pen Names: E. A. Washburn (name under which an early translation was published)（Used when an early translation was published under a friend's father's name）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1862-01-24 （New York City, New York, United States）
Died
1937-08-11 （Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt, France） age 75
Nationality
United States
Languages
English, French, German, Italian
Religion
Protestant (Episcopal) Baptized in 1862
Residence History
New York City (birthplace and primary early residence) → Various European locations (childhood stays: France, Italy, Germany, Spain) → Newport, Rhode Island → The Mount, Lenox, Massachusetts → Paris (apartment on Rue de Varenne) → Saint-Brice-sous-Forêt (Pavillon Colombe)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Short story writer, Essayist, Interior designer, Garden designer, Travel writer
Active Years
1877-1937
Influenced By
Walt Whitman, John Ruskin, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Social theorists (e.g., Thorstein Veblen)
Influenced
20th-century American novelists (influenced in social portrayal), Subsequent generations of women writers addressing social mores
Nominations
Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1927, Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928, Nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930

Education

Private tutors / Home education
Home education
Period: 幼年期〜若年期（家庭教育、家庭教師による教育）
Country: United States / Europe (stays)
No formal university degree. Educated at home and by tutors during childhood, became fluent in several languages.

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1921
Work: The Age of Innocence
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board (Columbia University)
Result: 受賞
Legion of Honour (Chevalier)
1916
Organization: French government
Result: 受章（シュヴァリエ）
National Women's Hall of Fame (inductee)
1996
Organization: National Women's Hall of Fame
Result: 殿堂入り（追贈）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Age of Innocence

1920 Novel (social novel, realism) 320 pages

Set in late 19th-century high society, it examines the conflict between social conventions and individual desire, focusing on restrained emotions and duties.

Social conventionsRepressed desireClass and honorMarriage and duty
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Age of Innocence (1993 film) / Martin Scorsese (1993)
  • [Theatre (play)] The Age of Innocence (stage adaptation) (1928)
Translations
  • The Age of Innocence (Japanese translation)
  • L'Âge de l'innocence (French translation)

The House of Mirth

1905 Novel (social critique) 400 pages

Through the downfall of Lily Bart, it critiques upper-class New York and the conflict between social expectations and personal happiness.

Women's social positionEconomics and marriageVanity and isolation
Adaptations
  • [Film] The House of Mirth (2000 film) / Terence Davies (2000)
  • [Theatre (1906 play adaptation)] The House of Mirth (play) (1906)
Translations
  • The House of Mirth (Japanese translation)

Ethan Frome

1911 Novella (tragic) 160 pages

A tragic story set in a bleak rural town where repressed love and fate lead to disaster; the confined setting shapes the characters' choices.

ConfinementRepression and desireFate
Adaptations
  • [Film] Ethan Frome (1993 film) / John Madden (1993)
  • [Ballet (Snowblind)] Snowblind (San Francisco Ballet) / Cathy Marston (2018)
Translations
  • Ethan Frome (Japanese translation)

The Decoration of Houses

1897 Non-fiction (interior design) 200 pages

A practical guide to architectural and interior harmony, furniture and layout; co-authored with Ogden Codman and influential in domestic design.

Harmony of architecture and interiorsPractical design principles
Translations
  • The Decoration of Houses (Japanese translation)

Bibliography

  • Verses (1878)
  • The Decoration of Houses (1897)
  • The House of Mirth (1905)
  • Ethan Frome (1911)
  • The Age of Innocence (1920)
  • A Backward Glance (autobiography, 1934)

Adaptations

  • Film adaptations of The Age of Innocence (1924, 1934, 1993, etc.)
  • Film adaptations of The House of Mirth (1918, 2000, etc.)
  • Ethan Frome film adaptations (proposed 1944, released 1993)
  • Numerous stage, television and radio adaptations

Translations by Author

  • Translation of Hermann Sudermann's play Es Lebe das Leben (The Joy of Living), 1902

Translations of Works

  • The Age of Innocence (Japanese translation)
  • The House of Mirth (Japanese translation)
  • Ethan Frome (Japanese translation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Realist proseSocial observation and satireDetailed psychological depictionRefined narrative voice
Recurring Motifs
Houses and interiors (house as reflection of character)Rituals and repression of high societyMarriage and economic pressureIsolation and confinement

Health

  • Typhoid fever (childhood)
    幼少期（約9歳頃）
    A serious childhood illness that nearly proved fatal and affected later health perspective
  • Asthma
    生涯に断続的
    Intermittently affected writing and travel
  • Periods of depression
    主に結婚後〜生涯に断続
    Affected personal life, travel, and creative output

Legacy

Edith Wharton was a major writer who sharply portrayed Gilded Age high society and contributed to architecture and interior design. Winner of the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Age of Innocence, she holds an important place in American letters; translations, film and stage adaptations and scholarly attention have continued posthumously.

Museums

  • The Mount (Edith Wharton's home) Lenox, Massachusetts, USA

Academic Societies

  • National Women's Hall of Fame (inductee)

Archives

  • Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Edith Wharton Collection)
  • The Lilly Library, Indiana University (The Edith Wharton Papers)
  • Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University (Iola S. Haverstick related materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Featured on a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1980
  • Frequently adapted or referenced across film, television, radio and theatre (e.g., 1993 film The Age of Innocence)
  • Referenced in contemporary novels and TV shows (e.g., Gilmore Girls, Entourage)

Quotes

  • There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
    Source: Attributed to Edith Wharton

Trivia

  • First woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1921) for The Age of Innocence.
  • Crossed the Atlantic more than 60 times in her lifetime.
  • Posthumous openings of papers in the 1960s–1970s revealed private aspects of her life and prompted new scholarship.
  • Featured on a U.S. postage stamp in 1980.