Editha

A detailed Summary of Editha

After World War I, American people and the authors among them were disillusioned by the effects that war had on their society. America required a literature that would expound what had happened and what was happening to their society. The realistic movement of the late 19th century saw authors accurately depict life and it is problems. This realistic movement evolved because of many changes and transitions in American culture. In the late 1800's, the United States was experiencing swift growth and change because of a changing economy, society, and culture. The increase of immigrants into America was one of the reasons. Realists endeavored to give a comprehensive picture of modern life by presenting the entire picture. Literary realism as defined by Encyclopedia Britannica, is:

an approach that attempts to describe life without idealization or romantic subjectivity. Although realism is not limited to any one-century or group of writers, it is most often associated with the literary movement in 19th-century France, specifically with the French novelists Flaubert and Balzac. George Eliot introduced realism into England, and William Dean Howells introduced it into the United States. Realism h

In his comic writings, Howells criticized American morality and ethics but still managed to accurately portray life as it happened. He communicates American social morays by sharing the Balcoms' position on war, presented when Mr. Balcom avows, "'I guess it will not be much of a war...I will not lose any sleep over it'" (463). Although, Mrs. Balcom had expressed her misgivings early on before George had enlisted, the family's tone seemed to change once he had. This common attitude about the war soon proves inane when George talks with pride about how he and his friends, "'...all want to be in the van...'"(465). Then not long after, he is reported dead, "...in the list of the killed...was Gearson's name" (465). This news has Editha spinning into her own thoughts because before he left she had declared; '"...nothing will happen!"' (465). The authors' artful way is expressed in essence when Editha lapses into her grief; along with her disappointment that it wasn't worse or that she had not died, " she had the fever that she expected of herself, but she did not die in it...and it did not last long" (465). When she remembers that she had promised to go see his mother she sees this as a glorified position; "...it buoyed her up instead of burdening her-she rapidly recovered" (466). Editha wanted to be overly dramatic when she goes to see Georges mother, "...if she had done what was expected of herself, would have gone down on her knees at the feet of the seated figure..." However, to her despair Mrs. Gearson was not pleased to see her, '" What did you come for?' Mrs. Gearson asked" (466). Mrs. Gearson sees Editha for the immature child that she is, "'You didn't expect that, (he would die) I suppose, when you sent him"' (466).

Howells, William Dean. "Editha." Anthology of American Literature: Realism to the Present. (Vol. II). Seventh Edition. George McMichael, editor. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2000. 458-467.

The author, through Mrs. Gearson, lets fly his opinions about the war. This is depicted when she tells off Editha, '"...you didn't expect him to get killed...You just expected him to kill someone else...You thought it would be all right for my George, your George, to kill...I thank my god he didn't live to do it...and that he ain't livin' with their blood on his hands!'" She gets very upset that Editha is posing as a grieving widow, "'What you got that black on for?' She lifted herself...so high that her helpless body seemed to hang limp..." (467). At the de nous moue, there is a culmination of feelings and emotions burgeoning into an outcry by Mrs. Gearson, "'Take it off, take it off before I tear it from your back!'" (467). Mrs. Gearson is grieving for her son. She knows Editha did not think that George would die; '"No, girls don't; women don't...They think they'll come marching back...if it's an empty sleeve...they're so much the prouder of them..."' and yet she blames Editha for her loss, "I suppose you would have been glad to die...When you sent him..."' (467). There is a feeling that suggests that there is a lesson in all this, yet Editha misses it entirely; " I

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Approximate Word count = 2106
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English