"Only - was there no alternative but Julia's? Her soul recoiled from the vision of the white-faced woman among the plush sofas and gilt frames. In the established order of things as she knew them she saw no place for her individual adventure..."
I chose this passage because I was curious as to what the image of the white-faced woman means. That image has come up on more than one occasion, and I'm assuming it has some symbolic value. I think this passage is significant because Charity seems to be giving up. She's decided there's no place for her to have her own adventure, and doesn't really consider that the established order of things can easily be changed. I think she knows the established order can be changed, but isn't willing to go through the emotional distress that changing the order involves. I guess in this way Charity could be seen as a rather weak character.
"She had given him all she had - but what was it compared to the other gifts life held for him? She understood now the case of girls like herself to whom this kind of thing happened. They gave all they had, but their all was not enough: it could not buy more than a few moments..."
I think this is the moment when Charity realizes that she has grossly misjudged her relationship with Harney. She realizes that social obligations will always prevail over the real love she perceived between the two of them. It's passages like these that make Wharton seem like a part of the naturalistic school of writers. Charity is at the mercy of societal obligations that she cannot control, much like Lilly Bart in House of Mirth.
1 comment:
I didn't notice how often "white-faced woman" appeared before you pointed out. It does, indeed, seem prominent, and perhaps it follows the traditional imagery of a women interred in the home. They become delicate and pale from lack of activity and sunlight and, as much as Charity loved nature, it would definitely be something she'd dread.
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