Edith Wharton’s 1927 novel, Twilight Sleep, focuses on an upper class family in the 1920’s and their search for love, happiness, and peace in their hectic lives. Pauline Manford, the protagonist in the novel, fills her day with senseless activities to give her life a sense of purpose. She constantly seeks ways to avoid any conflicts in her life and attempts to find “easy” fixes to any issues that arise by monetary means. It seems as if she must constantly attempt to control everyone and everything in her life, from her Ex-Husband (Exhibit A) to the various Women's Conventions she speaks at (One advocating for the use of Birth Control and the other on Happy Motherhood). With this sense of control comes a sense of peace and happiness; her constant mission to avoid any form of pain.
Dexter, Pauline’s husband, is another character whom she attempts to control. Dexter is a lawyer and unfaithful to Pauline on many occasions. He is assumed to have some sort of secret relationship with his daughter-in-law, Lita, and another woman whom he knows from the golf course. When Pauline is unhappy with him for getting involved in a case regarding the Mahatma, she convinces him to drop the case because it could cause a scandal that affects one of their relatives.
Nona, Pauline’s daughter, is frustrated with the high expectations her mother holds for her. She sees her mother’s busy schedule, parties, and appointments with various spiritual self-help figures as unimportant. Throughout the novel, one observes Nona’s constant resistance toward marriage and problems arising from love. Pauline’s daughter-in-law, Lita, causes her many frustrations as she also does not seem to desire the same life that Pauline has.
In the novel, Lita is unhappy with her marriage to Pauline’s son, Jim, rarely is seen with her baby, and wishes to pursue a life as a dancer (which Dexter must help conceal once it is printed in the tabloids).
Late in the novel, Pauline takes her family to the countryside to try and make Lita see the beautiful life she has and to change her mind about leaving Jim. Ultimately, the unfortunate accidental injury of Nona triggers the family to stay together, giving Pauline the satisfaction of seemingly succeeding in keeping the family together after all.
The Story
Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton was born in 1862 in “Old New York”. This was a time when women were not expected to accomplish anything other than marriage. She struggled with this notion as she was born into old money and was held to certain standards. However, through her wit and creativity she accomplished many great things through her writing.
Over a span of 40 years, Wharton wrote over 40 books. In addition to these various works of Fiction and Non-fiction, Wharton designed a beautiful house now named, The Mount. According to Edithwharton.org, she bought the land for this house in 1901. She was thorough in her design of the home and its gardens. (This attention to detail is eerily similar to that of Pauline Manford). She is quoted to writing to her lover, “I am amazed at the success of my efforts. Decidedly, I’m a better landscape gardener than novelist, and this place, every line of which is my own work, far surpasses The House of Mirth…” She took much pride in this house and is clear that she put herself in every aspect of it.
It is also noted that Wharton took to trying to support the Allied Forces as much as possible during World War I (Edith Wharton and The Mount). She stayed in France and created many "charitable and humanitarian organizations" (Edith Wharton and The Mount). In addition, she was able to document many of the scenes of war due to her desire to understand what it was truly like at that time.
All images on this page are courtesy of edithwharton.org
Edith Wharton's Written Works
(edithwharton.org)