Isolation In The Dilettante, By Edith Wharton

Defying the expectation is hard to do in a world so set in its ways. The only way through dark times is with the immersion of light and as Edith Wharton once said herself, “there are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” It was her privileged lifestyle that shaped her view of social class and as a writer it pushed her toward her social realist style, thus allowing her to depict the truths hiding in plain sight.

Communication baffles even those who get paid to talk to others for a living, nobody is perfect, but lack of communication causes a large disconnect where one needs connection. Aware that absolute communication is nearly unattainable, the illustration of character interaction in Wharton’s works

In her short story “The Dilettante” in the wake of a falling out between former best friends, Thursdale and Mrs. Vervain, “the door closed . . . and she hid her eyes from the dreadful emptiness of the room” (“The Dilettante”). Despite all the wealth Vervain possesses or how good a life she should be living, at the end of the day when it comes to interaction with other people she is left in the dark feeling cold and alone with nobody to confide in. Edith Wharton endured the same personal life, even though she acted accordingly and did everything to please other people, at the end of the day she felt the same loneliness in her life it just took her some time to mold it into the correct choice of words to convey it to others. Choosing to mention the emptiness of the room and the masterful word choice in selecting “dreadful” to stand beside it amplifies the intensity of the moment. Not only is the sense of isolation acknowledged it is almost palpable. The meticulous word choice is again present in her short story The Reckoning when Julia and her ex husband, Arment, come face to face and suddenly “their eyes met in a sudden shock of comprehension: a veil seemed to be lifted between them” (“The Reckoning). This moment contrasts the one from before where they were isolated the characters were isolated and unable to see one another.

Wharton’s personal experience with loss of attraction has taught her that the use of circuitous language does not accurately portray the idea of romance. As she lived in a very unhappy marriage full of notions and conceptions she did not agree with, her perspective of what love should look like shifted. The new belief was that the benefits of igniting passion far outweighed any negatives. Following that train of thought is the idea as proclaimed by Julia Westall of “The Reckoning”, “the new adultery was unfaithfulness to self” (The Reckoning). In other words, you have to put yourself first to be happy, and because she was unhappy she made a solution. The resoluteness of the scene as Julia spoke reflects her convictions on the matter. Although her first husband John had been with her for years, all those years together living side by side only solidified feelings of disdain toward him and his way of living. The same goes for Edith Wharton herself, she lived for years with a very wealthy, incompatible man of whom she did not love. Rather than continuing to live a stagnant, unmoving life Wharton pursued passion and took that reignited flame with her toward her writing. This type of experience is best told in frank terms, not through a prolix of words that only succeed in causing confusion about