Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: A Casebook

by Carol J. Singley

Overview

Edith Wharton is recognized as one of the twentieth century's most important American writers. The House of Mirth not only initiated three decades of Wharton's popular and critical acclaim, it helped move women's literature into a new place of achievement and prominence. The House of Mirth is perhaps Wharton's best-known and most frequently read novel, and scholars and teachers consider it an essential introduction to Wharton and her work. The novel, moreover, lends itself to a variety of topics of inquiry and critical approaches of interest to readers at various levels. This casebook collects critical essays addressing a broad spectrum of topics and utilizing a range of critical and theoretical approaches. It also includes Wharton's introduction to the 1936 edition of the novel and her discussion of the composition of the novel from her autobiography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195156034
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/20/2003
Series:	Casebooks in Criticism
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Carol J. Singley is Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University-Camden. She is a past president of the Edith Wharton Society and editor of A Historical Guide to Edith Wharton.

Table of Contents

1. A Backward Glance2. Introduction to the 1936 Edition of The House of Mirth: Edith Wharton3. The Death of the Lade (Novelist): Edith Wharton's House of Mirth: Elaine Showalter4. Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: Wai Chee Dimock5. Crowded Spaces in The House of Mirth: Amy Kaplan6. The House of Mirth: A Novel of Admonition: Linda Wager-Martin7. "The Word Which Made All Clear": The Silent Close of The House of Mirth: Shari Benstock8. The Perfect Jew and The House of Mirth: Irene C. Goldman-Price9. Another Sleeping Beauty: Narcissism in The House of Mirth: Joan Lidoff10. Lily Bart and the Drama of Femininity: Cynthia Griffin Wolff11. Engendering Naturalism: Narrative Form and Commodity Spectacle in U.S. Naturalist Fiction: Lori Merish12. The Crumbling Structure of "Appearances": Representation and Authenticity in The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country: Christopher Gair13. Extinction, Taxidermy, Tableaux Vivants: Staging Race and Class in The House of Mirth: Jennie A. Kassanoff

Editorial Reviews

"[Singley] has been vigilant about including articles from so many different critical perspectives, i.e. biographical, feminist, psychological, materialist, new historicist, and cultural studies. Here, the reader benefits from seeing how the literary text is very much a contested territory and how readings of a particular text change over time, depending upon the different concerns and interests of the critics."—College Literature

From the Publisher