Edith Wharton

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 9 March 2020

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“There are only three or four American novelists who can be thought of as 'major',” said Gore Vidal. “And Edith Wharton is one.” In this episode, Jacke and Mike take a look at the life and works of Edith Wharton (1862-1937), author of The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth, with a special deep dive into her short story "Roman Fever." Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/shop. (We appreciate it!) Find out more at historyofliterature.com, jackewilson.com, or by following Jacke and Mike on Twitter at @thejackewilson and @literatureSC. Or send an email to [email protected]. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Edith Wharton's lovely figurines still speak to me today from their mental peace in time
0:20.0	where they wrestle and play
0:23.0	with passions and with prudences,
0:26.0	finances and fears,
0:29.0	her face what it's worth to her.
0:32.0	In the... what it's worth to her.
0:52.0	In the passing of the years. Hello. She was born Edith Newbold Jones in 1862 in a brownstone on West 23rd Street in New York City. Today you'd find a Starbucks there and the
0:54.6	flat iron building very close by. But back then this was a neighborhood for
0:59.5	elites. Three years after she was born the Fifth Avenue Opera House was built around the corner.
1:05.4	Her parents were wealthy, a descendant of the old Petrund families,
1:09.4	who had received land grants from the former Dutch government of New York.
1:14.2	She was related to heroes of the Revolutionary War, like General Ebenezer Stevens.
1:19.5	The Astors were cousins.
1:22.2	Although she was born in the Civil War, the war didn't affect the
1:24.6	Jones is too much except that the depreciation in American currency led to her
1:28.7	families traveling in Europe. At a young age she visited France, Italy, Germany, and Spain and soon became fluent in French, German, and Italian.
1:37.0	As a girl she contracted typhoid fever while at a spa in the Black Forest and nearly died. She was living like a
1:44.7	princess almost like a rich girl with covernesses and tutors and fancy balls and
1:49.9	parties. This is the sort of woman Henry James wrote about. The Americans on the rise,
1:55.6	wealthy Americans with the means to re-engage with Europe. And indeed later in life,
2:00.1	she and James became close friends.
	...

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