Mrs. Sheff (The Pretext)

Mrs. Sheff is the aunt of the Brant girl and lives at Wentworth, too. She appears two times in the short story. The first time she appears, she informs Mrs. Margaret Ransom that her husband Mr. Robert Ransom is about to speak at the evening of the speeches (Lewis, 1968, p. 640). Though this part is not remarkably important it gives the reader the impression of some kind of pressure that now lies upon Mrs. Margaret Ransom because Mrs. Sheff says this enthusiastically (Lewis, 1968, p. 640) what the author also could have left out. Mrs. Sheff appears again when Mrs. Margaret Ransom leaves Hamblin Hall because of the heat and the bad air and she is not surprised what somehow justifies the leaving of Mrs. Ransom (Lewis, 1968, p. 640).

Source:

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