hers and daughters were mismatched, a concept that is clever foreshadowing by the author, hinting at the scandal and instability lurking underneath the facade of morality and perfection worn by Slade's and Ansley's upper class society.By noting the subtitles of human conditions under the stress of strict societal control, Edith Wharton created literature that is true to the society she portrayed. Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley probably would have liked to cause each other bodily harm, yet their society ruled that such behavior would not be tolerated. Therefore, they buried their feelings and expressed them only in subtle movements and off the cuff remarks, bits and pieces of communication that most people would overlook. However, Wharton realized that these fragments composed the only true communication and therefore composed the real story of Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ansley.Wharton takes the much-admired upper crust of society and exposes them, not in a hurtful world, but an objectively world. Wharton writes: "I've come to the conclusion that I don't in the least know what they are," said Mrs. Ansley. "And perhaps we didn't know much more about each other."(780) This one passage serves as a direct commentary on both the bonds of friendship and family life. Wharton's language is objective, straightforward. The character speaks these alarming words, not the writer, and the statement carries the tone of fact without any melodrama involved. The two women had been discussing their time as young women in Rome, the night, the moonlight--all part of a very romantic setting with two Italian men on their arms. But with this comment, Mrs. Ansely seems to say all that glitters...and Wharton lets the reader come to his own conclusion. Late in the story, Wharton writes: "It was a big drop from being the wife of Delphin Slade to being his widow..."(781) This entire passage paints a marriage based not on love, respect or commitment, but one based on stat...
