Ethan Frome: what happened after his mother's death?

Ethan Frome is presented for the defense, a man on the way to adultery with a dependent in his own home but not yet completely conscious of his desires and not yet planning to carry them out. His wife believe something that has not occurred Therefore we should excuse and pity him.
Does no reader see that in the quarrel near the end of the story Zeena says "my family said at the time that you could do no less than marry me after---"
Ethan is horrified as though both had decided never to mention what had taken place after his mother's death. He retreats into dreams because he does not want his mistake to be repeated. What do you readers think?

12/22/07

The individual making this inquiry may have misremembered the source of the production. This sounds like Willa Cather's novel (not a short story), The Song of the Lark.

Janet Sharistanian
University of Kansas

***************

Regarding the request about the PBS adaptation:

The plot summary given strongly resembles the basic plot of The Song of the Lark , a novel by Willa Cather. I do not know if that has been adopted for TV (or, if it has, how it could have been condensed into a single episode), but that may be the text Mr. Aletti has in mind.

Julie Olin-Ammentorp
Le Moyne College

I’ve just read The Reef and I have a question: What is the “unexpected obstacle” that Anna telegraphs Darrow about at the beginning of the novel? The reader is never given a clue. Is incest an unheralded subplot of this novel, or is the telegram just an obvious plot device to get Darrow and Sophy Viner together? The scene with Anna and Owen before Darrow arrives seems innocuous, but I wonder if there was something going on between them. And at the end, when Anna bids a tearful goodbye to Owen, is there more to it than the fact that Sophy is out of Owen’s life?

Brian Kelly 11/10/07

I just happened to have been on the Edith Wharton site and read recent queries. It has been several years since I read The Reef, but I believe the "obstacle" made reference to in Anna's note to Darrow (aside from the plot device it afforded) was her unexpected need to find her daughter a new governess.

--Kim Vanderlaan, 2-17-08

"The Valley of Childish Things"

Could you please tell me where and when The Valley of Childish things was published?

Regards,

Allyson Bird.

The Valley of Childish Things and Other Emblems was published in 1896 in Century Magazine (issue 52, July). As far as I know it was not published as part of a collection of short stories during Wharton's lifetime.
Regards
Sarah Whitehead 12/28/07

*********

It is available at the Making of America site:

http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/moa-cgi?notisid=ABP2287-0052-82

The anecdote can also be found on page 215 of Hermione Lee’s Edith Wharton.

Diane Stephens

*****

This can be found in Wharton's autobiography, A Backward Glance, although I don't have a page reference right now.

--D. Campbell

Hudson River Bracketed

i am teacher in litterature. i am preparing a course on edith wharton 's books " hudson river bracketed" and " the gods arrive". i am looking for papers and comtemporary rewiews about these two books in order to make a bibliography, can you tell where i can find them on your website or anywhere else on the web?

thanks for your help
christel Manrique
litterature teacher 9/29/07

Ferrigiani

I work in the education department at the Ponce Art Museum. Right now we are involved in a project sponsored by the NEA, The Big Read.For this project the Museum chose The Age of Innocence. I would like to know if the Ferrigiani mentioned by Old Mrs. Migott ,who modelled her hands in Rome really existed. If so, can you tell me were to find information about him? I would be very grateful for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Ana E.Bauza 9/29/07

Edith Wharton: A Portrait by Augustus M. Gerdes?

I am working with a collector who has what may be an early painting of Edith Wharton by Augustus M. Gerdes, a friend of Morton Fullerton. Mr. Gerdes was a painter who studied in Paris and would have had the financial background to be in the circle of artists, writers and other collectors. His lifelong passion was art and collecting. Descendants of his family have felt for years that there may have been more than a friendship between Mrs. Wharton and Mr. Gerdes. Do you or any of your members have any information on Augustus M. Gerdes and Edith Wharton? Thank you for your assistance in this matter and I have no problems with my name and email being posted.

John Coker 6/21/07

Copyright Holders

I am attempting to track down estates/copyright holders of several Wharton correspondents:

Ellery Sedgwick, Rutger Jewett, Sally Norton, and Robert Norton.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Noel Sloboda (njs16@psu.edu <mailto:njs16@psu.edu> )

I'm in London and trying to find a copy of 'French ways and their meaning'.
Do you have any idea where I can get it?

Many thanks, Jane 6/21/07

"Copy"
I am trying to get hold of a copy of "Copy" published in Scribner's 27, 6 (June 1900). Any advice for me?
Thank you,
Jane Barstow, prof of English
Univ. of Hartford

It is online at the University of Virginia; there's a link under "Works Online" here at the site.

Where is Teddy Wharton buried? Thank you.Christopher Graham

christopher.graham@hbgusa.com 5/15/07

Molly McFall

6/21/07

Wyndcliffe

Does the Wyndcliffe house still exist? I can't find any info later then 2003.
Thank you. E.T. Drury 4/18/07

A recent comment on Edith Wharton in the News suggests that it does but that it is crumbling: http://edithwharton.blogspot.com/2006/10/about-wyndclyffe.html

I recently read on a website - I believe it was on the Hudson River Ruins webstie - that Wyndcliffe has been purchased by a family who is renovating it. (name withheld) 6/21/07

I am curious about the Leonard Baskin print of Wharton that is reproduced as the frontispiece in the 1977 edition of Lewis' biography. I would like to hear from anyone who has information about the medium in which this image was created, or any other information about it. Thank you.

Betsy Beacom 3/31/07

Karen 3/31/07

Sources on The Touchstone

I am struggling to help a student find resources on Wharton's The Touchstone, particularly in the areas of biographical influences. Any ideas on where to start?

M. Gordon, 3/31/07

I would start with Henry James's "The Aspern Papers" and consider the 'rights' the reading public have over celebrity authors' work, however personal.

Sarah Whitehead
5/15/07

I am looking for a copy of the 1981 Great Performances video of Summer starring Diane Lane. Can anyone help me find this?

susanne Rubenstein 3/31/07

R.W.B. Lewis's biography (p. 521) notes that Edith Wharton "had a particular fondness" for the Somerset Maugham short story "Rain" [sic; its actual title is "Miss Thompson"]. This statement is not footnoted, and I am trying to determine its source. Did R.W.B. Lewis locate it in her letters? If so, which one, and where is the letter archived today?

Any assistance appreciated. Thanks.

Adam Dawson, dawson71@sbcglobal.net

3/31/07

What was Edith Wharton's reaction to being named for the Pulitzer Prize, and why? Mary C Sears

1-26-07

I am currently trying to find a passage in Wharton's work particularly dealing with the description of New York city , or areas in NYC.
Have you got any passage in mind you could recommend ?
thank you very much in advance .christine Minetto CM christine.minetto at wanadoo.fr

1-17-07

Anybody knows where I may obtain a copy of "French Ways and their meanings?"

Thanks!MImimimiwand@gmail.com

1-17-07