l, TheBuccaneers, was written after she took up residence in France, but the book was neverfinished. Edith Wharton died shortly after starting it in the year 1937.Critic DeCecco stresses the unhappy childhood Wharton had growing up whileThe World of Edith Wharton portrays it as rather carefree and pleasant because of thefamilys wealth and status. Although hers was a life of privilege, Whartons life was not a happy one. Her father, though affectionate, was often absent, leaving the running ofthe family to Lucretia, her mother, a stern, uninvolving woman whorejected this daughter born to her in late life. In addition to the coldclimate of her home, the society in which Wharton was born offered her no opportunity for emotional or intellectual development(DeCecco, p.1).Wharton was excepted to be pure, young, and innocent and to remain the passive object ofmens wishes, however, she refused. Some of her later works reveal this tension broughton by these expectations and constraints. The source, The World of Edith Wharton does not comment on her personality. The biography written by DeCecco does hint at the fact that Wharton was a little bitrebellious and independent. She wrote many novels which challenged the turn-of-thecentury New York society values; especially concerning women. Edith Wharton wasforced to grow up somewhat independent since her father was rarely present and hermother was very distant. She exhibited her independence after divorcing Edward Wharton and living better on her own. Wharton was a keen observer and chronicler of herpersonal world (DeCecco, p.2). The novel Ethan Frome was not typical of Whartons writing style and themes. In first telling and then writing stories about the grown-ups in her parents world, herearly literary efforts became her way of dealing with her mothers lack of love and thecrippling code of behavior imposed by the society in which she lived (DeCecco, p.1). Wharton, up until 1911, wrote of in...
