EDITH WHARTON AND THE POLITICS OF RACE

Edith Wharton feared that the “ill-bred,” foreign and poor would overwhelm what was known as the American native elite. Drawing on a range of turn-of-the-century social documents, unpublished archival material and Wharton’s major novels, Jennie Kassanoff argues that a fuller appreciation of American culture and democracy becomes available through a sustained engagement with these controversial views. She pursues her theme through Wharton’s spirited participation in a variety of turn-of-the-century discourses – from euthanasia and tourism to pragmatism and Native Americans – to produce a truly interdisciplinary study of this major American writer. Kassanoff locates Wharton squarely in the middle of the debates on race, class and democratic pluralism at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on diverse cultural materials, she offers close readings that will be of interest to scholars of American literature and culture.

JENNIE A. KASSANOFF is Associate Professor of English at Barnard College in New York. Her articles have appeared in Arizona Quarterly and PMLA.

CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

Editor
Ross Posnock, New York University
Founding editor
Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
Advisory board
Sacvan Bercovitch, Harvard University
Ronald Bush, St John’s College, Oxford University
Wai Chee Dimock, Yale University
Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
Gordon Hutner, University of Kentucky
Walter Benn Michaels, University of Illinois, Chicago
Kenneth Warren, University of Chicago

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EDITH WHARTON AND THE POLITICS OF RACE

JENNIE A. KASSANOFF

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© Jennie A. Kassanoff 2004

This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2004

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

Typeface Adobe Garamond 11/12.5 pt.   System LATEX 2_e   [TB]

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0 521 83089 3 hardback

For my parents
Dorothy Jane Spitzberg Kassanoff
and
Arnold Howard Kassanoff
and for
Dan

Contents

Acknowledgements

I felt that I was in great company and was glad.

Edith Wharton, 1934

This book focuses on one author, but it is not the study of one woman alone. Instead, it is an inquiry into the constellation of people, places, ideas and events that intersected to create the powerful writings of Edith Wharton. I find this approach eminently suited to my own situation, for in writing this book I have not been a single author. Rather, I have been at the crossroads of a dynamic group of teachers, friends, institutions and experiences that have alternately inspired, challenged, amused and enlightened me.

   I have been the fortunate student of many extraordinary teachers. In my home town of Dallas, Texas, Christine Eastus and Ray Buchanan at the Greenhill School first introduced me to the pleasures and possibilities of literary and historical study. As an undergraduate at Harvard, I was privileged to work with Joseph A. Boone, Mary Carpentar, Sonya Michel and Henry Moses, each of whom instilled in me an enthusiasm for letters and learning. At Oxford, Kate Flint and John Bayley shared my interests in Edith Wharton, and encouraged me to “do New York.” Their exemplary generosity of mind was pivotal to my own growth as scholar.

   As a doctoral candidate at Princeton, I had the great good fortune to work with Maria Di Battista, Cathy N. Davidson, Diana Fuss, William Howarth, Michael McKeon, Earl Miner, Lee Mitchell, Andrew Ross, Brenda Silver and the late Lora Romero, each of whom modeled that important balance between innovative scholarship and caring pedagogy. I owe a particularly vibrant debt of thanks to Elaine Showalter, who has been an exemplary teacher, mentor and friend. Not only is Elaine a ground-breaking critic, a dynamic professor and a committed public intellectual, but she is also a superb matchmaker.

   At Barnard and Columbia, I have found a dynamic and supportive group of friends and colleagues. I want to thank Rachel Adams, Jim Basker, Elizabeth Dalton, Pat Denison, Peggy Ellsberg, Gretchen Gertzina, Mary Gordon, Maire Jaanus, Paula Loscocco, Monica Miller, Remington Patterson, Caryl Phillips, Cary Plotkin, Quandra Prettyman, Maura Spiegel, Timea Szell and Liz Weinstock for their companionship, encouragement and good humor. I am particularly indebted to my colleagues Christopher Baswell, Lisa Gordis, Ross Hamilton, Peter Platt, Anne Lake Prescott, Bill Sharpe, Herb Sloane, Margaret Vandenburg, and the members of the 1998 Willen Seminar in American Studies for their willingness to read portions of this book and for their many thoughtful and detailed suggestions along the way. My conversations with a number of colleagues and friends have considerably enriched my thinking about this project. Thanks to John Gruesser, Martha Hodes, Alan Price, Augusta Rohrbach, Carol Schaffer-Koros and Martin White for their interest and support. Finally, I would like to thank my students at Barnard and Columbia for perpetually keeping me on my toes. I am especially grateful to Rachel Abramowitz, Alice Boone, Emily McKenna and Taranee Wangsatorntanakhun for their expert research assistance.

   Several institutions have provided crucial financial and scholarly support for this project. I wish to thank the Rotary Foundation of America, the English Department of Princeton University, Radcliffe College (now the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University), the American Philosophical Society, Barnard College, the Lilly Library of Indiana University, and the Gilder Lehrman Foundation for their generous funding. I would also like to thank the helpful archivists and librarians at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the Butler Library at Columbia University, the Firestone Library at Princeton University, the Lilly Library at Indiana University, the Villa I Tatti of Harvard University and the Barnard College Library. Portions of this book have appeared elsewhere in earlier forms. Chapter 2 is reprinted by permission of the Regents of The University of Arizona from Arizona Quarterly 53.1 (1997). An earlier version of Chapter 1 appeared in PMLA 115 (Jan. 2000). Edith Wharton’s unpublished letters and writings are reprinted here by permission of the Estate of Edith Wharton and the Watkins/Loomis Agency. I am grateful to the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, for permission to use their photograph of Edith Wharton for the cover of this book.

   The readers and editors at Cambridge University Press have taken this project from mere manuscript to book. I have profited immensely from their suggestions, and I appreciate not only their keen eye for detail, but also their commitment to the broader outlines of this project. I wish, in particular, to thank Frances Brown for her meticulous and witty copy-editing, Jackie Warren for her care in shepherding a rookie through the process, Ray Ryan for his encouragement and ready support and Ross Posnock for his early interest in my work.

   To Rita Bowen, John Lloyd Brown, Jonathan Cordell, Laura Fenster, Lola Mae Fields, Christine Fry, Patricia Krantz, Joyce MacDuff, Lynn McLanahan, Kevin O’Hare and Kyra Terrano I owe a profound and ongoing debt of thanks that they alone can fully appreciate. My friends Jessika Hegewisch Auerbach, Jonathan Auerbach, Dana Becker-Dunn, Brian Dunn and Astrid Guttmann have consistently made sure that I never lacked for a pinch-hitter research assistant, a well-timed glass of wine, a riotous onslaught of small children or a thoughtful friend. Thanks, you guys.

   Finally, I would like to thank my family for the love, encouragement, patience and enthusiasm that have been my mainstay over the years. I am grateful to all of the Browns, Kassanoffs, Peretzs, Schulmans, Spitzbergs, Stones, Weinfelds, Wolfs and Woodcocks who have cheered me on, and who have even secretly read a Wharton novel or two – just to see what I was up to. Special thanks goes to my inner circle – Jim and Stephanie Kassanoff, Ben and Sharon Kassanoff, Jordan and Marla Kassanoff, Joel and Nancy Schulman, Logan Schulman and Ruth and Mel Schulman – whose love, wit and support have grounded me over the years. My grandmother, Florence Wolf Spitzberg Leonard has not only supported my love of learning, but has also made sure that the hair was always out of my eyes, and that my more controversial decisions were received with love – even when it meant opting for a Macintosh computer over a debut at the Tyler Texas Rose Festival. Above all, I want to thank my parents for their love and encouragement. They have been my proofreaders, cheerleaders, traveling companions, advisors and friends. I am more grateful to them than they will ever know.

   Although this book is sorely lacking in the way of broom-flying wizards and underpant-clad superheroes, my children Molly Schulman and Jake Schulman have been my own sources of magic and courage. Their curiosity, energy and enthusiasm inform every page of this enterprise.

   Finally, my deepest thanks go to Dan Schulman – my confidante, soul-mate, jester and best friend. He alone knows the full measure of my love.