St. Patrick´s Cathedral

Information:

The Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. It was completed in 1878 and is nowadays a famous sight of New York.

St. Patrick´s Cathedral, New York City

In “Autres Temps”:

In “Autres Temps” Susy Suffern tells Mrs. Lidcote that Leila´s ex-husband is going to be married in the cathedral. From her using the term “the cathedral” without any further explanations, it can be concluded that she refers to the most famous cathedral in New York, which is St. Patrick´s Cathedral. Another indication for this important Catholic church occurring in “Autres Temps” is the fact that Edith Wharton had been interested in Catholicism because of her journeys to Italy, a country coined by Catholicism, and probably because Catholicism became increasingly spread in the U.S. when many Irish Catholics immigrated to America in the middle of the 19th century during the Potato Famine in Ireland.

Further information:

· about St. Patrick´s Cathedral:

http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/

· about Catholicism in the U.S. at Edith Wharton´s time:

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/nromcath.htm

Sources:

· Picture: St. Patrick´s Cathedral, New York City

http://media-1.web.britannica.com/eb-media/05/94305-004-74A34D0B.jpg (retrieved 12/28/2013)

· http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/wharton/wchron.htm (retrieved

12/28/2013)

· http://www.saintpatrickscathedral.org/ (retrieved 12/28/2013)