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Published in 1917, Summer is a novella set in a small village in North Dormer, New England. Its protagonist is Charity Royall, a sheltered and ignorant young woman seeking a brighter future for herself. It is a sad story that gives a human face to the futility of the struggle against poverty and the attendant lack of social opportunities. As with almost all of Wharton’s novels, questions are raised about how much control individuals have over their circumstances and whether there are real choices for positive change.
In Charity Royall, Wharton has again created a heroine whom one both loathes and pities. Charity is the ward of the village’s premier citizen and lawyer, Mr. Royall, who ‘brought her down from the mountain’. She has had no formal education but her connection to Mr. Royall installed her as the custodian of the village library. However, Charity hates her life in North Dormer, especially when she is frequently reminded to be thankful for being plucked from the mountain, an outlaw colony. Charity is not easy to like. She comes across as discontented, self-conscious, defensive, and proud. To her credit, she is fiercely independent. She also has good self-awareness and no illusions about her lack of social advantage even as she harbors dreams of marrying better than her peers. Charity imagines herself as having a royal sway over the household (after her adoptive mother died) and regards Mr. Royall with contempt. Charity’s sense of feeling trapped and her desire to escape remind me of Ethan Frome’s similar predicament in Starkfield, another cloistered New England village (the setting of Ethan Frome).
For Charity, as for most women in the early twentieth century, a good marriage seems to be the only ticket to happiness. Then a stranger, ‘young and careless’ comes to North Dormer. There are promising prospects in Lucius Harney, an architect from the city who is charmed by her physical attractiveness. Charity feels hopeful in the richness of the present and rosiness of the future. The need to leave her home becomes more pressing for other reasons. The widowed and lonely Mr. Royall shows up one night in Charity’s bedroom. He later proposes marriage, which she finds abhorrent and repugnant. There is something creepy about Mr. Royall’s desire to marry his ward, and Charity’s refusal is perfectly reasonable. Harney is full of considerate sweetness and gaiety but is he reliable? Charity is keenly conscious of the educational and social gulf between them. How will this affect their relationship over the long haul? More importantly, is Harney trustworthy?
With Wharton, one feels well guided and prepared for the way her story will develop. There are clear signposts that foreshadow future development and the destiny of her characters who are given room to grow. (Charity becomes more likeable over time.) The seasons mirror the progress of the relationship between Charity and Harney. The heat of summer and the growing passion of the lovers give way gradually to the chill of fall and torrential rains that strip the trees bare. I like how Wharton keeps us thinking about who the real villain is in this novel.
Wharton’s prose is a joy to read. She has a keen eye for nature and the joys of exploring the countryside. There are lovely passages that enshroud nature in rapturous prose: beads of dew on the grass; tufts of sweet fern unfurling; the white mist filling the hollows between the hills, etc. There is a vivid description of a surreptitious Fourth of July trip to the town (Nettleton) that spells heady delight for the couple on their cherished escape from the inquisitive faces of North Dormer.
Summer is my fifth novel by Edith Wharton. It is less compelling than The Age of Innocence (in my view her best novel), but it is a realistic, albeit sobering, portrayal of the status of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Good book.
In Charity Royall, Wharton has again created a heroine whom one both loathes and pities. Charity is the ward of the village’s premier citizen and lawyer, Mr. Royall, who ‘brought her down from the mountain’. She has had no formal education but her connection to Mr. Royall installed her as the custodian of the village library. However, Charity hates her life in North Dormer, especially when she is frequently reminded to be thankful for being plucked from the mountain, an outlaw colony. Charity is not easy to like. She comes across as discontented, self-conscious, defensive, and proud. To her credit, she is fiercely independent. She also has good self-awareness and no illusions about her lack of social advantage even as she harbors dreams of marrying better than her peers. Charity imagines herself as having a royal sway over the household (after her adoptive mother died) and regards Mr. Royall with contempt. Charity’s sense of feeling trapped and her desire to escape remind me of Ethan Frome’s similar predicament in Starkfield, another cloistered New England village (the setting of Ethan Frome).
For Charity, as for most women in the early twentieth century, a good marriage seems to be the only ticket to happiness. Then a stranger, ‘young and careless’ comes to North Dormer. There are promising prospects in Lucius Harney, an architect from the city who is charmed by her physical attractiveness. Charity feels hopeful in the richness of the present and rosiness of the future. The need to leave her home becomes more pressing for other reasons. The widowed and lonely Mr. Royall shows up one night in Charity’s bedroom. He later proposes marriage, which she finds abhorrent and repugnant. There is something creepy about Mr. Royall’s desire to marry his ward, and Charity’s refusal is perfectly reasonable. Harney is full of considerate sweetness and gaiety but is he reliable? Charity is keenly conscious of the educational and social gulf between them. How will this affect their relationship over the long haul? More importantly, is Harney trustworthy?
With Wharton, one feels well guided and prepared for the way her story will develop. There are clear signposts that foreshadow future development and the destiny of her characters who are given room to grow. (Charity becomes more likeable over time.) The seasons mirror the progress of the relationship between Charity and Harney. The heat of summer and the growing passion of the lovers give way gradually to the chill of fall and torrential rains that strip the trees bare. I like how Wharton keeps us thinking about who the real villain is in this novel.
Wharton’s prose is a joy to read. She has a keen eye for nature and the joys of exploring the countryside. There are lovely passages that enshroud nature in rapturous prose: beads of dew on the grass; tufts of sweet fern unfurling; the white mist filling the hollows between the hills, etc. There is a vivid description of a surreptitious Fourth of July trip to the town (Nettleton) that spells heady delight for the couple on their cherished escape from the inquisitive faces of North Dormer.
Summer is my fifth novel by Edith Wharton. It is less compelling than The Age of Innocence (in my view her best novel), but it is a realistic, albeit sobering, portrayal of the status of women at the turn of the twentieth century. Good book.
