Woman (no name)

The deceased woman is the main character of the story. Her name is never mentioned and neither is the name of her husband.

On the one hand this might root in the assumption that names are no longer of importance in heaven (Kornetta 225). On the other hand it might also be due to the fact that names always belong to an individual person (225); meaning, if a character in a story does not have a name, the universal validity is emphasized (225). This can lead to greater identification of the reader with that specific character.

As the story is read, it becomes clear that the woman is very interested in architecture, as well as other cultures, and loves arts and literature. Other than that, she feels a great sense of responsibility for her husband and consequently takes care of him all through their marriage. The fact that she even selects the books he reads for him makes his dependence on her evident. Her loyalty is also shown in death, as she puts his needs before her own and wants to be there for him through eternity, even though this means losing her own soul mate. Though all of this might be seen as a selfless act of care to some readers, one must also consider the social values of that time, as well as the pressure to uphold them. For example, while still on earth, she never left her husband even though she never really loved him. Society would have never approved of a divorce and so she bowed to that pressure.

"But consider," warned the Spirit, "that you are now choosing for eternity. It is a solemn moment."

"Choosing!" she said, with a half-sad smile. "Do you still keep up here that old fiction about choosing? I should have thought that you knew better than that. How can I help myself? He will expect to find me here when he comes, and he would never believe you if you told him that I had gone away with someone else -- never, never." (Lewis 20)

In this dialogue it becomes evident that for her there is no true chance to forsake her husband, not even in heaven. She feels helpless, and the expectations of her husband are more important than her wish to finally find true happiness (Kornetta 226). She expresses her unhappiness with the life she led, but still cannot imagine feeling at-home without her husband.

"[…] home would not be like home to me, unless – “[…] She did not answer, but she thought to herself, with an impulse of whimsical inconsistency, "Unless you slammed the door and wore creaking boots."

(Lewis 18)

Bibliographie:

Kornetta, Reiner. Das Korsett im Kopf: Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1996. Print. Düsseldorfer Beiträge aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Bd. 4.

Lewis, R.W.B, ed. The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton. Volume 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968. Print.