Social code of Wentworth (The Pretext)

Despite the mentioning of the social code (also Wentworth tone) in other points, this part sums up the difficult term and explains other expressions from the short story which fit into the idea of this social code or even help to explain it in more detail. Furthermore, it explains the meaning behind the metaphor and the autobiographical background.

“The Wentworth ‘tone’ is unmistakable: it permeates every part of the social economy, from the coiffure of the ladies to the preparation of the food. It has its sumptuary laws as well as its curriculum of learning. It sits in judgement not only on its own townsmen but on the rest of the world—enlightening, criticizing, ostracizing a heedless universe—and nonconformity to Wentworth standards involves obliteration from Wentworth’s consciousness.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 636).

The Wentworth social code is used as a term for all behaviors, the clothes and the relationship between the genders and extends over the whole short story. It starts with Mrs. Margaret Ransom sitting in her room blushing because of another man than her husband and then feeling bad about it (Lewis, 1968, p. 632). Right at the beginning of the short story it already becomes clear to the reader that the main character is sort of trapped in her situation because she “had never had any [contrast], either in her appearance or in her setting.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 633). Mrs. Margaret Ransom also seems trapped in her situation because “all the people about her had the same look” (Lewis, 1968, p. 633) as well and further, “Wentworth was the kind of place where husbands and wives gradually grew to resemble each other” (Lewis, 1968, p. 633). This could be a hint of criticism on the upper-class Edith Wharton herself was born in and which she called “a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought” (Joslin, 1991, p. 2, originally cited from The Age of Innocence (Appleton, 1920)). In contrast to the social code of Wentworth stands the “’New Yorky’” (Lewis, 1968, p. 636) looking which is embodied in the Brant girl, “the horror of all right-thinking Wentworth” (Lewis, 1968, p. 635 - 36). The society, the familiar and small upper-class of New York in which Edith Wharton was born into was repressed by a society in which money was the most important thing. The traditions and the morality Edith Wharton had known since her childhood were not important anymore (Kornetta, 1996, p. 87). The upper-class in New York, and Wentworth in the short story, then were the only places where their members were secure and from where they could fight against the new, modern and different times which were about to come (Kornetta, 1996, p. 198). According to Kornetta (1996) the Wentworth tone is a metaphor for the New York upper-class in which the conservative rulers developed conventions and rules which had to be followed by the members of this class. Because of the fewer residents of Wentworth, the town follows those rules even stricter because in New York the newly arrived people could break up such conventions much easier (p. 198). Regarding Mrs. Margaret Ransom, the social code of Wentworth and the “rigid New England ancestry” (Lewis, 1968, p. 633) influence her so much that she even believes Lady Caroline Duckett, her mirror, the other residents of Wentworth and also herself that she is too old to be loved by a younger man at the end of the short story (Lewis, 1968, p. 654).

The social code of Wentworth does not only reflect in the clothes and the behavior it influences the buildings, or rather the privacy as well. At the beginning of the story Mr. Robert Ransom tries to walk into the locked room of his wife with the question “Why are you locked in?” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634). He can reach his dressing room through a passage which leads around the dressing room of Mrs. Margaret Ransom but he always choses the way through her room which is a “characteristic of the relentless domesticity of their relation” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634). Margaret Ransom had never been disturbed by this because she sees it as inevitable and therefore adapted her own habits to these of her husband “since a scrupulous traditional prudery had miraculously survived this massacre of all the privacies.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634). Also, the fact that she locks herself in her room can also be seen as an attempt to hide a secret or to have a look into her inner feelings as already explained in Margaret Ransom’s bedroom. Another factor which could have influenced “The Pretext” is that Edith Wharton wrote it during her times at ‘The Mount’ (Lee, 2007, p. 157). ‘The Mount’ is an estate Edith Wharton and her husband built together in Lenox Massachusetts (Wright, 1998, p. 75). Edith Wharton paid a lot of attention to having enough “privacy and independence” (Joslin, 1991, p. 14) which is definitely not true for Mrs. Margaret Ransom. Therefore, it could be a personal anecdote to her own feeling of being not free or independent enough.

Furthermore, the Wentworth tone includes rules regarding the relationships between women and men. In “The Pretext” it is often mentioned that it is very normal and natural that Mrs. Margaret Ransom and Guy Dawnish spend time together because she “was ‘looking’ after” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634) him and by taking into account the social code of Wentworth, “all this was in the natural order of things.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634). Their relationship was given “the domestic sanction without which, to Wentworth, any social relation between the sexes remained unhallowed and to be viewed askance.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634). Strangely enough the narrator states almost too often that there is nothing wrong about it (Lewis, 1968, p. 634, 635, etc.). To the reader it seems like Mrs. Margaret Ransom has to convince everybody else, but mostly herself, that there is nothing wrong about spending time with another man, a friend.

Another term which comes along with the Wentworth social code is “sumptuary laws” (Lewis, 1968, p. 636). In the short story it is listed among other features of the Wentworth tone. According to Chisholm (1911) sumptuary laws are laws “intended to limit or regulate the private expenditure of the citizens of a community. They may be dictated by political, or economic or moral considerations.” (p. 83). Sumptuary laws can be traced back to ancient Greece where inhabitants of Laconia were for example to attend entertainment which involved drinking. In ‘modern’ times (13^th century) the laws mostly referred to clothes or accessories and food. These laws also referred to different classes with different lifestyles. They were used to reduce the expenditure of these classes and to regulate luxurious living (Chisholm, 1911, p. 84). As the mentioning of these sumptuary laws in the short story is not further particularized the reader can only guess that the sumptuary laws in Wentworth define the clothing and social interactions because the Wentworth tone “permeates every part of the social economy, from the coiffure of the ladies to the preparation of the food.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 636).

Sources:

Chisolm, H. (Ed.) (1911). The Encyclopedia Britannica. A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. Eleventh Edition. Volume XXVI. Submarine Mines to Tom-Tom. New York: The Encyclopedia Britannica Company.

Joslin, K. (1991). Women Writers. Edith Wharton. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Kornetta, R. (1996). Das Korsett im Kopf. Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH.

Lee, H. (2008). Edith Wharton. London: Vintage.

Lewis, R. W. B. (1968). The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Wright, S. B. (1998). Edith Wharton A to Z: The Essential Guide to the Life and Work. New York: Facts on File.