“Summer” by Edith Wharton

I must admit that Wharton’s novels and short stories are always difficult to read. Not because of the style that is in my opinion immaculate, but because of the tragedies, both small and massive, which fill her writings. Many researchers compare Edith Wharton to Henry James, calling her James’s apprentice, and their creations are indeed connected through deep psychologism, which was brought to American literature by his novels and later blossomed in hers. Wharton, as well as her teacher, is a master of such scenes which are very limited in actions but rich in concealed emotions, where every little gesture, smile or just silence covers up an abyss of inner despair.

Wharton’s characters are usually opposed to society but often unable to fight against it openly. So is the character of the novella “Summer”, Charity Royall. The young girl was adopted by a rather wealthy local lawyer from a poor and not very respectable family and has spent all her life in the small town of North Dormer. Restricted and puritan society of the town works oppressive upon the girl who is eager to earn enough money to escape to a bigger city and start a new life there. Unfortunately, her position of a local librarian hardly allows her to achieve that ambition.

Describing the local society Wharton becomes a very cruel judge, not a single level of it escapes her sharp eye. The lowest level is represented by the “Mountain inhabitants”, the poorest part of the neighbourhood living in dirt and moral corruption and generally condemned as pagans. The people of a more “decent” origin live at the mountain foot and, although they lead a much more Christian way of life, for Charity as well as for the author the respectable society of North Dormer is merely a huge mire and all the inhabitants are stuck in their routine and petticoat troubles. The wealthier and more fashionable community of Nettleton (a bigger town nearby) is the most attractive for Charity but even it has its flaws in Wharton’s eyes. Beautiful galleries, theatres and shops serve as a mask for moral decay and sinful nightlife of the place. Charity, being Mr. Royall’s’ ward, belongs to the middle level of society, but does not really fit into it. Being below all her neighbours by background but above them spiritually, Charity struggles to find a place for herself but cannot do that. She is torn between the Mountain, North Dormer and Nettleton and neither of them makes her feel comfortable and at home.

Lucius Harney, a young architect who suddenly appears in Charity’s life becomes a breath of fresh air for her. She seizes him up as a safety jacket, thinking it will save her from sinking, but it turns out the jacket has a little hole in it… Lucius is handsome, clever, educated and witty and Charity falls in love abruptly, without thinking of the consequences. Their relation survives one summer and lives Miss Royall a completely different person.

The atmosphere of the story is gets hotter with the weather, reaches its climax by the end of August and then begins to cool down slowly. The same cycle is repeated by Charity herself who becomes more and more impatient and inclined to act, to run away, to fight, to manifest her opinions in front of everyone, but then her enthusiasm begins to decline. The plot is really intense if you don’t look for action in it but focus on Charity’s reflections instead.

The story of a country girl seduced by a city “gentleman” is not new or original but Wharton makes it interesting by changing the traditional perspective. Instead of moralizing and looking for someone to blame (as does Thomas Hardy is his “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”) she reminds the reader that not every such story results in an evident tragedy. Quite baldly and even scandalously for her historical period the author describes illegal abortions as a way out, neither blaming nor accepting them. Moreover, she does not blames another character, Julia Hawes, who, having gone through the same path as Charity, decides in favour if this way out and later becomes a woman of the night. In fact a lot about this novella seemed scandalous for that time, like the main character who openly has a relation outside the wedlock or hints at eroticism, not as evident as that in “Lady Chatterley” but still obvious. Unlike Victorian characters, neither Charity nor Julia regrets her actions, whatever consequences they have brought, which is also quite unconventional.

“Summer” was very topical in context of suffragette movement which started a decade before it was written and although the author doesn’t openly express her support of the equality for men and women, Charity’s actions certainly do. Considering that both Charity and Lucius were participants of the “illegal relation” but only one of them is left to suffer the reader can’t help thinking how fair this outcome is.

I wouldn’t call this novella the best work of Wharton but it is definitely worth reading alongside with her more famous pieces like “Ethan Frome” (very similar to this story in setting and atmosphere), “The House of Mirth” and my personal favourite “The Age of Innocence”. “Summer” presents a small number of characters and events but confronts big issues still topical to some extent in modern society.