The Day of the Funeral

The Day of the Funeral

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1933

Human Nature

Kingsborough, USA

Milly Trenham, Dr. Lanscomb, Child, Ambrose Trenham, Mrs. Cossett, Professor of English Literature, Barbara Wake, President of the University, Jane, Katy, Slow- witted man, Malvina, Clumsy little girl, Mother and father, Milk boy

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O Paradise, Madame Butterfly, Fox-trot

California, New England, Boston, Hawaii, Samoa, Ditson, King River

Corona, Cognac, Sabbatical year, Packard

Constellation of the Characters

The short story “The Day of the Funeral” by Edith Wharton, first published as “In a Day” in Human Nature in 1933, tells the story of a married professor named Ambrose Trenham and his affair to his neighbor Barbara Wake. The story, which is split in five parts, is written from the point of view of Ambrose. It broaches the issue of Ambrose's daily routine on the day of his wife Milly's funeral. At first glance it seems that Milly is the person to be pitied in this story, however later on something this impression changes.

The story begins the main character, Ambrose Trenham, remembering his wife Milly's words:

His wife had said: “If you don't give her up I'll throw myself from the roof.” He had not given her up, and his wife had thrown herself from the roof. (Lewis 669)

But this fact does not come out in the inquiry, which is conducted by Dr. Lanscomb. The only thing the doctor says is that Milly was “never “quiet right” since her only child had died.” ( Lewis 670)

The funeral follows forty-eight hours after her death. The whole house is suddenly very strange and unfamiliar to Ambrose, as if the house was never really his to begin with. Before the funeral starts, Ambrose has to go through many aggravating moments.

Someone asks Ambrose what was to be engraved on the plate on the lid, and he says: “Nothing:” ( Lewis 669)

Afterward Ambrose understands that this wasn't the answer they expected to hear from him. Even when Mrs. Cosett, the wife of the professor for English Literature asks him if he wants to see Milly for the last time in her coffin, he is refuses - though she still persuades him to do so anyway .

During the ceremony in the church, Ambrose suddenly is all to himself in his thoughts, absent-minded and unobservant.

Suddenly he spots Barbara Wake, his temptress, in the crowd. Ambrose is furious and doesn't understand how she could come to the funeral.

What right had she? How dared she? It was indecent.... (Lewis 670)

In Kingsborough, the little town where they live, “appearances” (Lewis 670) are very essential. Ambrose's guilt-trip turns into an icy hate against Barbara. He is the weak man, who was tempted by her.

“The woman tempted me-” Yes, she had! It was what his poor wronged Milly had always said: “You're so weak: and

she's always tempting you-” (Lewis 670)

Ambrose always thought that he was the one who pursued Barbara but, now that the life of his wife Milly and her funeral are over, he reconsiders.

His anger grows and the day seems like it will never end. His old friend, the President of the University, drives him home and wants to accompany him inside but Ambrose shakes his hand at the gate and waves him aside. The cold lunch is still on the dining table. He doesn't touch it and instead pours himself a glass of whiskey and goes to his study. Ambrose doesn't think of his late wife Milly, however he thinks of Barbara because “with her he must settle his account himself.” (Lewis 671). Ambrose decides to give her back the letters which Barbara had written within their 18 month love affair, without saying anything.

A word! What word indeed could equal the emphasis of that silence? Barbara Wake had all the feminine passion for

going over and over things; talking them inside out; in that respect she was as bad as poor Milly had been, and

nothing would humiliate and exasperate her as much as an uncommented gesture of dismissal. (Lewis 671)

The notion of Barbara standing alone in her room and opening the packet full of returned letters fulfills Ambrose's satisfaction and for the first time on this day he feels the urge to eat something.

He goes back to the dining room and sees that unfortunately their maid Jane had cleared the table. During Milly's lifetime this was her grievance.

Ambrose goes upstairs and rings the bell to call Jane and tell her that he is hungry. On this particular evening Ambrose eats everything up and after this he feels like he is born anew.

After Ambrose dithers a few times he decides to deliver Barbara the letters on his own because nothing else is possible in this gossipy community.

How it complicated everything to live in a small, prying community! (Lewis 672)

The other inhabitants of Kingsborough could get the hang of the real cause of Milly's death because they often saw Ambrose with Barbara.

He would arouse suspicion if he brings Barbara the letters on the day of the funeral. But Ambrose's scorn is growing by the minute and he comes to a decision “[the letters] should be returned to her before night.” (Lewis 672).

Ambrose reminisces about the time before Milly's death. He hid the letters in the cabinet and was very careful. He listened for Milly's step and stood between the cabinet and the door of the study to hear her in case of need. And now he can spread them all over the table. In the old days Ambrose would read the letters “lingeringly [and] gloatingly [...] now they were but so much noisome rubbish to him, to be crammed into a big envelope, and sealed up out of sight.” (Lewis 673)

Barbara and he used to write many letters because they couldn't manage to see each other – a plethora of letters.

He takes all the letters and puts them in a big envelope but then he comes to the conclusion that if Barbara gets the letters without a word, she may write and ask him what he means by giving them back. Precisely that Ambrose wishes to avoid. He takes a note paper and writes a few words on it and puts it into the envelope among the letters.

His hands turned clammy as he touched them; he felt cold and sick... (Lewis 673)

Ambrose desperately searches for the sealing wax on his desk and thinks of Milly, who used to look after the arrangement of his desk.

[…] but lately-ah, his poor poor Milly! If she could only know how he was suffering and atoning already.... (Lewis 673)

Ambrose can't find the sealing wax, therefore he closes the envelope with a string and addresses the packet.

Ambrose has hungrily eaten his dinner and says to Jane that he will go out to smoke his cigar. He leaves the house and goes out in the cold. It is a moonless night. On his way to Barbara he thinks about what he would do if Malvina, the Wake's old maid, opens the door. The dark night bolsters him. But it can't prevent that he feels sick when he touches the packet.

While he stands in front of the Wake's gate he suddenly recognizes Barbara, who comes out of the house. Ambrose wants to turn however he realizes how good the circumstances are.

The lane was dark, deserted- a mere passage between widely scattered houses, all asleep in their gardens. The chilly

night had sent people home early; there was not a soul in sight. In another moment the packet would be in her hands,

and he would have left her, just silently raising his hat. (Lewis 674)

Ambrose notices immediately that Barbara is walking to the garage. He knows this place very well. Barbara and he used to meet there because she was the sole mistress of the garage and nobody else had the keys. Once she also had thought of opening a painting studio there, but Ambrose had discouraged her.

Abruptly Ambrose remembers Milly.

The discovery that she had lived there beside him, knowing all, and that suddenly, when she found she could not

regain his affection, life had seemed worthless, and without a moment's hesitation she had left it.... (Lewis 675)

He continues to watch Barbara and walks a few steps into her direction, but then he stops again. Anyway, he wants to circumvent to go into the garage because this would be an abasement to Milly's memory. Now his meetings with Barbara seem “pitiably futile” to him.

Real passion ought to be free, reckless, audacious, unhampered by the fear of a wife’s feelings, of the University’s

regulations, the President’s friendship, the deadly risk of losing one’s job and wrecking one’s career. It seemed to him

now that the love he had given to Barbara Wake was almost as niggardly as that which he had doled out to his wife….

(Lewis 675 / 676)

Ambrose again takes a few steps and sees how Barbara enters the garage. It is all comes back to him when he sees her hands. He has to think of their first encounter. Both of them were on their way home from Boston. Ambrose recommended leaving the train one station before Kingsborough and to walk back home along the King river and Barbara accepted his suggestion.

He stands there and watches her hand very carefully. He sees every little detail.

It would be queer to have to carry on life without ever again knowing the feel of that hand.... (Lewis 676)

However Ambrose knows that he has to. If possible he wants to go even next week. Maybe the university will offer him the chance to take a sabbatical year. He wants to go as far away as possible from Barbara. He would prefer to go on an island where marriage and love are taken with a pinch of salt. Ambrose wants to allow free play for his feelings. Barbara was never frightened to be taken by surprise and was fond of saying: “An old hand, no doubt!” (676).

Ambrose' feelings came back to him again and he thinks of a future together and imagines Barbara in his house.

It was almost a pity – he thought madly – that they would probably not be able to stay on at Kingsborough, there, in

that very house where for so long he had not even dared to look at her letters.... Of course, if they did decide to, he

would have it all done over for her. (Lewis 677)

When Barbara comes out of the garage, Ambrose whispers her name. They draw closer to each other. She asks him if he wanted to see her.

Her voice flowed over him like summer air. (Lewis 677)

All of a sudden Ambrose' opinion changes and he asks Barbara if they can go inside the garage. He feels comfortable in her vicinity. Everything in this garage is so familiar to him. It feels hard for him to justify his appearance. They talk about the funeral and the fact that Barbara has pity for him makes Ambrose feel good. But then everything changes. Barbara tells him about her plans of leaving Kingsborough the next morning. Ambrose is shocked and feels empty.

“Going away? Early tomorrow?” Why hadn’t he known of this? He felt weak and injured. Where could she be going in

this sudden way? If they hadn’t happened to meet, would he have known nothing of it till she was gone? His heart

grew small and cold. (Lewis 678)

Barbara's parents think that California would be better for her colds and therefore Barbara will go there. Ambrose is speechless and doesn't know what to do.

The future had become a featureless desert. (Lewis 678)

Barbara also wanted to see Ambrose before leaving however she didn't know how. Ambrose feels even more hurt when he finds out that Barbara doesn't know when she will come back. Her parents have crazy plans for her, which don't seem absurd to Barbara. Ambrose can't breathe anymore and feels like he will collapse any minute, if he can't stop her. She can't leave him like this.

“ You can’t. How can you? It’s madness. You don’t understand. You say you ought to go—it’s better you should go.

What do you mean—why better? Are you afraid of what people might say? Is that it? How can they say anything when

they know we’re going to be married? Don’t you know we’re going to be married?” he burst out weakly, his words

stumbling over each other in the effort to make her understand. (Lewis 678)

For a spell Barbara says nothing. This is a horribly painful for Ambrose. Then Barbara answers. She says that it isn't the time to talk about it now. The answer does not suit Ambrose. He gets angry and demands an answer. Repeatedly Barbara says that this isn't the moment to talk about this and that they can talk about it the minute she returns, if both of them still feel the same.

“ If we both do!” Ah, there was the sting – the devil's claw! (Lewis 679)

Ambrose imagines Barbara on Hawaii and Samoa having fun with younger men and suddenly feels very old. He thinks Barbara won't feel the same when she is back. She tells him one more time that this isn't the right moment to talk about all this. Ambrose counters and asks why she can't decide now. He starts shouting. Doesn't she want to decide now because she wants to have the chance to get married to another man, if she finds someone who is better than Ambrose? He goes mad and tries to kiss Barbara. Right at that moment something falls loudly to the ground.

What was it? He knew well enough; a shiver of cold ran over him. (Lewis 680)

The letters fell down on the ground and the string snapped. Barbara takes her electric lamp and sees the letters. Now she understands why Ambrose really came. He couldn't give her an answer and bent down to pick up the letters. Barbara watches him motionless and doesn't say anything. Then she picks up the envelope and finds the notice sheet in it. She starts to read.

“‘ November tenth…. You will probably feel as I do’ (no—don’t snatch! Ambrose, I forbid you!) ‘You will probably feel,

as I do, that after what has happened you and I can never’—” She broke off and raised her eyes to Trenham’s. “‘After

what has happened’? I don’t understand. What do you mean? What has happened, Ambrose—between you and me?”

(Lewis 680)

Barbara doesn't get what he means by “after what has happened” and asks him to explain it to her. However Ambrose feels tortured by this question and tells her that the sheet has no importance. Barbara isn't pleased by this response. He tells Barbara that he feels like a “miserable coward” (Lewis 681) and wants to give her partly the debt. Barbara becomes frightened and wonders for what he wants to partially blame her. Ambrose tells her the truth. He tells her that Milly killed herself because of their affair and that she had warned him quite often and he didn't listen. Barbara stands silently.

A moment ago he had seemed to feel her strength flowing into his cold veins, had thought to himself: “I shall never

again be alone with my horror —” and now the horror had spread from him to her, and he felt her inwardly recoiling as

though she shuddered away from the contagion. (Lewis 682)

They start to argue. She tells him that she didn't know that Milly found out and what both of them did to her, was horrible. Barbara blames herself, but she is angry with Ambrose too.

But this dreadful thing has happened; and you knew it might happen … you knew it all along … all the while it was in

the back of your mind … the days when we used to meet here … and the days when we went to Ditson … oh, that

horrible room at Ditson! All that time she was sitting at home alone, knowing everything, and hating me as if I’d been

her murderess. …” (Lewis 682/683)

The discussion between Barbara and Ambrose goes on and he wants to know if she hasn't any pity for him. But the only pity Barbara feels is for the late Milly. Ambrose doesn't say anything. He knows that Barbara is right and that he had never seen the things through Milly's eyes. He also knows that Barbara would feel the same if he ever betrayed her. Though this is impossible. He loves her and he tries to convince himself that Barbara loves him too. He thinks that she is only scared - but Barbara is dazzled by the thought of Milly.

“ Oh, think of it—those lonely endless hours! I wonder if you ever did think of them before? When you used to go home

after one of our meetings, did you remember each time what she’d told you, and begin to wonder, as you got near the

house, if she’d done it that day!” (Lewis 683)

Barbara can't stop thinking of the horrible things Milly had to suffer and she can't believe how cold Ambrose is in this case. She compares Ambrose's feelings with the feelings she had when her parents asked her for something on her way to Ditson - her freedom. See could have “Killed them” (Lewis 684) because she feared to miss an hour with Ambrose.

Killed them , I say! Don’t you suppose I know how murderers feel? How you feel—for you’re a murderer, you know!

(Lewis 684)

Barbara feels upset about Ambrose's behavior and her own words scare her. Ambrose thinks of all she said and persuades himself that she will calm down by the next day and come back to him, however then he realizes that he just lies to himself and decides to go.

In this moment Barbara breaks out into a laugh and says that she had “sent a wreath-[she] sent her a wreath! It's on

her grave now- it hasn't even had time to fade!” (Lewis 684)

This is a real humilation for Ambrose. Besides, she adds that if she wouldn't go away, the risk is too high that she would forgive him some day. They say goodbye.

"Well, you are going away, aren't you?" he said.

"Yes, I'm going." (Lewis 685)

Woolly-minded Ambrose walks back home and comes to the conclusion that he has achieved his aim. Barbara and he came to an agreement about the fact that they shouldn't meet anymore. This thought grants an ease to the void of his brain. He notices that it is going to rain any minute now and so he walks faster. While walking he thinks of Jane, who would have noticed that he didn't take his umbrella and would worry about him. This notion deeply moves him.

Ambrose reaches his door, but he can't find his keys anywhere. He becomes frustrated, because Jane would never notice that he forgot his keys.

And here he stood, in the middle of the night, locked out of his own house— (Lewis 685)

Hopeless he rings the door and the idea strikes him to spent “the night of his wife's funeral” (Lewis 686) at a hotel, so that the next day everyone in Kingsborough would know it. However then Jane opens the door and he goes inside. He feels comfortable to be in his house.

It was his own house, after all - and this friendly hand was shutting him safely into it. The dreadful sense of loneliness

melted a little at the old reassuring touch of habit. (Lewis 686)

• Lewis, R.W.B.. The collected short stories of Edith Wharton (Volume II) . New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. 669 – 686.

• Sneider, Jill, "Edith Wharton: Vision and Perception in Her Short Stories" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 728. 16-27 .

• Kornetta, Reiner. "The Letters". Das Korsett im Kopf. Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH, 1995. 214-218. Print.

• Lauer, K.O., Murray, M.P. and Tuttleton, J. Edith Wharton. The Contemporary Reviews. USA: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 503-509. Print.

Marianne Stokes: The Young Girl And Death. 1900. Public Domain.