New Wharton Letter Sheds Light on House of Mirth
Posted on November 21, 2007
A newly-discovered letter from Edith Wharton has shed new light on the ending of Wharton's famous novel of manners, The House of Mirth. Did beautiful fallen socialite Lily Bart commit suicide or did she merely take a risk by drinking too much of a sedative in order to get some desperately-needed rest? According to a new letter Wharton wrote to a friend inquiring about ways to kill off a heroine, it seems clear: suicide it was.
The newly revealed letter, written by Wharton herself, seems to point to the suicide theory. It is dated Dec. 26, 1904, or just a month before The House of Mirth began appearing in monthly installments in Scribner's Magazine, and is addressed to Dr. Francis Kinnicutt, a well-known society doctor who specialized in the mental ailments of the well-to-do. At the time of the letter, in fact, he was treating Wharton�s manic-depressive husband, Teddy, who was beginning to behave in ways � eventually embezzling her money, setting up a mistress in Boston - that would lead to the dissolution of their marriage.The letter, in Wharton's own handwriting, is an amazing literary find which is quote thrilling to Wharton scholars. And for readers, it helps put a literary mystery to rest.The letter begins by resorting to the timeless disguise of the advice-seeker. "A friend of mine has made up her mind to commit suicide," Wharton writes, "& has asked me to find out ... the most painless & least unpleasant method of effacing herself."
Only on the second page does Wharton reveal that her "friend" is in fact a fictional character appearing in the pages of Scribner's, explaining, "I have heroine to get rid of, and want some points on the best way of disposing of her." Later she asks: "What soporific, or nerve-calming drug, would a nervous and worried young lady in the smart set be likely to take to, & what would be its effects if deliberately taken with the intent to kill herself? I mean, how would she feel and look toward the end?"