No Place For Spiritual Home

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) is one of the leading American female writers at the turn of the 20^th century. As the first female Pulitzer Prize winner and the first American female writer who has won the golden medal from the national art academy, Wharton's important status and great accomplishment in the history of American literature is indisputable. After the success of her novel The House of Mirth (1905), Wharton and her novels have attracted great attention of the American literati. The critiques are of various perspectives based on different literary theories, which are mainly divided into two categories: feminism aspect and naturalism aspect. Such studies in recent years have proved the research potential and vitality of Wharton's works.This thesis, based on the textual analysis of three of Wharton's most important novels, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence, is in an effort to study the pessimistic thoughts expressed in Edith Wharton's novels. It is expected that through the textual analysis and historical study Edith Wharton's pessimism expressed in her novels can be understood well with the reference to her own life experience and the impact of the social and historical backgrounds and the literary trend of her time. It also points out Wharton's naturalistic tendency and her inheritance and breakthrough of the naturalism tradition. The author tries to explore the literary talent of Edith Wharton, the landscape features of her time, her concern of the historical and social issues and the realistic significance of her works so as to make some contribution to the study of Edith Wharton in China.