Lydia Tillotson

• • Lydia becomes part of New York’s high society through her marriage to Mr. Tillotson

  • She leaves her husband in order to lead a life together with Mr. Gannett outside the bounds of social conventions

  • Because of her background she is less willing to accept the social restraints and is more capable to discern the deficiencies of those values

  • She refuses to get married again and feels pressured and misunderstood by Mr. Gannett

  • At the hotel she has to realize how much she loves being among other people and that she needs the contact with other people because she cannot live without it permanently

  • She enjoys being together with all the people who are exactly like the people she ran away from

  • Lydia has difficulties to put all her principles into action. Indeed Lydia attempts to escape from the situation which shows her courage and determination but her coming back signifies her failure

  • Her escape fails because of the existing social conventions and morals which she cannot shed as easily as she thought

  • In the end she does not leave Mr. Gannett because she loves him and she needs him to persist in society

  • She strives for an independent life but has to realize that the individual, especially a woman without a man, is nonviable

  • Lydia is the most intelligent and analytical character in the plot, which is shown e.g. by the way she explains her situation to Gannett or how she forecasts her future predicament

Resources:

Griffin, Joseph. America's social classes in the writings of Edith Wharton: An analysis of her short stories. Lewiston, N.Y: Edwin Mellen Press, 2009. Print.156-161.

Patton, Craig R. A Prison of Her Own Making: An Analysis of “Souls Belated” 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2013.

http://www.ohio.edu/people/cp232305/Artifacts/A%20Prison%20of%20Her%20Own%20Making%20An%20Analysis%20of%20Souls%20Belated.pdf.

Kornetta, Reiner. Das Korsett im Kopf: Ehe und Ökonomie in den Kurzgeschichten Edith Whartons. Frankfurt am Main, New York: P. Lang, 1996. Print. Düsseldorfer Beiträge aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Bd. 4.177-181.

Lewis, R.W.B., ed. The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton. New York: Scribner, 1968. Print.104-127.