复旦大学：《英美短篇小说 British and American Short Stories》教学课件（PPT）Edith Wharton, The Dilettante

The dilettante Edith Wharton

OAbout the author CHaracters OSome Questions

About the author Characters Some Questions

About the Author O Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862-August 11, 1937)was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927. 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt

About the Author Edith Wharton (born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider's view of America's privileged classes with a brilliant, natural wit to write humorous, incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight. She was well acquainted with many of her era's other literary and public figures, including Theodore Roosevelt

o The Valley of Decision, 1902 O Sanctuary, 1903 O The House of Mirth. 1905 O Ethan Frome, 1911 O The Reef. 1912 O The Custom of the Country 1913 O Summer 1917 O The Marne. 1918 o The Age of Innocence, 1920 O The Glimpses of the Moon NENTORT.I 1922

The Valley of Decision, 1902 Sanctuary, 1903 The House of Mirth, 1905 Ethan Frome, 1911 The Reef, 1912 The Custom of the Country, 1913 Summer, 1917 The Marne, 1918 The Age of Innocence, 1920 The Glimpses of the Moon, 1922

WORDSWORTH CLASSICS The House of mirth EDITH WHARTON THE DECORATION F HOU RYDER FH AGEo NNOCeNCE The Dilettante and other stones

Characters Thursdale Mrs. Vervain Miss Gaynor

Characters Thursdale Mrs. Vervain Miss Gaynor

Thursdale, The dilettante What does "the dilettante"' mean? Early in his career Thursdale had made the mistake, at the outset of his acquaintance with a lady, of telling her that he loved her and exacting the same avowal in return. The latter part of that episode had been like the long walk back from a picnic, when one has to carry all the crockery one has finished using: it was the last time Thursdale ever allowed himself to be encumbered with the debris of a feast

Thursdale: “The dilettante” What does “the dilettante” mean? Early in his career Thursdale had made the mistake, at the outset of his acquaintance with a lady, of telling her that he loved her and exacting the same avowal in return. The latter part of that episode had been like the long walk back from a picnic, when one has to carry all the crockery one has finished using: it was the last time Thursdale ever allowed himself to be encumbered with the debris of a feast

oIn seeking to avoid the pitfalls of sentiment he had developed a science of evasion in which the woman of the moment became a mere implement of the game. He owed a great deal of delicate enjoyment to the cultivation of this art. OAs a promoter of this pleasure no one he had known was comparable to Mrs. Vervain. He had taught a good many women not to betray their feelings, but he had never before had such fine material to work in

In seeking to avoid the pitfalls of sentiment he had developed a science of evasion in which the woman of the moment became a mere implement of the game. He owed a great deal of delicate enjoyment to the cultivation of this art. As a promoter of this pleasure no one he had known was comparable to Mrs. Vervain. He had taught a good many women not to betray their feelings, but he had never before had such fine material to work in

o It was an evasion that confessed a difficulty: a deviation implying an obstacle, where, by common consent, it was agreed to see none; it betrayed, in short, a lack of confidence in the completeness of his method. It had been his pride never to put himself in a position which had to be quitted, as it were, by the back door; but here, as he perceived, the main portals would have opened for him of their own accord O It was crude, certainly; unless it were a touch of the finest art. The difficulty of classifying it disturbed Thursdale's balance

It was an evasion that confessed a difficulty; a deviation implying an obstacle, where, by common consent, it was agreed to see none; it betrayed, in short, a lack of confidence in the completeness of his method. It had been his pride never to put himself in a position which had to be quitted, as it were, by the back door; but here, as he perceived, the main portals would have opened for him of their own accord. It was crude, certainly; unless it were a touch of the finest art. The difficulty of classifying it disturbed Thursdale's balance

o She had been surprisingly crude when he first knew her O and this gave her art the grace of a natural quality o So masterly a performance

She had been surprisingly crude when he first knew her and this gave her art the grace of a natural quality So masterly a performance