Hamblin Hall (The Pretext)

Hamblin Hall is the place where the “great public dinner” (Lewis, 1968, p. 635) takes place to which Mr. Robert Ransom organized two tickets for his wife and a friend. Hamblin Hall is located at the end of the “long green ‘Campus’” (Lewis, 1968, p. 641) which is flanked by sixfold lines of elm trees and described as “the boast and the singularity of Wentworth” (Lewis, 1968, p. 641). A stretch of turf extends from Hamblin Hall to the boat houses by the river. Further, Hamblin Hall owns a ladies’ gallery which is above the main hall and is provided with pillars. The main room below the ladies’ gallery is arranged like a “horseshoe” (Lewis, 1968, p. 640). The ladies’ gallery can be reached through a “winding staircase” (Lewis, 1968, p. 641) which leads to a committee room below in which Mrs. Margaret Ransom is led by Guy Dawnish after her weakness at the beginning of her husband’s speech (Lewis, 1968, p. 640 - 41). In the committee room there is a “water jug” and a painting of a college president in an “emblazoned frame.” (Lewis, 1968, p. 641). Because of the weakness of Mrs. Margaret Ransom during the speech of her husband, Hamblin Hall is a rather important setting in the short story. Whether Mrs. Margaret Ransom has to leave the room because of the bad air and the heat or because she cannot stand seeing her husband because she is in love with Guy Dawnish is not clear.

Source:

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