Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism)

Edith Wharton is recognized as one of the twentieth century's most important American writers. The House of Mirth not only initiated three decades of Wharton's popular and critical acclaim, it helped move women's literature into a new place of achievement and prominence. The House of Mirth is perhaps Wharton's best-known and most frequently read novel, and scholars and teachers consider it an essential introduction to Wharton and her work. The novel, moreover, lends itself to a variety of topics of inquiry and critical approaches of interest to readers at various levels. This casebook collects critical essays addressing a broad spectrum of topics and utilizing a range of critical and theoretical approaches. It also includes Wharton's introduction to the 1936 edition of the novel and her discussion of the composition of the novel from her autobiography. 019515603X......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Introduction......Page 12 A Backward Glance......Page 36 Introduction to the 1936 Edition of The House of Mirth......Page 40 The Death of the Lady (Novelist): Wharton’s House of Mirth......Page 48 Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth......Page 72 Crowded Spaces in The House of Mirth......Page 94 The House of Mirth: A Novel of Admonition......Page 116 “The Word Which Made All Clear”: The Silent Close of The House of Mirth......Page 140 The “Perfect Jew” and The House of Mirth: A Study in Point of View......Page 172 Another Sleeping Beauty: Narcissism in The House of Mirth......Page 190 Lily Bart and the Drama of Femininity......Page 218 Engendering Naturalism: Narrative Form and Commodity Spectacle in U.S. Naturalist Fiction......Page 238 The Crumbling Structure of “Appearances”: Representation and Authenticity in The House of Mirth and The Custom of the Country......Page 280 Extinction, Taxidermy, Tableaux Vivants: Staging Race and Class in The House of Mirth......Page 308 Selected Bibliography......Page 340 A backward glance / Edith Wharton Introduction to the 1936 edition of The house of mirth / Edith Wharton The death of the lady (novelist): Wharton's House of mirth / Elaine Showalter Debasing exchange: Edith Wharton's The house of mirth / Wai Chee Dimock Crowded spaces in The house of mirth / Amy Kaplan The house of mirth: a novel of admonition / Linda Wagner-Martin "The word which made all clear": the silent close of The house of mirth / Shari Benstock The "perfect Jew" and The house of mirth: a study in point of view / Irene C. Goldman-Price Another sleeping beauty: narcissism in The house of mirth / Joan Lidoff Lily Bart and the drama of femininity / Cynthia Griffin Wolff Engendering naturalism: narrative form and commodity spectacle in U.S. naturalist fiction / Lori Merish The crumbling structure of "appearances": representation and authenticity in The house of mirth and The custom of the country / Christopher Gair Extinction, taxidermy, tableaux vivants: staging race and class in The house of mirth / Jennie A. Kassanoff. Casebooks in Criticism offer analytical and interpretive frameworks for understanding key texts in world literature and film. Each casebook reprints documents relating to a work's historical context and reception, presents the best critical studies, and, when possible, features an interview with the author. Accessible and informative to scholars, students, and nonspecialist readers alike, the books in this series provide a wide range of critical and informative commentaries on major texts. 'The House of Mirth' is perhaps Edith Wharton's best-known and most frequently read novel. This casebook collects critical essays addressing a broad spectrum of topics and utilizing a range of critical and theoretical approaches.