On Edith Wharton's Worldview Change

Edith Wharton was a famous American woman writer in the late nineteenth century, whose novels mainly covered the manners and gracious etiquette of the upper class. The House of Mirth was a first big success. Moreover, The Age of Innocence was one of her best successful novels, which won her the American Pulitzer Prize.The two novels are her great successes at different stages of her life. From The House of Mirth to The Age of Innocence, Wharton's worldview had gone through transition from Waste to Maturity. This thesis showed her transition of worldview towards women, the society and personal realization and love through the comparison of the protagonists as well as the writing background. Ellen was portrayed much more perfect and mature than Lily. And Archer and Ellen had fulfilled their self-realization better than Lily's. Moreover, women had never been manipulated by men as an ornamental object. For the sake of Wharton herself, she took a completely negative attitude towards the old society in The House of Mirth while adopting a critical thinking in The Age of Innocence. Wharton's personal growth is also beneficial for readers to know more about the society in the late nineteenth century.