Guise Abbey, Wiltshire, England, UK (The Pretext)

Guise Abbey in Wiltshire, England in the United Kingdom is a place which is only shortly mentioned in the short story. Though Wiltshire is a real place in England (see Wiltshire, England, UK), Guise Abbey is fictional. It is the place where Guy Dawnish spent his childhood “under his grandfather’s rule.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 637). He also brought some photographs of Guise Abbey with him to Wentworth which he showed Mrs. Margaret Ransom and on which she takes a look at during the short story. Guise Abbey is the home of Guy Dawnish’s uncle Lord Askern. The outer appearance of Guise Abbey is described with “a long gabled Jacobean facade” (Lewis, 1968, p. 637) and with many chimneys which are “ivy draped” and “overhung […] by the boughs of a venerable rookery.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 637). The garden of Guise Abbey is bordered by a wall and there is a river and a park as well. Furthermore, a tennis court with a big lime tree next to it belongs to the property of Lord Askern and almshouses can also be found. Guise Abbey is important to the story to show the wealthy and clever background of Guy Dawnish’s family on the one hand and to introduce Gwendolen Matcher, the girl with the flapping hat, on the other hand.

Source:

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