The Greater Inclination

Edith Wharton

Jan 2013 · Prabhat Prakashan · Mit KI erstellt und vorgelesen von Marcus (von Google)

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The Greater Inclination, a captivating collection of short stories by Edith Wharton, explores the intricacies of human nature, relationships, and social expectations. The book delves into the lives of characters who find themselves navigating complex emotions, desires, and moral dilemmas in the midst of the evolving social landscape of late 19th-century America. Wharton, known for her sharp social commentary, presents these stories with insight and elegance, offering readers a glimpse into the psychological depth of her characters.

In "The Greater Inclination," Wharton weaves a series of intimate, often poignant narratives that revolve around the themes of love, duty, and self-discovery. The characters, ranging from the upper echelons of society to those on the periphery, grapple with their own internal conflicts and the pressures of societal expectations. The stories reveal the subtle, often hidden forces that shape the decisions and actions of individuals, highlighting the tension between personal desires and social obligations.

Each story in the collection is a reflection on the complexities of human emotions, from the quiet struggles of love and loss to the more overt conflicts of ambition and duty. Wharton’s prose is both precise and lyrical, capturing the nuances of her characters’ inner lives with remarkable depth. Her ability to paint vivid portraits of the American upper class and their moral quandaries elevates "The Greater Inclination" beyond a simple collection of stories, making it a profound exploration of human nature and the societal constraints that shape it.

Readers are drawn to "The Greater Inclination" for its rich psychological depth, its exploration of social norms, and its keen insight into the human condition. Wharton’s ability to illuminate the complexities of love, power, and self-realization resonates with anyone who has grappled with the challenges of personal identity and societal expectations. This book is a must-read for those who appreciate finely crafted stories that not only entertain but also provoke thoughtful reflection on the dynamics of society and the human heart.

Autoren-Profil

Edith Wharton was a woman of extreme contrasts; brought up to be a leisured aristocrat, she was also dedicated to her career as a writer. She wrote novels of manners about the old New York society from which she came, but her attitude was consistently critical. Her irony and her satiric touches, as well as her insight into human character, continue to appeal to readers today. As a child, Wharton found refuge from the demands of her mother's social world in her father's library and in making up stories. Her marriage at age 23 to Edward ("Teddy") Wharton seemed to confirm her place in the conventional role of wealthy society woman, but she became increasingly dissatisfied with the "mundanities" of her marriage and turned to writing, which drew her into an intellectual community and strengthened her sense of self. After publishing two collections of short stories, The Greater Inclination (1899) and Crucial Instances (1901), she wrote her first novel, The Valley of Decision (1902), a long, historical romance set in eighteenth-century Italy. Her next work, the immensely popular The House of Mirth (1905), was a scathing criticism of her own "frivolous" New York society and its capacity to destroy her heroine, the beautiful Lily Bart. As Wharton became more established as a successful writer, Teddy's mental health declined and their marriage deteriorated. In 1907 she left America altogether and settled in Paris, where she wrote some of her most memorable stories of harsh New England rural life---Ethan Frome (1911) and Summer (1917)---as well as The Reef (1912), which is set in France. All describe characters forced to make moral choices in which the rights of individuals are pitted against their responsibilities to others. She also completed her most biting satire, The Custom of the Country (1913), the story of Undine Spragg's climb, marriage by marriage, from a midwestern town to New York to a French chateau. During World War I, Wharton dedicated herself to the war effort and was honored by the French government for her work with Belgian refugees. After the war, the world Wharton had known was gone. Even her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Age of Innocence (1920), a story set in old New York, could not recapture the former time. Although the new age welcomed her---Wharton was both a critical and popular success, honored by Yale University and elected to The National Institute of Arts and Letters---her later novels show her struggling to come to terms with a new era. In The Writing of Fiction (1925), Wharton acknowledged her debt to her friend Henry James, whose writings share with hers the descriptions of fine distinctions within a social class and the individual's burdens of making proper moral decisions. R.W.B. Lewis's biography of Wharton, published in 1975, along with a wealth of new biographical material, inspired an extensive reevaluation of Wharton. Feminist readings and reactions to them have focused renewed attention on her as a woman and as an artist. Although many of her books have recently been reprinted, there is still no complete collected edition of her work.

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