Marriage question is the main theme of many Wharton´s short stories. In Edith Wharton´s fiction, marriage was often an economical deal and an effort to keep the position in the society:

“Die verwirrenden Familienverflechtungen dürfen nicht überraschen, denn die Familie war für die amerikanische Oberschicht die Keimzelle aller Entwicklungsmöglichkeiten des Individuums. Ohne Zustimmung oder Billigung der Familie waren dem jeweiligen Mitglied die Hände gebunden, Der Einzelne war der Familie verpflichtet und handelte nach ihren Vorgaben“ (Kornetta 70).

Love and mutual understanding in such kind of marriages were completely omitted when it came to the marriage question, thus it was rare that people had a happy marriage in the way the society understands happy marriages nowadays. People learned to deal with this fact in different ways, and adultery was often one of these ways; however, there were people who stayed faithful. This was the case in “The Mission of Jane”.

Mr. Lethbury acknowledged his marriage as a mistake and never loved his wife, nevertheless, he was never disrespectful or cruel to her. He had no pleasing opinion of her intellectual abilities, therefore he couldn´t lead any conversation that would satisfy his intellectual needs. He found it amusing to make fun of her with his irony and allusions she wouldn´t understand. Mrs. Lethbury was aware of the lack of Mr. Lethbury´s feelings to her and never disturb his calmness; moreover, she did not see the necessity to impress her husband with new dresses and diamonds. The family life seemed peaceful, but with the passing of time Mr. Lethbury became distant and aloof, and behind the, at the first glance, harmonious coexistence, there was Mrs. Lethbury´s loneliness that her husband had never noticed until she decided to adopt a child. The reasons of the childlessness of their marriage are not clear: the disability to have children due to the health problems are not mentioned but cannot also be excluded since getting a child in a natural way was never an option for the Lethburys. The assumption that their marriage was celibate and therefore childless can base on the facts that Edith Wharton´s own marriage with Edward Wharton was consummated three weeks after the wedding and the sexual side of Wharton´s marriage was far from good:

“Everything, indeed, suggests ´a disaster´: her frequent illness and depression over the years following her marriage, their separate rooms, their childlessness, their growing estrangement, and, in her writings, her interest in the subject of sexual privation and wretched marriages” (Lee 76).

Kennedy Fraser describes Wharton´s marriage as “celibate for the next twenty-eight years it lasted after this false start” (paragraph 6). Mr. Lethbury stayed faithful to his wife but excluded her from his life, which could also mean abstaining from making love to her. These considerations could be used by Edith Wharton as a template for the depiction of the Lethburys´ marriage and serve as the explanation for the childlessness.

With the adoption of Jane their marriage faces the trial by Jane´s difficult character. It cannot be said that the adoption of the child made the Lethburys fall in love with each other; however, their marriage had changed due to it. At the beginning of the story the reader meets two strangers who live in the same house, and, in the process of coping with the difficulties of adoption and parenthood, Mr. and Mrs. Lethbury gradually come closer. It is also noticeable that Mrs. Lethbury is the only voiced character in Mr. Lethbury´s head. Except for one line from Jane at the end of the story, Mrs. Lethbury is the only person Mr. Lethbury hears, while other characters are muted, and their feelings are not presented. This represents the special bond he has to his wife despite the distant character of their relationship. He observes his wife and notices that he never knew his wife, which arouses his interest. He also tries to defend his wife and becomes concerned about her happiness.

Difficulties they faced during the parenthood lead them to each other, however, the price for the rescue of their unhappy marriage was one more unhappy marriage: Jane had to marry the man she didn´t love and leave the house, otherwise she would make her parent unhappier than they already were. Firstly, Mr. Lethbury would have to provide for her for her whole life; secondly, the reputation of the old maid who lives at her parents would put her family in an unfavorable light, and thirdly, her presence in the house was a burden for Mr. Lethbury from the day Jane formed a habit to spend every evening with her father in the library. Mr. Budd was the first gentleman, who was ready to marry her, but Jane´s thoughts and feelings to this man are unknown. The reader can get an impression that Jane tried to sabotage the wedding: normally calm and robotic Jane became hysterical and quarrelsome to her fiancé. Both Mr. and Mrs. Lethbury pointed out the impulsive temperament of Mr. Budd and were afraid that Jane´s behavior could discourage him, however, after the wedding Mr. Budd showed his true face – cold and controlling. While reading the story, the reader can see that there is something unnatural in Mr. Budd´s chivalry and patience, and Jane was the only person who knew the real character of her fiancée, but her vision is blocked by Mr. Lethbury´s perspective, and, since Mr. Lethbury was not really interested whom his daughter is going to marry, the reader never gets a chance to figure the real Mr. Budd out.

Sources:

Fraser, Kennedy. “Warmed Through and Through”. Ornament and Silence. Essays on Women´s Lives from Edith Wharton to Germaine Greer. Kindle ed. New York: Vintage books, a division of Random house, Inc., 1998.

Kornetta, Reiner. Das Korsett im Kopf. Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Wharton. Frankfurt-am-Main: Peter Lang GmbH Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1996. Print.

Lee, Hermione. Edith Wharton. London: Vintage, 2008. Print