Subtle Feminism in Edith Wharton's stories "The Other Two" and "Roman Fever" Edith Wharton showed her concern about the social pressures placed on women and the constraining expectations of others regarding them through his fiction. Wharton depicts her female characters deviating from expectations, both societal and personal, with a positive result. In "The Other Two", the female protagonist, Alice, divorces two husbands and finds happiness with a third, showing the unconventional act of divorce in a positive light. In "Roman Fever", Wharton shows one of the two main characters, Grace Ainsley, emerging victorious from a conflict due to her past defiance of expectations, relating the positive outcomes to a challenge to role culture. Both women defy these expectations by rejecting monogamy, Alice in her multiple marriages and Grace by marrying a man who is not the father of her child. Edith Wharton challenges traditional values ​​of monogamy and obedience in "The Other Two" and "Roman Fever" to highlight her feminist representation of women as individuals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Among the restrictions faced by women at the turn of the century was the expectation of monogamy. Without any system for women to attempt to support themselves economically, with society expecting them to fulfill the role of dependent wives, it was rare for women to consider divorce. Margaret McDowell describes society as "unwilling to recognize their very existence as human beings entitled to the privileges and responsibilities of adults" (539). James Woodress notes that Edith Wharton herself "endured 28 years of unhappy married life before divorcing her husband." Wharton showed her unconventional endorsement of divorce in her own life but also through her literature. At a time when divorce was frowned upon in American life and literature, Wharton had a sympathetic and encouraging view of divorced women. McDowell notes that she tends to celebrate a woman's freedom to end a marriage, rather than pitying the woman who frees herself from a restrictive role (535). In the last century, American women moved from a position in which "their attitudes and conduct were governed by fixed conventions and standards of propriety" to a position of "relative freedom, in which they can act on the basis of of what promises them the most.” fulfillment for them as individuals in a particular situation” (McDowell 531). Wharton's sophisticated endorsement of women's liberation, even before the turn of the century, placed her ahead of her time and other American authors (537). Edith Wharton connects her female characters' successes in society to the rejection of the social norm of monogamy in her short story "The Other Two." “The Other Two” ends with the image of Alice Haskett-Varick-Waythorn functioning normally among her current husband and her two ex-husbands. Alice learns to be the ideal wife through her multiple marriages and finds her ideal husband through her divorces. Her third husband, Waythorn, eventually accepts Alice's past behavior, displaying the positive attitude Wharton took toward divorce. The casual, but uncomfortable, final scene of Alice and the three husbands sitting together at tea indicates that divorce and social success can go hand in hand. The story begins after Alice marries her third husband, Waythorn, who considers her the ideal wife. . Waythorn sees the irony of successof Alice as a wife when he realizes that her perfection comes from her experience with her former husbands. Alice's marriages taught her valuable lessons about relationships, and her divorces allowed her to use that knowledge. Waythorn appreciates his domestic happiness in light of how Varick and Haskett have shaped Alice's values. Waythorn “understood that Haskett's banality had prompted Alice to revere good manners, while Varick's liberalism, the construction of the marital bond, had taught her to value marital virtues. Alice also benefits from her two divorces by finding happiness with Waythorn and not being stuck with either ex. Alice achieves success after her divorce due to her outstanding performance as a wife and her happy life with her third husband. Waythorn's eventual acceptance of Alice's past reveals the ideal reaction to women's freedom to divorce. When Waythorn married Alice, he expected her to "shake off her past like a man." By the standards of monogamy, Waythorn expected to be the only man in Alice's life. The subject of Alice's ex-husbands initially proves awkward for the newly married couple. After Waythorn notices Varick pouring a shot of alcohol into his coffee, he reacts to Alice making her coffee that way. Alice responds by blushing a “sudden, distressing red.” This muted response indicates that the subject of Alice's past with Varick is one that is avoided, and Alice's blushing makes it seem like she is ashamed. They don't discuss the incident further, but the passing incident highlights the negative stigma surrounding Alice's divorce. However, once Waythorn realizes what an ideal wife Alice was because of her experiences, he expresses the positive opinion that it was better to "own" a third of a wife who knew how to make a man happy rather than a third of a woman who had not had the opportunity to acquire this art. Including the misogynistic notion of "owning" women, Waythorn's final opinion presents previous marriages as an opportunity to acquire the art of making a man happy. Waythorn's continued ignorance, amidst low acceptance, may represent society at large in the early 1900s. Regardless of how women perceive their actions, men in society may interpret them according to expectations defined. Alice may have divorced both her husbands because she was unhappy, but Waythorn rationalizes it based on his standards that women are designed to please men. Despite these sexist flaws, Waythorn accepts Alice's past divorces and attributes the decisions positively to her. The final scene of the four characters' coexistence, depicting a woman functioning successfully in society after a divorce, shows Wharton's positive view of divorced women. In "Roman Fever", Wharton connects Grace Ainsley's rejection of monogamy and others' expectations of her with Barbara, Grace's attitude. daughter and the winning point of the two women's argument. Grace's rebellion, characterized by her excursion to the Roman Colosseum with Delphin Slade, Alida Slade's fiancée, flies in the face of Mrs. Slade's narrow definition of her. This defiance of expectations through an illicit sexual encounter symbolizes the rejection of monogamous values. Alida's expectations of Grace are depicted in the story of Great-Aunt Harriet arranging her sister's death. This shows the origin of the two women's ideas of rivalry and defines the roles of women who love the same man. Mrs. Slade and Mrs. Ainsley are expected to fill these roles, which explains the fake letter from Delphin that Mrs. Slade sends to Grace, just as Great-Aunt Harriet sent her.