London, England, UK (The Pretext)

London, the third largest city in Europe, is the capital of England and is inhabited by around 9 million people (Europa: Die zehn größten Städte im Jahr 2021, 2021). It is located in the south of England north and south of the River Thames.

The center of the city belongs to the most important financial districts of the world and the most interesting museums and art galleries can be found in the city. However, the most famous sites are the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Eye but also many more. Further, London owns the oldest subway in the world called ‘Underground’.

The city has its own special atmosphere with old Gothic buildings on the one hand and modern skyscrapers on the other or in general: the contrast between tradition and history and modernity and innovation (London, 2021).

As already mentioned in England, UK, Edith Wharton could have chosen London because she traveled to the English city more than just once. In the short story London is mentioned numerous times. First, the Ransoms had met an “eminent Q. C.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 634), who also knows Guy Dawnish, on one of their trips to London whereupon Guy Dawnish was sent to America and put under the care of Mr. Robert Ransom. Secondly, a grandson of Lord Askern and thus a cousin of Guy Dawnish has an art studio in London. Further, Guy Dawnish hopes for an employment as an electrical engineer at the Smedden Company in London after his two years’ training in Wentworth (Lewis, 1968, p. 638). Of course, Guy Danwish goes back to London to start his career at the Smedden Company. Moreover, London is described by a friend of Mrs. Margaret Ransom as “that of shops and museums—as remote as possible from the setting of Guy Dawnish’s existence.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 647).

Source:

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

“Europa: Die zehn größten Städte im Jahr 2021“. Statista 2021, https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/946959/umfrage/groesste-staedte-in-europa/#professional. Accessed April 28, 2021.

“London”. Great Britain. VisitBritain/VisitEngland, 2021, https://www.visitbritain.com/de/de/england/london. Accessed April 28, 2021.