Students:
As you begin your journey (and hopefully a love affair) with Edith Wharton and the Naturalist novel that many Wharton scholars consider her greatest, please read this 2022 Time magazine article that is a testament to Wharton's enduring interest not just to serious literary folks like us but to American popular culture in general:
https://time.com/6141634/the-gilded-age-edith-wharton-books-to-read/
And then read this recent New Yorker article specifically about the staying power of the story of the superficial success of the protagonist readers love to hate, Undine Spragg, in The Custom of the Country (1913):
After you read these secondary sources, then read (or reread if you have already started the novel) Chapter 1 and 2 of The Custom of the Country. (For convenience, here is the link, the same one you can also find in the syllabus, to a free pdf of the novel's full text: Pdf of The Custom of the Country
In your comment, due on Friday, November 11, at midnight (or submitted later if you need extra time), please publish a comment of at least two well-developed paragraphs about the ideas from the two articles linked here about the power of celebrity status and what you have read about in Chapters 1 and 2, in which we meet Undine.
After you publish your comment, please reply to at least one of the other students' comments.
Enjoy the novel,
Dr. Kornasky
Celebrity status can be a huge thing for someone to have; the two articles that talk about “The Custom of the Country” clearly mention that it is a want in today’s society. The Gilded Age had such a high rating because it depicted, “displays of wealth, high society scandals and power struggles,” (Lang, Time). This is not the same as modern-day celebrity status but still shows that it is something we either crave or enjoy watching. The second article states that, “If Undine Spragg, the heroine of Wharton’s novel “The Custom of the Country,” were alive today, she would have a million followers on Instagram and be a Page Six legend,” (Tolentino, The New Yorker). This same article talks about how if Undine existed in our world, she would be a well-known feminist promoting women’s empowerment. The article also talks about how Undine can also be compared to a monster as she begins to only care about her celebrity status. While she knows what she wants, that eventually consumes her. The article calls her growth in life a, “…delectable mismatch between her shallow, ridiculous perceptions and her unbelievable savvy instincts,” (Tolentino, The New Yorker).
ReplyDeleteIn the story itself, Undine starts off in a lower-class life; in the very beginning, she is unimpressed by being invited to dinner by a possible suitor until she discovers from Mrs. Heeny that he is a part of a high-class family. She continues to doubt the status of the other family even after she’s accepted the invitation to the dinner. She then, in writing the response to the invitation, tries to prove herself as a high-class lady by obsessing over what paper to write on and what salutation to give at the end of the letter. “It was amusing to write the note in her mother’s name-she giggled as she formed the phrase ‘I shall be happy to permit my daughter to take dinner with you’ (‘take dinner’ seemed more elegant than Mrs. Fairford’s ‘dine’),” (Wharton, 11). She is obsessed with being high-class and living a life of celebrity status. In just reading the first 2 chapters and the articles, it is this obsessive nature that will lead to some sort of downfall for her.
I thought your comment on the difference of ambition and its perception by a public audience was interesting. In the book, we are taught to look at Undine negatively. Yet, in modern days, we might celebrate that. I wonder if that says something about our society. Perhaps we put up celebrities on a pedestal, rising them up so that they can do no wrong. Undine's obsession for social climbing is disastrous for the people around her, yet today we would celebrate it as something empowering. Or do we value obsessive ambition too much?
DeleteBailey, your replies always serve as a detailed, while getting straight to the point reference. Your points on how Undine is caught up in our modern concept of being a celebrity is a great compare and contrast between time periods. I also agree with your point that I can most definitely see Undine's sense of obsessiveness and desire to be seen, play a large role in the upcoming chapters and plot development!
DeleteEdith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country is a book about the social climbing and ambitions of Undine Spragg. Fittingly, it is about the power of celebrity status- a topic in our age of social media and influencers that still remains relevant. As described in the Times article, the world Undine wishes to join is a glittering world of exclusivity and riches- one that as readers we still hearken to. The show The Gilded Age is proof of that. That celebrity rich with their clothes and jewelry, drama and romance were extremely popular in today’s modern audience. Even if the characters are fictional and their lives are certainly much more glamours than the average viewer, we still find an odd pull towards their historical celebrity lives.
ReplyDeleteGoing into more depth, with the New Yorker article, the author asserts that Undine would still be powerful as a celebrity today. One of the tools in her arsenal is her beauty, which is her life is “organized around” as the author of the article says. Indeed, modern celebrities are often dressed and made up to the nines, using stylists and makeup artists to keep their audience captivated. It is a cult of beauty, which brings fans in, just like it does for the men like Ralph Moffit in Undine’s life. Her glittery brilliance like the Gilded Age television show is attractive and alluring. This is the power of the celebrity personified by Undine- one of beauty and its ability to attract and allure. It does not matter, after all, as the article says and is true in Undine’s character, about the mental abilities or personality of the famous person. It is their physical appearance that is most important. That makes a true celebrity- someone is famous simply to be famous, not out of true skill or ability, and can draw in the others with the power of their physicality and visual perfection. It will be the power that Undine can draw on to great success for her throughout the novel. Despite "her shallow, ridiculous perceptions" as the New Yorker article puts it, Undine is still able to attract people around her with her looks.
I totally agree with your response! Undine would be such an empowering and successful celebrity today. We were guided to view Undine negatively, but we do find ourselves cheering for her.
DeleteEdith Wharton's "The Custom of the Country" is a story about Undine Spragg and how she wants to be of celebrity status. The two articles explain that this is still relevant and a desire for most in today's society. As described in the Times article, "Spragg navigates the rigid rules of high society". The modern show, "The Gilded Age" represent some of the same ideas that Wharton wrote about. People desire to be popular, of an upper-class, rich, and famous. People also love attention, hence social media and the constant want for more followers. If Undine Spragg was a real person in today's time, she would fit right in and probably be a successful influencer.
ReplyDeleteI thought the New York article did a great job talking about how we as readers are rooting for her despite everything. "People like her have been abundant in American culture for some time, but I never feel invested in their success; more often, I idly hope for their failure....I find myself wanting her to get everything she desires". Her life compares to one of a relevant celebrity as both are encompassed with beauty. These higher class people are expected to look fabulous all of the time, down to the makeup, hair, and clothes. The power of being physically attractive is huge! Despite "Undine’s ascent begins with this delectable mismatch between her shallow, ridiculous perceptions and her unbelievably savvy instinct", she is able to draw people in with just her outer beauty.
The heroine in Edith Wharton’s “The Custom of the Country”, Miss Undine Spragg, wants to be at the top of the rich society with the spotlight solely on her. Miss Spragg, with new-found wealth, moves to New York City with her parents into the Hotel Stentorian because “all the fashionable people [Undine] knew either boarded or lived in hotels” (Wharton 9). Her heavy ambition of reaching celebrity status and Wharton’s story itself inspired shows like The Gilded Age. Miss Spragg wants to climb the New York social ladder as quickly as possible, so she, too, can live the glamorous life; fancy dresses, sparkly jewelry, and high-end parties. Undine cares very much about what her status is in New York and tries her damnest to know people that get can her into higher status. If Undine were alive in the 21st century, she “would have millions of followers on Instagram. She’d be a Page Six legend. We would give her what Wharton understood that a woman like Undine wants, above everything: the satisfaction of knowing that others are watching her every move” (Tolentino, The New Yorker).
ReplyDeleteObtaining celebrity status has taken over Undine’s life; it’s consumed her. She receives information about the wealthy families in New York from her manicurist and masseuse, Mrs. Heeny; she cannot decide which paper, ordinary white or pigeon-blood, to go with when she writes a letter back to Mrs. Fairford. She even judges Mrs. Fairford for writing in ordinary white paper instead of using a fancier type. This is certainly amusing because she decides to go with white paper herself. Undine understands that she must herself and original to catch the eye of everyone, “but she could not help modelling on the last person she met…” (Wharton 11). These elements of Undine’s fierce character make the story so much more fascinating. She’s a force to reckon with and she absolutely knows it.
I genuinely enjoyed reading what you had to say about Miss. Spragg. The life of a socialite in this time period is insane to think about. Compared to today's celebrity culture, it's different but at the same time they were founded on the same ideas. Money makes people famous.
DeleteAs we read Edith Wharton’s, The Custom of the country, and the social climbing of Undine Spragg. We gain the understanding that in this story, in the first few years of Spragg’s move, there were financial and status struggles. In this story, they felt have a connection to those of higher power is how they would live. In the story, Undine could be viewed as a sort of antagonist, because her only worry was being able to talk and socialize with people who were wealth. After she marries a man who was in an elite group, she came to realize he was not rich. After he had been working but not meeting her needs, she realizes marrying him was a mistake. Undine’s main concern is her social status and, in that era, power in the gilded age was impeccable.
ReplyDeleteUndines issue was she craved glamour and attention. In an article published in the New Yorker it is stated, “Undine is at peace only when illuminated by attention: without it, the reader quickly comes to understand, our heroine would turn to dust” (Tolentino, The New Yorker). This helps us understand Undines priorities, and without her fighting to reach the top of the social status ladder, she would be viewed as nothing.
I agree with your perspective on Undine's attempt to gain celebrity status, it can also be seen from the very beginning when she disregards the letter from Mr. Marvell's sister inviting her to dinner until she thinks that the family is of a higher social status. Her attempts to make others think that she is of higher standards than she really is, makes her show no regard for anyone who gets in her way of acquiring that status, especially her parents.
DeleteEdith Wharton's novel, "The Custom of the Country" focuses on Undine Spragg, a young woman who wishes to be at the top of society. Miss Spragg aspires to be a celebrity in a society that seemingly only cares about social status and class. Miss. Spragg convinces her family to move to New York city where they stay at Hotel Stentorian because the hotel itself has "class" meaning that everyone that enters has class of some sort. This life that Miss. Spragg is chasing after is one that is often displayed in shows such as "The Gilded Age". The people of this old high class society lived lives many of the people of today will never be able to experience. Society seems to share a common interest in the history of this gilded age high class considering it was a completely different time in U.S. history.
ReplyDeleteAs for Miss. Spragg, following the article, she would be a celebrity even if she was alive today. Spragg is the ideal personified high class socialite. The high class cares about their appearance, how they dress, who they talk to, every aspect of these peoples lives is tedious. These high class people strive to be alluring and attractive, something synonymous with our society today. Miss. Spragg strived to be socially accepted and she was able to do so due to her appearance and might I add her undying dedication to succeeding in the social world.
I found the two outside sources incredibly insightful, and they both had interesting takes on the novel. Considering that I have only read the first two chapters of the novel, I anticipate rereading the article written by The New Yorker, with anticipation to better understand and read its analysis with a new set of lenses. From the first article, written by the Time, I took the amount of credibility Wharton had produced through her prestigious writing in the Gilded Age. With being paired with the article written by The New Yorker, I can say that this is a new genre of reading I have not yet experienced. I have only ever read the oppression toward women side of this time period, but with the end of the second article stating that, “Undine’s habits, given a superficial makeover, could be rebranded not just as aspirational but feminist. Today, she would learn how to defend her life story as that of a woman going after what she wants and getting it,” I (Tolentino The New Yorker). With this quote, I have found it encouraging to also read about this side of the time period and society. I am currently taking Victorian Literature, and writing an extensive paper analyzing culture and society in regards to how it molded women, with that being said, and with the detailed summaries from both articles, I am excited to read the rest of this novel.
ReplyDeleteInitially with the protagonist, Undine, being raised in the lower-class social environment, I found it interesting that Wharton then proceeded to write the sequence of events where Udine is invited to a dinner by a prospective suitor, which was one of Undine’s goals in society, to then become naively unimpressed because of her quick assumption of the suitor’s family’s financial status. Even with Undine's disappointment in her potential suitor she still accepts the invitation to dinner. I found it peculiar that Wharton had Undine still accept the invitation, and from it I concluded that Undine’s desire to be seen, or thought of as pretty, is disguised as selfishness, inconsideration, and ignorance. This assumption Undine made was only taken back once she was proved wrong, and that the family did come from a wealthy background, which is a characteristic Undine strongly desired from her future husband. While the action of continuing to go to the dinner can be found odd, especially with Undine’s character traits in mind, I believe that it simply strengthened Undine’s character as a whole in the aspects of the complex intentions of her desire to be someone in society. This desire can be seen in the story when Undine, with no surprise, is trying to prove herself to this family that she was just pointing her nose up at. An example from the story, “It was amusing to write the note in her mother’s name-she giggled as she formed the phrase ‘I shall be happy to permit my daughter to take dinner with you,” (Wharton 11). This quote followed Undine’s predicament of which type of paper or ink was considered the most high-quality. Once again, Undine’s desire to hold space within the high-class society will stop at nothing to be achieved, even in regard to a letter.
Yes, the letter was a simple but telling action to readers on how easily Undine can be influenced. I think she accepts the letter after she has confirmation from Mrs. Heeny that the sister of Mr. Marvell, Mrs. Fairford, is of high status in New York. Something I am curious about is that Mrs. Henny claims that Mrs. Driscoll cried over not being invited to Mrs. Marvell's concert.
Delete“5 Edith Wharton Books to Read After Watching The Gilded Age” by Cady Lang, summarizes five books by Edith Wharton which served to influence the theme of the new HBO series The Gilded Age. Wharton’s books deal with the almost impermeable high society world, along with rigid morals and customs. In the case of The Custom of the Country, the story line deals with New York city’s high society and Undine a young ambitious woman whose main ambition in life is to become part of such life or as Lang says, she is a young woman from the Midwest trying to climb New York’s social latter and finding out that her new money is not good enough to be welcomed by the elusive class she wants to belong, as Lang says, “old blue blood social pedigree;” as in The Custom of the Country, Undine is not excited about being invited to dinner by Mrs. Laura Fairford until Mrs. Henley mentions that Mrs. Fairford belongs to one of the first families and gives “the smartest little dinners” that end up in the society papers. Moreover, she is uninterested in Mr. Marvell, only after she finds out his blue blood pedigree. Thus, the power is wielded by old blue blood, they are the sole authority on who is accepted into their small social circle. While Undine’s power is her beauty and unrelenting ambition. Undine lacks old money, culture, and pedigree, but her beauty, ambition, and adamant persistence in climbing the social latter that helps her to gain access. Although in the end, Undine discovers that the fame and acceptance she inspired to did not make her happy, because; she falls in love with someone, as Land says, “who’s just as ambitious and unconnected as her may be her best match.”
ReplyDeleteThe article “What Edith Wharton new, A Century Ago, About Women and Fame in America” by Jia Tolentino makes the connection of Wharton’s Undine, which was written over a hundred years ago, to today’s social influencers. Tolentino calls Undine, “a dazzling monster...” because she is ambitious, as well as beautiful; a woman that goes after what she wants and what she wants is to know all the right people that can help her get the best things including Fifth Avenue. Tolentino says, “Her world, consequently, is sorted into three categories of people: assets, impediments and those who, being neither, effectively do not exist,” thus, the people around Undine are people that can do things for her. For Example, her parents provide her with the means to dress the part, her friend Mrs. Mabel Lipscomb introduces her to New York’s society etc. Furthermore, according to Tolentino, “Undine is only at peace when illuminated by attention …without it…our heroine would turn to dust.” Undine spends her free time admiring herself in the mirror and practicing, sounds, conversations, and body movements that will make her look her best in order to attract the most attention and admiration; thus, in the same way today’s social influencers seek to be liked and approved by strangers on a variety of social medias and similar to Undine, seek approval in order to stay relevant. Thus, Undine knows that her power relies as Tolentino says, “Undine’s life is organized around maintaining her beauty, showing off her carefully dressed figure, gaining as wide and prominent an audience of admirers as possible and increasing the net…” and in a similar way today’s social influencers do the same, even using lighting and apps to enhance their looks in order to attain the most followers; which translate into more power as social influencers.
For Undine, her sole goal is to climb the social ladder of New York as well as reach the most elite of the upper class. But in these first two chapters, she has yet to accomplish such ambitions which is why she turns to Mrs. Heeny for advice. The “‘society’ manicure and masseuse” provide intel on the status of Mr. Marvell, Mr. Popple, and Mrs. Fairford. After Undine receives a dinner invitation from Mrs. Fairford, she asks Mrs. Heeny if both the hostess and her brother, Mr. Marvell, are worth her time.
ReplyDeleteHer reservations about Mrs. Fairford are dismissed after Mrs. Heeny pulls out one of her “clippings” from the newspaper, which talks about the former's dinner party with an exclusive guest list. And with Mrs. Heeny’s confirmation that even Mrs. Driscoll cried over not being invited to a Mrs. Paul Marvell musical. The Driscolls and Van Degens are important families because they are written about in the newspapers, which Undine read even before she moved to New York in Apex. Fame shapes the way people think of those who associate with them, what they like is what’s popular to others. After accepting the status of Mrs. Fairford, Undine writes using the style in the letter even though she once thought it better to use different paper and different writing formulas just because someone else of popularity did so.
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ReplyDeleteAnais, I enjoyed reading your blog and I agree, Undine's goal is to climb the social latter in New York City, since she was a too big for Apex but up to now seems to be too small for New York's blue bloods and is having trouble finding her way in; that is until, her friend introduces her to Mr. Popple and Mr. Popple introduces her to Mr. Marvell. Mr. Marvell did not make much of an impression on Undine, until she receives the dinner invitation from his sister and Mrs. Henley, also informs Undine of Mr. Marvell and Mrs. Fairford's background as well as the importance and exclusivity of Mrs. Fairford's dinners. Furthermore, Mrs. Henley explains to her the New York customs regarding being invited by Marvell's sister rather than by him and addressing the letter to her mom rather than to Undine.
DeleteIn the book “The Custom of the Country”, Undine has an almost unhealthy grasp on the idea of personal status. She insists on having the best at the expense of her father. Along with this concept, she also seems to be in search of an eligible and worthy bachelor. In fact, she pays no regard to a letter she receives after learning it was not from Mr. Popple whom she seems to have had her eyes set on due only to his personal status. When informed that the letter instead is from the sister of Mr. Marvell who is described to be over higher standards as well, she immediately changes her mind about the letter. Undine certainly seems to be in search of celebrity status by trying to fit the part by acting as if she already fits into that role. Along with her attempts to find a suitable man that fits into her vision of what she wants and expects it seems as though her attempts sometimes have her jumping into relationships at a rather quick momentum, sometimes leading her to trust the untrustworthy that seems to have already led her into some bad choices in the past.
ReplyDeleteIn the observation from the articles, both also seem to highlight the attempt to maintain or acquire a higher class by Undine, as she does not regard the individuals whom she uses or persuades to get there, especially her parents. Undine’s aggressive attempts to gain social status amongst the higher-class individuals has her leaping at every chance to be recognized by men especially, of a higher class in order to try and gain that celebrity status she so desperately thinks she needs and deserves.
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton is a very interesting story about social classes. Undine is trying everything she can to have a lavish and wealthy lifestyle. In the Times Article, it talks about a world full of riches, which is exactly the world that Undine Spragg wishes to join so badly, and she’s willing to do whatever she can to get there. In today’s world, so many people want to be known. They want to be social media influencers. They want to wear the nicest clothes and jewelry. They just want to be recognized and remembered. This article fits the story of “The Custom of the Country” so perfectly because everyone is just trying to climb the social status ladder. In the New Yorker Article, I would say this one fits just as well. I absolutely agree when it said that the readers are cheering Undine on even through the bad things she did. She was just trying to survive and did what she thought she needed to do.
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