Wednesday, September 10, 2014
On "Souls Belated"
In 1-2 paragraphs, analyze what you think the text is about: what is the story a study of? How do you know (what textual evidence do you have)? What is Wharton's answer to the question (in your opinion), and how do you know (textual evidence)? There will be many comments on this post. You are free and welcome to reply and object to each other's opinions.
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107 comments:
I felt the text was about someone who kept fighting against society and eventually grew tired, gave up the fight and conformed to what society asked of her: to be with Gannett. The story is a study of whether an individual remains free, and independent if he/she gets married. The reader sees this study explored when Gannett and Lydia continuously hold each other back. For instance, Gannett mentions to Lydia how since they've been together he "...shall have to get at (his) work again some day" (211) because he hasn't "written a line since they had been together" (216). Lydia has been holding Gannett back by distracting him from his writing, which is evident because the author mentions "Gannett, before they met, had made himself known as a successful writer...Lydia interfered with the fulfillment of his promise" (213). However Gannett is also holding Lydia back by trying to marry her. Lydia tries to explain how "...if marriage is sacred in itself and the individual must always be sacrificed to the family-then there can be no real marriage between [them]" (213). Lydia loves her independence and marrying him will force her to sacrifice that. If marriage forces her to sacrifice her independence than she won't ever be free again. For that reason, I think Wharton's conclusion from this study is that an individual loses their freedom once they get married.
Awesome point, Jamie! However, I have a different take on the text. Throughout the reading, I noticed Lydia's persistent feeling of regret in every decision she made- whether it be leaving her husband, running off with Gannett, almost leaving Gannett, and even deciding to stay with Gannett. Lydia is unsure in every decision she makes, no matter how principled she plays herself up to be. By marrying Gannett, Lydia is not exactly losing her freedom, but is instead trying to make the decision that she will regret the least. It is apparent through the text's language that she cannot be sure of herself when making decisions, because she neither wants to be married nor wants to leave Gannett: "Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land (Wharton,)." By marrying Gannett, Lydia is trying attain peace of mind, because leaving him would only mean persistent regret and wonder of "what could have been."
The author was trying to convey through the text that sometimes, it is necessary to conform to social norms—but that is not necessarily a bad thing. After reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin, it is all too easy for us to maintain the mindset that marriage connotes slavery-like submission to ones spouse, and in a way, the author of Soul’s Belated does convey that in the beginning of the story with mention of Lydia’s failed marriage; however, when we look to the end of the story when Lydia runs back to Gannet and it is assumed they will be married, the author points out an important truth about love and marriage that we seem to overlook. Marriage cannot corrupt true love. The question of the hour is: if marrying someone you love makes you fall out of love, then were you ever truly in love with them in the first place? The answer is no. Lydia ran back to Gannett because she, for the first time, put complete trust in her love for Gannett and decided that their love was worth the risk because it was true. The author of the text points out the value of marriage—an abstract reward that goes beyond social advantages. When it came down to Lydia with one foot on the boat and the other on the dock, her body between staying with Gannett for love’s sake and leaving to maintain her social reputation, she stays because she is willing to risk it all for a married life with Gannett. Marriage is not enslavement; it is freedom. As Lydia explains on page 226 as evident through lines such as “I’ve behaved basely, abominably, since we came here: letting these people believe we were married—lying with every breath I drew—,” she has not been able to be her authentic self because of the lies she told them. Perhaps she was lying to herself too, saying that marriage was null and void because of her bad experience with it?
The title of Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” gives an insight as to what this story is about. Gannett and Lydia are two people who meet at ‘too late’ a time—an inopportune time—or so society deems. I believe that the text is asking if it is possible to find complete satisfaction with one’s identity in a society of many conventions—whether one decides to stay true to one’s principles or if one instead chooses to conform. The ideals of Lydia go against the expectations of society, and she finds herself realizing that, “whichever way she turned, an ironical implication confronted her: she had the exasperated sense of having walked into the trap of some stupid practical joke” (Wharton, 209). At first, Lydia and Gannett try to avoid society and its constraints by traveling…but this is an unrealistic plan.
Humans are social creatures not often willing to isolate themselves forever, and this becomes an issue in the story, because as a human Lydia wants to feel accepted. At the Hotel Bellosguardo, she realizes that what she wants and what she believes come to clash. Lydia asks a question of self-reflection, but also one that challenges the relationship between individual and society, “If we believed in [conventions], why did we break through them? And if we don’t believe in them, is it honest to take advantage of the protection they afford?” (Wharton, 213). We are all faced with the fact that while sticking to one’s ideals is admirable, it won’t necessarily bring happiness if it is not the popular opinion of society. On the other hand, conforming rewards one with a sense of security and belonging, but regret and shame come along with the abandoning of ideals. Through this and Lydia’s final decision I think Edith Wharton concludes that there is a natural human draw to both extreme options—completely conforming to society and completely abandoning the conventions of society. However, things aren’t so black and white and they probably cannot ever be. For things to be complicated in this case is only natural, firstly because of human weakness, and secondly because of the flaws of societal structure. Both options offer some gain, but also some loss.
I think that Claire makes a really interesting point regarding the title of Edith Wharton's Souls Belated, however i think that the title could also suggest an alternate way of thinking. In the beginning of the story, the audience sees Lydia as a strong and independent woman who is willing to defy social norms, but at the end of the story, Lydia is given the chance to fulfill her dreams and achieve the ultimate rebel against society and chooses to return to a life of marriage. I believe that through hardships, arguments, and difficulties, Lydia came to a revelation that her ideals were not very practical. So, the title, although may imply an inopportune time, could also suggest that Lydia found her soul and identity and true belief system later than expected.
I believe that the text is trying to inform the reader that we grow through difficulties and struggles and that instead of trying so hard to find happiness with an initial belief, learn from problems that arise and maybe adjust your beliefs. While staying in the hotel, Lydia "fancied it was for [Gannett's] sake that [she] insisted on staying...and perhaps just at first that really was the reason. But afterwards [she] wanted to stay [herself]" (Wharton, 226). Through her stay at the hotel, Lydia's perspective changed and realized that she loved the advantages of being thought of as married.
An important aspect that Soul’s Belated talks about is the struggle of being an individual in a very overpowering society and uses the validity of marriage to prove a point. Lydia has a strong belief that marriage symbolizes “the secret fear of each that the other may escape”(Wharton,212) and helps one work their way “gradually…into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality we[they] have always ridiculed and hated”(Wharton,212). When she was married, Lydia was tied down to a role of being a loyal wife, who completely supports her husband, takes care of the children, and plays the role of a housewife- “doing exactly the same thing every day at the same hour”(Wharton, 208) because the prudent, rich, society that she lived in “liked an even temperate”(Wharton, 207).This allowed her no room to be an individual or to make her own decisions which is why she detested that lifestyle so much. Gannet’s idea of marrying Lydia astounded her because she thought that a marriage was no “needed to consecrate our[their] love for each other”(Wharton,212). Lydia argues that being married automatically forces you to conform to that society. Even though Lydia did disagree with that statement, when being surrounded by stereotypical married couples at the Hotel Bellosguardo, she herself does the exact thing that she protests against: conforming to the society around her and pretending to be Mrs. Gannet. When Mrs. Cope, a person who was ostracized by society because she actually displayed her thoughts of not wanting to conform to society, wants to talk about marriage and divorce with Lydia, Lydia “did not want to talk to Mrs. Linton[Mrs. Cope]”(Wharton, 219), because she would be faced with the reality of her situation. One reason why Lydia may have had so much resentment for Mrs. Cope is because she may have been jealous at the fact that Mrs. Cope had the strength to not conform with society/ Eventually for Lydia, conforming to society was much easier than fighting for individuality. By the end of the story, when Lydia struggles to decide whether she wants to stay or leave Mr. Gannet, she chooses marrying Gannet which ultimately shows that she has given up on the thought of individuality and ends up conforming with society.
Does Lydia realize how similar Gannett is to her?Throughout the book, I found countless instances where Gannett's and Lydia's feelings and emotions were reflected off of one another. In the beginning of the book the writer explains that even though they were in love with each other, "they were sorry to be alone" (205) and on page 216, "his sudden impulse of activity so exactly coincided with her own wish to withdraw..." "... that she wondered if he too were not seeking sanctuary from intolerable problems." This makes me wonder what Lydia admired in herself and how she was willing to deal with someone whose reactions were, often times, similar to hers.
I also think the author of the text wanted Lydia to ask herself if she really analyzed her surroundings and how those surroundings affected her. Would Lydia have done what she did to Gannett at the end of the book if the same situation was presented to her at a different time/place? I think that she hated the prejudices of Tillotson's social society and Lady Susan at the hotel that she wanted to know more about them and be just like them. Something she never before wanted to be like, all of a sudden, was becoming her whole being and she made choices that would affect her-and Gannett, deeply-for the rest of her life.
The opinions of members of society shape the identity of any individual who exposes him or herself to them. We, as individuals, conform to popular culture in accordance to the variety of people and places in which we choose to surround ourselves with. The soul purpose of transforming our principles to satisfy the majority of society is constituted by the fact that all individuals feel the desire to be accepted. Potentially, individuals will do anything it takes in order to retain the social advantages that accompany being an avid citizen in society. In the opening of the text, Lydia makes it apparent that she has no intentions of marrying Gannett due to the fact that it is what society wants and expects. Lydia refuses to fall “into the esteem of people whose conventional morality [she has] always ridiculed and hated” (212).
The principle that Lydia set forth to refuse to conform to any kind of prejudice behavior proves to be more challenging than expected when she and Gannett arrive at the hotel. This hotel represents a society that Lydia was so desperately trying to escape from, but instead was pulled directly back into. She expresses her strong disapproval of marriage once again, but after receiving all of the positive attention and social advantages that accompany being married to a man of high status, she begins to have second thoughts. Through the character of Lydia, Edith Wharton expresses the effect that society possesses over an individual’s opinions and the rapid speed in which someone can reevaluate their morals based on societal benefits.
While Sarah makes some very interesting points, my stance on the motives for which Lydia decides to marry Gannett is completely opposite. I would say that Lydia chose to marry Gannett in order to be socially accepted. While on her own in the train, secluded from the outside’s society, Lydia shares and thinks about her opinions freely claiming that marriage is a “vulgar fraud upon society”(212) and expresses her disbelief of “the abstract ‘sacredness’ of marriage”(212). However, once she steps out of her secluded train ride and walks into the pressures of society at the hotel, Lydia simply tosses her opinions aside in order to conform to social expectations. During the unique situation in which Mrs. Cope reveals she is going through the same situations as Lydia, she shows no sign of empathy. Rather, Lydia mocks Mrs. Cope for thinking that she “might feel some pity for others who had been tempted in the same way”. Lydia, who was once so strong and confident in her opinions, denies whom and what she was involved with to impress other women of higher status such as Lady Susan. Thus, I believe that Wharton conveys the concept of being trapped by societal pressures as Lydia steps into the one concept she was most against in order to gain social advancements.
Electra, that is a really great point you made about the regret that Lydia is constantly feeling. I had never thought about Souls Belated in that way before but it makes complete sense. To add onto it, I think Lydia is focusing her decisions more on not losing than winning. In other words, Lydia is more afraid of regretting her decision than she is excited about making the right decision for her. She knows that she should leave Gannett, but she is too afraid that she will eventually regret i when it is too late. She has this “secret fear” (Wharton, 212) that leads to her lying and worrying and focusing all of her attention on how society is going to think of her if they were to find out she is not married anymore. Lydia even says “I’ve behaved basely, abominably, since we came here: letting these people believe we were married—lying with every breath I drew.” (Wharton, 226) The fact that Lydia knows and realizes that she thinks she has to lie to save her reputation shows that she is scared of making any move because she knows that if it is not right then it will ruin the way other people view her and she does not want to live with that regret.
Edith Wharton’s first scene in Souls Belated sets up the rest of the story perfectly. We know Gannett and Lydia are comfortable with each other, but this scene is awkward and right off the bat we see that Lydia is worried about whether she made the right decision about divorcing Tillotson and that she does not want to have to face the new decision of marrying Gannett. She keeps putting it off because she is afraid she is going to regret her decision either way. One theme in the book is that every time traveling is involved, so is the worry of regret. Mr. Nicholson brought this quote up in class today when Gannet says, “We can’t keep traveling forever.” What he means by this is that they are going to have to face their decisions and problems eventually. Running away from it like Lydia is may be a temporary fix, but it will never truly solve the problem and this is the point that Gannett is trying to get Lydia to understand.
The author Edith Wharton wrote the story Souls Belated in my opinion questioning the social pressures that both men and women faced in a wealthy society of 1899. Lydia is a woman who stands by the principles she believes in until they no longer benefit her. Lydia feels that marriages confines her as a human being and does not want to burden or put “Gannet in the trammels of her dependence…taking possession of his future.” (Wharton. 209) Not only are social pressures put on Lydia and her decisions but they are also placed on Gannet to “do the descent thing” because he “owed her something”(Wharton 209). Lydia depends on the foundation of her beliefs to keep her from conforming to the usual actions, and ideals of society, but when she desires the approval of the women at the hotel Lydia completely withdraws her principles for the social advantages that are a part of being a married woman. Lydia believes herself to be a certain way but acts in a completely different way showing that the “direction of the road” she thought she was on had changed.
The text focuses on how society forms personal identity. Personalities conform in accordance to different people in other social regions to avoid being isolated. Identity means everything to women of 1899, because the only way to get status requires marriage to an upper class man. Wharton depicts this idea well because Lydia thinks, acts, and feels that she is one thing, and then once she is exposed to another social environment, she becomes a different character. In front of Gannett, Lydia does not care about how others view her relationship with the man she leaves her husband for and does not want to remarry because she believes that marriage should not prove love you have for someone else. Her personality transforms from this focused woman who knows what she wants, to a self-conscious lady who is afraid of isolation from a high-status social region where divorce is not an option if the title wants to be maintained. Spending time with women at the hotel, she lies about being a divorcee and shuns Mrs. Linton, who is in her same position. Lydia does not want to be isolated by this group of women, so she lets society conform to her personal identity, changing her into someone she is not. I believe Lydia chose to marry Gannett due to social expectations. She wants to be independent, which she reveals to Gannett while on the train, but realizing the social advantages she receives by pretending to be married, she changes her mind about knowing what she wants from the beginning. She contradicts herself at the end of the story because she chooses to abide by social norms and marry Gannett, which she specifically said she would refuse to do because it would humiliate her.
After reading Souls Belated, I came to the conclusion that the story is a study of although we can break away from our society, we often fall back into conformity due to great social pressure and the feeling of rather being included in society and hate your role rather than being an outsider and living your life the way you chose. Lydia refers to marriage as a “vulgar fraud upon society” (Wharton, 212) and that marriage now lacks sacredness in her life because she is divorced. She goes onto explain that she has been ridiculed by women because of her divorce and that “I can stand being cut by them, but I couldn’t stand their coming to call and ask what I meant to do about visiting that unfortunate Mrs. So and so” (Wharton, 213). Lydia has expressed how apposed to marriage but as soon as she is within society at the hotel, she pretends that her and Gannett are married in order to fit in with social norms. This conformity is extreme and shows Lydia’s inner struggle to break from society with her own beliefs. Even at the conclusion of the story, Lydia comes close to finally escaping by train but instead stops herself and reconciles with Gannett, returning into society’s firm grasp. Wharton experiments with an individual overcoming the pressures of society. But, society plays too big of an influence on Lydia’s life; causing her to be trapped in a world she does not belong in.
I felt that Wharton was trying to convey the idea of self-conscious conflict within oneself. I feel that Lydia was trying to make a choice of either marrying Gannett and live a life of benefits or to go out on her own and find a way to live on her own. Lydia shows that she loves the social benefits by “the secret longing to work [her] way back gradually…into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality [she] has always ridiculed...” (Wharton, 212). But at the same time, she contradicts her inner wishes when she decides whether or not to board the steamboat to a new place. She “stopped before the ticket office” and “after buying her ticket, Lydia had stood for a moment looking out across the lake” (Wharton, 230). I inferred as a reader that Lydia was trying to make a decision on whether to stay with Gannett or go on her own. As she wastes time at the stop, I felt like she had that inner confliction going back and forth until the very last second possible.
Wharton does answer the question on what won the inner conflict. As she was “halfway down the short incline to the deck, she stopped again” (Wharton, 231). Here Wharton is trying to show that she was still trying to figure out what decision she is going to make. Then Wharton uses simple words to describe what Lydia had chosen, “she turned and ran back to the land” (Wharton, 231). Even though Wharton never fully uses “she choose”, using the actions of Lydia help to give a more powerful reason for her inner conflict and that making the decision was very hard for her.
Madison Dawn
Block A
9/11/14
Souls Belated
Wharton’s “Souls Belated” is a short story based on the confliction between social class and values. Lydia and her newly profound lover, Gannet are traveling the world. While Gannet and Lydia’s travels in Italy, the two stay at Hotel Bellosguardo. On the train to this hotel Gannet asks Lydia for her hand in marriage, but Lydia says it would be shameful to marry Gannet right after she divorced her husband, Tillotson. “Can’t you see how it would humiliate me? Don’t you see what a cheap compromise it is? We neither of us believe in the abstract “sacredness” of marriage; we both know that no ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other” (212, Wharton). Lydia explains how humiliating it would be to marry Gannet because she doesn’t need a huge ceremony to show everyone that they are in love. Lydia does not believe in having a title with Gannet because she has promised herself to be loyal to him. After Lydia asks Gannet to never bring up the topic of marriage again they go to there stay at Hotel Bellosguardo. As soon as they arrive at the hotel Lydia introduces herself as “Mrs. Gannet”. “The mere fact that in a moment or two she must take her place on the hotel register as Mrs. Gannet seemed to weaken the springs of her resistance” (214, Wharton). As soon as the two lovers arrived at the hotel, Lydia suddenly decided to change her mind about her relationship with Gannet.
In the time of “Souls Belated”, social class was extremely important in society and played a key determining factor of how important you were. During this time, it was looked at as strange to have a relationship with someone but not be married to them, especially for Lydia and Gannet. Although Lydia morally knew that she was not suit for a marriage with Gannet because she was not good at commitments. Putting aside all her moral values, Lydia changes her opinions in different social settings. Wharton’s “Souls Belated” focuses on social class vs. values. Lydia is struggling between her set of values and staying real to them or picking what makes society happy. Do people change their values depending on what social setting they are in?
I felt that Souls Belated meant to tell that a person’s ability to live in a structured society is based on how well the surrounding people enable that person to find their personal identity. Lydia’s thoughts of society reflected whom she had been living with. When she was with Tillotson, society looked tedious and dull. She had just “accepted it (her marriage) as a provisional compensation, -- she had made it “do” (Wharton 207) and thus did so with society as well. It seemed as though it contained her within a limited amount of room not allowing her to find her personal identity. She never thought about living in the society that was around her, for she “had mechanically accepted this point of view as inseparable from having a front pew in Church and a parterre box at the opera” (Wharton 208). It was all she knew so she never consciously realized or felt the society she lived. That changes when Gannette comes, “his coming made it appear like one of those dismal Cruikshank prints in which the people are all ugly and all engaged in occupations that are either vulgar or stupid” (Wharton 208). Gannette opens her eyes to the world she was living in. When Gannette and Lydia travel around to all different places, it was then that she took a step outside of the world that before she only knew and consciously thought about how she had been living. Little by little, Lydia slowly gains more and more of her personal identity. At Hotel Bellosguardo, Lydia is presented with a society similar to the one she lived in back when she was married to Tillotson. However, she is a different person from the time she left her old society till now. Through her travels and the divorce papers that “symbolically suspended over her head and his” on the train, she had come into a society similar to the one she had left with gained perspectives and realizations which is why she never had to just make life “do” there but instead found appreciation for it, “These people -- the very prototypes of the bores you took me away from, with the same fenced-in view of life, the same keep-off-the-grass morality—well I’ve clung to them” (Wharton 226). At the hotel she acts as a married women and consciously thinks about her life unlike when she was with Tillotson, “It was the one thing in life that I was sure I didn’t care about, and it’s grown so precious to me that I’ve stolen it because I couldn’t get it in any other way” (Wharton 226). When Lydia packs her things and attempts to leave Gannette, it is because of the fear of being scrutinized by the society she has come to love, however, the moment “she turned and ran back to the land” (Wharton 231) she finds her personal identity and realizes that her life with Gannette has allowed her to be present and lively in society instead of monotonously and unconsciously going through the motions.
The title of the text, Souls Belated, hints at the fact that both Gannett and Lydia are two souls late for something. It could even be hinting at the fact that they are missing something from their lives, that a part of them is empty. Primarily, the text is a study of the relationship between two individuals who aren't willing to legally make a lifetime commitment towards each other, but will pretend to be the happiest married couple when and where it benefits them. In the first few days of Gannet and Lydia's travels, "the freedom that released her from Tillotson and had given her to Gannett," (207) in the sense that she was happier being with Gannett than Tillotson, and she finally felt free. Lydia feels as if "she must, at all costs, clear herself in Gannett's eyes," (208) which could mean that because she is getting a Divorce, she feels inferior to other women in society. After explaining how much marrying Gannett would humiliate her as a woman, "sneaking back into a position [they've] voluntarily forfeited," (212) she retaliates and abandons her values when they arrive at a hotel due to all of the social advantages that come with being married. Throughout Lydia and Gannett's entire stay at the hotel, they are constantly and consistently referred to as a married couple, and neither Lydia nor Gannett bother to correct them.
Souls Belated deals with society’s predetermined definition of marriage as a sacred bond that also provides a level of security. This bond, however, is suppressing like a literal bond because it does not permit the freedom for the “complexity of human motives” (213). Lydia and Gannett come into conflict with society as they struggle to develop their own definition of marriage through their understanding that “no ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other” (212) just as a signed certificate cannot reveal their love. The main characters’ journey to define their relationship is strained under the pressure to elapse back into the tempting lifestyle of a traditional marriage with the combined “social advantages” (213). Although they do not want to live a life of “deception” (228), faking their acceptance of a code of a society that they do not believe in, they also do not want to become an outcast, in the example of Mrs. Cope who is isolated and ignored. Wharton delves into the difficulty of choosing freedom over advantages that are noticeably shown by how Lydia moves “waveringly” (231) between her choices, but ultimately chooses the uncomplicated conformity of traditional marriage.
The text suggests that Lydia yearns to be a member in society, to be accepted by those who have been already been “initiated” and given a status that causes them to mesh into society the way she desires to be. She believes what society thinks of her and takes that as her own thoughts and personal identity. When her and Gannett arrived at the hotel, everyone thought that they were a married couple, and although she didn’t like to be classified as a married woman or to be married in general, Lydia began to believe that she was married to Gannett. But it wasn’t because of true love that she believed this, it was because society had finally given her a title and a personal identity which she had yearned to have for so long. She felt herself be finally accepted by society but deep down, she knew that it interfered with her actual thoughts. For example, when Mrs. Cope asks Lydia to help her with her husband, Lydia rejects and tosses her aside. "Say you'll help me-you and your husband." Lydia tried to free herself. "What you ask is impossible; you must see that it is. No one could interfere in - in the way you ask." Mrs. Cope's clutch tightened. "You won't then? You won’t?” “Certainly not, Let me go, please (221).” Lydia refuses to help a woman who is in the same scenario she is in, and why she does this you may ask; because she now considers herself a part of society and excludes Mrs. Cope. Lydia had grappled with herself for so long to find her place in society and now that she has the title of a married woman, this gives her a sense of security because she feels that she had found her personal identity, but deep down, we know she dreams of something more than marriage, leading to an inner struggle between what she wants to be right and what she believes is right.
Marriage seems to be something that was not so much something done out of love, but out of societal pressures. Lydia and Gannett are supposed lovers, but I question whether or not Lydia used Gannett as a way of escaping from her old marriage. I think that the text is really keening in on the difficulties of escaping conformity as well as the difficult choices the individual faces because of societal pressures.
Lydia had an affair and has been asked for a divorce by her husband and she claims that she does not want to get married to Gannett but at the hotel her actions speak louder than her words. Wharton writes that “the mere fact that she must take her place on the hotel register as Mrs. Gannet seemed to weaken the springs of her resistance,” alluding to the fact that Lydia will give into society (Wharton, 214). Does Lydia really want to conform to society? When she is alone with Gannett on the train she does not want to get married— essentially she wants to keep “traveling” forever, and by traveling I almost mean running away from society, it’s conformities, and her marriage/divorce. While at the small hotel, Lydia falls back into the benefits of being married and she takes on the role of Gannett’s wife without hesitation. Does she really play Gannett’s wife for the benefits and to conform to the societal norm, or does she take on that role because things have gotten uncomfortable between her and her lover and as she states that marriage is used “to keep people away from each other” and that lovers can only “be saved from madness only by things that come between them (Wharton, 227). Lydia is stuck between leaving Gannett and staying true to her principles about society and it’s role in marriage or she stays with Gannett and gets married to appease society. I think Wharton is saying that when two people get married, there is an aspect of their love that dies, but I also believe that through the text, she is saying that sometimes, although one may want to be an individual and not conform to society, you need to conform for your own good. If Lydia had left Gannett where would she have gone? The text stated that “there was money enough,” but she couldn’t go home because she committed a major sin there and she would be an outcast (Wharton, 230). She was also a woman so she wouldn’t have really any job opportunities so the most rational decision for her was to conform to society and marry Gannett. When Lydia makes her decision and comes back to Gannett, the reader see that “as she approached the hotel she looked up furtively” which tells the reader that she feels guilty about her decision and she doesn’t want to acknowledge the fact that she went against her own principles and conformed to society (Wharton, 231). I think that Wharton may also be asking the reader that if we as individuals are forced to make important decisions about our lives based on societal rules (or even against), are we ever going to find true happiness or are we constantly just going to try and please society? In this text, it seems that Lydia’s choice was the most rational choice, but it was a forced choice, a choice that she was clearly not content with.
The importance of social status is an unspoken rule; no individual, even in the present day, wants to admit they care about what others think of them, but it is an inevitable part of human nature. Marriage can controversially fall into the category of “social advantages”, especially in 1899. Women in this time period were expected to be married, have children, and live a domestic life along with maintaining a respectable social position. In the beginning of the text, Lydia was completely against the idea of marrying Gannett because sociable and judgmental people did not surround her. Lydia exclaims her disinterest in the matter and how she believes it to be filled with “people whose conventional morality we have always ridiculed and hated (Wharton. 212).” But when she was put in an environment where she was susceptible to being criticized for not being married, she quickly slipped into the norm and pretended to be the wife of Gannett. At the end of the story, she dismisses her previous beliefs and marries Gannett, suspected to be the result of extreme social pressures. It was simple for Lydia to remain independent and not want to commit to a man again, but once she entered the social world, her beliefs quickly changed. Edith Wharton’s message of the text conveys a controversial point: does marriage favor social advantages over true love?
Wharton’s short story, Souls Belated, most prominently concerns societies ideal that marriage values social advantages over love. Through the eyes of the main character Lydia, Wharton expresses her opinion on the way women of the late 19th century should conduct themselves. Wharton seems to believe that it is more important for one to conform to society, than to strip oneself of social “chains” and swim free from the possible feeling of imprisonment due to marriage. Throughout this short story, the author vividly portrays the motif of travel. Lydia and Gannett are traveling away from societal norms, trying to avoid the question of marriage and the possibility of settling somewhere together. When the story opens up with the two uneasy “lovers” Lydia and Gannet, Lydia is a newly independent and modern woman who is against the orthodox way of life for women in the late 19th century. Now that she is officially divorced from her previous husband due to her affair with Gannett, the question of marriage to her new lover is now a possibility. Now Lydia does not have an excuse to not marry Gannet.
While at the Hotel, Lydia’s view of marriage begins to transform and she starts to question how she wants to live her life. She realizes that there are many social advantages that come along with marriage and her relationship with Gannett evolves into one that is not based off of love but off of the social benefits that come along with the title of marriage. In the end of the short story, Lydia decides to run back to Gannet proving Wharton’s idea that societal conformation should overrule individuality.
"Souls Belated" seeks to answer the inexplicable question of the study's time era: does the commitment of marriage infringe upon an individual's sense of independence/identity AND is one able to adapt to such environments without losing social favor. I believe that the author endeavors to show overall uncertainty through the character Lydia. Her answer, namely, shows that solutions in life are not as pre-determined or black and white as one may intend. Such an analysis can be drawn from the tension growing within the railway carriage that Lydia and her lover travel in. Travel is the primary illusion used in the text to symbolize the journey of life // or the process of getting from one sense of identity to the next. Lydia and Gannett both have "regret in [their] look. They were both sorry to be alone" (205). This regret and deep feeling of uncertainty hangs in the air like a thick cloud of smog as both characters reflect on how they got to this unintended point in their life. In her previous marriage, she longed for a life free of "punctuality...regularity...precautions...and a small circle of prejudices" (208). She felt relief from these social pressures in her affair with Gannett--however, that time in her life could be alluded to the fast moving train which was full when leaving Bologna. However, the train is slowing down, Milan is approaching, and she is now divorced, leaving the railway carriage empty. She cannot continue on with her unclassified relationship and she is regretful to be alone with Gannett. I believe that life cannot truly slow down and that the society of Lydia's time is unforgiving of her uncertainty. The author is trying to portray through the character's hesitation that, now that the surroundings which once made their choices for them (socially predetermined conventions) has been taken away from them, they are afraid of their own choices and free will--so much so that they would, evidently, rather half-heartedly conform to a predetermined set of social conventions than to live out their true identity and make choices for themselves that might not be socially beneficial.
I take a similar view to Electra and Claire on this text. Souls Belated examines the idea that society pressures us into making decisions we wouldn’t otherwise necessarily make, or we would not make them so hastily. Often down the road these hasty and unwanted decisions incite regret in us, particularly when we are confronted with another opportunity for a different, but conflicting, decision. We know from the very beginning of this text that both Lydia and Gannet were “sorry” and had “the same regret” (Wharton, 207). As the story unfolds the reader is better able to speculate as to why both lovers are filled with such regret. Upon examining the title we are given some key insight into that question: Souls Belated— two people, two souls, doing something late. Maybe the title refers to the fact that Gannet and Lydia met too late in life after she had already been pressured into marriage with another man—causing that deep regret. Or possibly it refers to the idea that both characters are beginning to understand the giant that society is—unopposable and unsubmissive: a fact they must eventually bow to. Even when Lydia so vehemently opposes the societal standards of marriage, love, and fidelity no matter what she does she will end up conforming to society; she has no choice. Either she sticks to her principles and is shunned—becoming a mere factor of society’s prejudice, perpetuating its ideals in practice—or she submits to societal standards and sacrifices her own principles. No matter what “whichever way she turn[s], an ironical implication confront[s] her: she [has] the exasperated sense of having walked into the trap of some stupid practical joke” (Wharton, 209). We know that eventually she gives into societal pressure: she chooses to act married at the hotel, and she chooses (we infer) to marry Gannet. But this conformity and surrender of self is not without cost. Lydia comments that she had “behaved basely, abominably, since [they] came [to the hotel]: letting these people believe [they] were married—lying with every breath [she] drew” (Wharton, 212). We can sense a tone of overwhelming regret and resentment in her reflections on conformity, and once again decisions she is pressured into making by societal standards end up causing her deep remorse.
Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” was written in 1899--a time in American history when divorces started becoming an option for most couples.Though there were divorces at the time, the majority of society refrained from discussing them and even condemned them. Wharton disregarded society’s disapproval of divorce and wrote “Souls Belated” with Lydia, a woman in the midst of a divorce and a love affair, as the protagonist.
“Souls Belated”, Wharton’s controversial story, was intended to study the opposition of Lydia and Garnett’s love and society’s strict conventions that hinder personal freedom and identity. Lydia and Garnett’s affair in their conventional society made their life “impossible”(230), thus being the reason why Lydia almost left Garnett. She saw no other option. As Lydia learned, if she wants to love Garnett and maintain that “noyade of passion”(230) then she has to accede to society, something she obviously does not want to do. Not only does Lydia learn that society has a firm grip on love, but she also makes the reader realize that the corrupt rules of society force an individual to choose between: abiding by the conventions--social confinements-- and conforming to maintain love or accepting that he or she is an outcast in society. Lydia’s almost departure on the boat can be perceived as her accepting that she is an outsider who refuses to follow the norm, but since she returned to Garnett she fell to the feet of social conventions.
I completely agree with Sara’s main idea and from that I saw that society acts as some sort of a bungee cord because it always pulls you back in after a while of suspension. Lydia parallels this as she leaves the society that everyone around her is conformed to, and goes into one that she has formed by herself with her own ideals and beliefs. Marriage is a large part of the society that she wants no part in as she believes it as a “cheap compromise”, it is “abstract[ly] sacred”, and it is a “Vulgar fraud upon society” (Wharton, 212). Lydia tries in many attempts to stray away from the firm hold of a marriage that “[she] voluntarily forfeited” (Wharton, 212) from, but in the end she is ultimately pulled right back into the constraints of it no matter how hard she tries to escape it, which is shown through her hesitancy to board the ship without a doubt.
Wharton is posing a question on whether someone can really detach themselves from their past and away from conformity, but focusing on Lydia’s mercurial attitude, the author portrays that her ultimate break from conformity is merely temporary. Just like a bungee cord, the lures of social acceptance, and it’s accepted conventions are what pulls Lydia back. There is always that one thing in the past that latches and reels a person back into reality. I saw this story as a struggle of personal identity from whether Lydia could prove that she was someone with her own opinion and could execute whatever she wanted outside social norms, and in addition, I felt Wharton emphasized quite a bit on the idea about self and social acceptance and whether an individuals outlook on their way of life matches the societies ideals.
In the short story of Souls Belated, author Edith Wharton focuses on how society develops and forms the personal decisions and actions of people. Although during the late 1890’s it was important to maintain social standards and expectations, Lydia’s life and “direction of the road had changed” (Wharton 205) when she left her husband to start a new life with her lover, Gannett. By not abiding with conventional expectations, such as marrying and staying with one man in a higher class, her actions were highly criticized and were not expected from a woman during that time. After Lydia leaves her town to be with Gannet she knows that she cannot stay unmarried because according to social standards she is “leading a life of sin” (Wharton 212) by not having a man to support and provide for her. At first, Lydia only wanted to run away and not be married to Gannet, but Lydia knows that her community expects her to make the socially acceptable choice of deciding between getting married to Gannett or leaving Gannet and returning to her husband. As Lydia slowly begins to conform to the ideals of society, she confirms her place as one of society instead of as an individual when she decides to get off the boat and return to Gannett. From the beginning of the short story, Lydia’s principals were unclear and impassionate and at the end of the story Lydia completely changes her thoughts and actions due to the knowledge of how her society will respond and react to her doings.
Edith Wharton used Soul’s Belated to explain how women did not have any other option to contribute to society other than to get married. There weren’t occupations for women and marriage was basically their job. Even after Lydia came to understand the sham of marriage in her society, she still returns to Gannett because there wasn’t anything she knew she could do — she was never on her own. Lydia most likely got married young, and was used to being dependent on her husband for things such as fortunes and living accommodations. Even during her affair with Gannett, she was never alone because they traveled everywhere together.
Marriage was just something Lydia did. She exceeded an expectation of her society and it wasn’t until she met Gannett did Lydia realize what was lacking from her marriage: the love, the passion. “If she had never regarded her marriage as a full canceling of her claims upon life, she has at least accepted it as a provisional compensation — she has made it ‘do’” (207). Tillostson was boring: he does everything he is supposed to do, he was "a model son who had never given his parents an hour’s anxiety” (208). In Lydia’s relationship with Gannet, a writer (how intriguing), there was excitement, there was passion, there was love — and it was even more alluring because it was against the social marriage norm. But then she was getting divorced and there was a man that loved her and wanted very badly to marry her and Lydia refused because she did not believe that marriage was necessary to validate love.
In Edith Wharton’s short story, Souls Belated, Wharton developed a story around the study of Marriage and Relationships and their direct connection with social benefits. Souls Belated’s main character, Lydia, is a modern individual, in the traditional late 1800’s. Lydia appeared to want her freedom, despite the negative social repercussions, but as the story progressed, she realized her need of acceptance. Lydia was not open to the idea or remarriage until she was influenced by her surroundings. When Gannet and she got to the hotel, they were considered a married couple, and here they both recognized the social advantages that come with marriage. This scene is very important to Wharton’s question of marriage over love and the individual vs. Society. It shows how society benefits and accepts the people who have a “normal” relationship. While Lydia was alone on the train, she stood by her opinions, but once she experienced married life again, she knew that she appreciated the social advantages that come with marriage. This text is a clear example of how corrupt many relationships are, and how society values the social advantages of marriage, rather than the love between two people.
The author of the text “Souls Belated” by Edith Wharton, gave me an understanding of the way a woman in 1899 is against society. Although Lydia is on a train alone with Gannet, the man she has been having an affair with and having her husband, is still bewildered when she receives her divorce paper because she did not know that she what have an actual feeling of lose inside of her. I believe that Wharton is trying to show the way Lydia is trying to survive in an unmarried relationship without being judged because in this society that’s what they expect couples to do if they are in love. Lydia and Gannet love each other but she does not think that there is a need to get married because she says, “ But now this vulgar fraud against society and upon society we despised and laughed at this sneaking back into a position that we’ve voluntarily fortified: don’t you see what a cheap compromise it is? We neither of us believe in the abstract “sacredness” of marriage; we both know that no ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other.” (Wharton, 212) Lydia is stating that she does not need to be married to make her feel happy because she knows that she will always be faithful to Gannet. Her independence has made her stronger in a way that she does not be a wife in order to fit in society.
Edith Wharton, the author of “Souls Belated”, uses the story of a newly divorced woman of the late 19th century who runs away with her lover whom she has been having an affair with to illustrate her own option on the validness and truth of marriage. The main character Lydia is traveling Italy as a newly independent, and single woman with her lover, Gannett, as she has conflicts and struggles with her own personal identity and an alien feeling of complete freedom to chose who she loves. Wharton uses the social insecurity of Lydia concerning her romantic status to expose that the marriage values social advantages over love. Lydia foolishly thinks that her love for Gannett if enough for their relationship and opposes the idea of remarriage and that she will be able to abandon the social norms of the time period. She exclaims during an argument with Gannett that she will not fall, “into the esteem of people whose conventional morality [she has] always ridiculed and hated” (212). This is a brave statement for a woman of the late 1800s, who were supposed to act and behave in a way that upheld strict social norms for behaving and presenting ones self to others. In contrast to her persistent, liberal opinions and thoughts, Lydia does exactly what she had ridiculed in the past, she returns to Gannett and presumably marries him, solely for the social advantages of matrimony. Lydia “turned and ran back to the land” (231) and also runs back to the comfort and safely of the social advantages she has known all her life.
The main purpose of the text is to study the principles we decide to follow and our ability to follow through with them. I think that Lydia is caught up in this idea of rebellion in which she does not conform to any of society's norms, but she does not actually wholeheartedly believe in the principles she claims to stand by. She is so repulsed by the idea of marriage when Gannett first brings it up, she says that they should not do it because they would be conforming to "a society [they] despised and laughed at" and that "no ceremony is needed to consecrate [their] love" (Wharton, 212). However, as soon as she is back in the environment of the society she claims to despise, she falls right back into it. She does "her best to please" (Wharton, 226) the women at the hotel in order to be accepted by them. Her desire to be accepted by them is indicative of the fallacy of her non-conformist principles. And she claims that they do not need the ceremony of marriage to solidify their relationship, but if the title is so unimportant, then theoretically it should not matter whether they have title of "married" or not. So they might as well get married and avoid the social disadvantages. Her reasoning for not getting married as all abstract; it's all about sticking to the non-conformist image she has created for herself. But she fails to uphold this persona, yet she remains stubborn about marriage. There must be a deeper meaning as to why she is so afraid of marriage, other than not wanting to conform to a society she claims to despise, since her actions prove that she does not actually despise it. Throughout the story, Lydia cannot be tied down to anything or anyone. She is unable to be tied down to her husband, then she is unable to be tied down to her principles, then she is unable to be tied down to Gannett. She develops a set of non-conformist principles she wants to follow but is unable to follow through.
Edith Wharton’s Souls Belated, written in the late 19th century, ventures the societal norms of that particular time period by comparing and contrasting the values and principles of the main character, Lydia, to her counterpart, or may I say counterparts, the women and their views on marriage in 1899. The title of this work, Souls Belated, basically means finding the soul later than expected and that is exactly what I think this piece is about. As the story progresses, the readers see a transformation in Lydia’s beliefs. Lydia embodies, at the beginning of the story, Edna Pontellier-like values of not conforming to society with marriage, and wanting to be independent, free of relationship labels, ready to rebel against the society she “despised and laughed at” (212). But at the end of the story, she realizes that these ideals and practices that she constantly preaches to Gannett, her lover, are impractical because she has determined what she wants in life, which are the social advantages of marriage, the silver spoon of adulthood in the late 19th century. She loved it, “the very prototypes of the bores you took me away from, with the same fenced-in view of life- I’ve [she] clung to them” (226). Throughout her stay at Hotel Bellosguardo she realizes through Lady Susan’s treatment of her, and Mrs. Cope, that she enjoys the social advantages of being married and withholding her rebellious beliefs on marriage is not worth the social isolation and persecution that Mrs. Cope went through. This decision didn’t come easy to Lydia, however, she had to battle her own conscience and heart till the last possible moment, in which she decided to conform to the societal norms. Even though some people might view Lydia as weak for this decision, I find her strong in the fact that she even thought of going against society but through the process of finding herself, made the decision for herself and Gannett only and no one else.
I think “Souls Belated” is about societal pressures interfering with a very personal aspect of life: marriage. “Souls Belated” questions the validity of marriage because Lydia has an affair while she is married, gets divorced, and then debates the choice of marrying her lover or not. She realizes that marriage is “to keep people away from each other,” (227). This notion is the exact opposite of what most people would think; many would say that marriage brings people together. Marriage is meant to be a union, not a separation. Thus, when the author writes a character like Lydia who is so conflicted over marrying the one she loves, I think Wharton answers the question of the validity of marriage to say that marriage is a necessity of society and is not required of two people who are in love. Lydia tells Gannet, “we both know that no ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other,” (212). While alone on the train away from society with Gannett, Lydia clearly expresses her principles against marriage, but she completely contradicts her principles in practice at the hotel. She checks in as Gannett’s wife and they act as if they are married because they are no longer away from society and traveling. They are in a fixed society where it is unacceptable to deny marriage. At the hotel, the couple sees that staying an unmarried couple just “won’t do,” (227). Lydia says to Gannett after stating her desire not to marry, “If I’d known you as a girl—that would have been a real marriage!” (212). Children are free from the pressures of society, so this statement displays how marriage is impacted by society—how as an adult, marriage may be forced because of the expectations of society.
In this story it’s easy to focus on the impact social pressures have on individuals. Lydia is a recently divorced woman who moves away to a hotel with Gannett and claims herself married to him. In the 19th century it’s difficult for a divorced woman to be socially accepted into society. She tries so hard to not fall into the norms of society, but she fails to keep her morals and principles once she realizes the social advantages of being married. At first she completely disagrees with the idea of marriage with Gannett, because “no ceremony is needed to consecrate their love” (212). However, she slowly pushes this idea away once she begins to assimilate into this society “for social advantages, to subscribe to a creed that ignores the complexity of human motives” (213). Lydia has a new mindset that what society thinks of her is her personal identity, which brings confliction within herself to whether or not she’ll leave Gannett. The idea of being married is longer ignored, because as Lydia says, “the women who talk about the indissolubility of marriage…would let me die in a gutter today” (212). She let the social expectations and judgments take over her personal identity. When she has the option to leave this life and society Lydia couldn’t overcome society’s expectations and she decided to stay with Gannett. Lydia returns to Gannett conveying how much power society has over shaping individuals real principles. It’s just our human nature to care what others think of us.
In “Souls Belated,” written by Edith Wharton in 1899, the author questions why individuals/participants in society conform to popular culture no matter how much the popular beliefs of a society differs from an individual's own. This is displayed particularly through the character of Lydia, a newly divorced woman who is travelling the world with her lover, Gannett. During their travels, the two seek shelter at a hotel in Bologna and find themselves enclosed and deeply involved in the mini-society this hotel possesses. However, the duo pose as a married couple in order for their appearance within this society not to be stained and for their true identities not to be exposed. Wharton probably chose to write this short story to examine how marriage and divorce affects the way people of society during the 19th century criticized and labeled divorcees verses married human beings. This is made evident by comparing and contrasting the ways in which Lydia was viewed by her peers, who were under the wrong impression that Lydia was Mrs. Gannett, versus the way the character of Mrs. Cope was viewed by the same group of women, who knew that Mrs. Cope was undergoing a divorce with her husband while on vacation with another man (or at least Lady Susan knew this). This clique of women did not possess the same degree of respect for Mrs. Cope as they did for Lydia who was in the same scenario as Mrs. Cope. Lydia was gleefully accepted and respected by the group of women unlike Mrs. Cope. Wharton answers the question of whether individuals of society conform to popular culture when Lydia was influenced by the mini-society within her hotel which moved her to act and fit in in a certain way. In “Souls Belated” it is made clear that Wharton seeks to prove that popular culture does in fact affect one’s belief system because it is in the nature of human beings to want to feel accepted by their peers. This is truly solidified when Mrs. Cope threatens to spill their secret by asking Lydia, “Shall you go and tell Lady Susan Condit that there’s a pair of us--or shall I save you the trouble of enlightening her?” After being welcomed into this happy society of supposed wealthy married couples, Lydia fears to be shunned and become an outcast if this information is revealed because it is in her nature to want to feel accepted by others and escape from her problems.
That is a very good analysis, Jamie. However, I completely disagree. I think the story is about the difficulty of breaking away from an established role in society, even if one’s principles are against that role. Refusing to marry Gannett was just Lydia’s way of trying to take on a different role, but she is clearly conflicted because she realizes how terrifying and unnatural it was to take part in a different role in society, even though she clearly explained that she was against marrying Gannett. Upon further reflection, Lydia admits to herself and to Gannett how she really feels as she explains that she has become attached to her role. She comments “It was the one thing in life I was sure I didn’t care about, and it’s grown so precious to me that I’ve stolen it because I couldn’t get it any other way” (p.226). With this evidence, Wharton conveys to her readers that even if we are internally and mentally against our role in life, we cannot break away from it because we have developed a certain amount of pride in what we do. Lydia clearly takes pride in her status as a wealthy married couple as she fails to deny that she is married to Gannett at the hotel. Therefore, Wharton did not write a story about the lack of independence after marriage; rather, she used marriage as an example of Lydia’s role in society that she could not break away from. Being married is something Lydia is familiar with, which helps explain why it is so difficult to play a different role in life. Wharton communicates that people very often cannot try new roles because their former role is what they are comfortable with. When Gannett admits that he is ready to tell everyone they are not married because he does not like lying, Lydia becomes terrified as “the words shook her like a tempest” (p. 226). Even though she constantly says that she cannot marry Gannett, inside she feels that she really has no other option, because to not marrying Gannett means taking on a new role, which in reality is not a realistic option for Lydia since, like any other human being, finding a new place in society is incredibly difficult and frightening. I think this is what the text is truly about.
In my opinion, the story of Souls Belated questions the meaning of freedom through marriage as a median. When Lydia was married to her husband, she was physically trapped in a marriage, while her mind is free to love others. The text implied that Lydia and Gannett were traveling together before her divorce paper comes, as it was “brought up to her in an innocent looking envelope with the rest of their letters, as they were living the hotel at Bologna (207)”. However when she is divorced, and physically free to love and be with other men, Lydia is still trapped in a psychological sense, suggested when the word Divorce “arrested her (207). And she falls into this dilemma of whether to hold her own principles of staying a “free” woman who is not bounded by marriage, while this kind of stubbornness is not freeing her from anything, or get married as most women do, which she think will separate them apart and is a form of “deception”. And I personally think that it is very interesting to question whether Lydia gains more freedom through being just Gannett’s lover or his legal wife.
A way to achieve real freedom does not include sticking with all the principles you believed in the very beginning, because we are human and we have emotions, we grow and manipulate our thoughts through experience. Lydia later “ran back to the land (231)” and “looked up furtively (231)” as she decided to comeback for Gannett, and this does not sound like a forced or regretful decision, since she is excited because she has finally made a choice between her set of believes and a man who she loves. Lydia is liberated psychologically from her dilemma as she has mentioned, Gannett really became “the instrument of her liberation (209)”
Souls Belated, by Edith Wharton, focuses on society's possession over an individual and its ability to completely change their personal identity. In 1899, identity and appearances meant everything to women, because they were constantly viewed as property of men. In order to make a name for herself, a woman were to marry a man belonging to the upper class. Edith Wharton illustrates this very well by creating large contrasts between Lydia's different personalities around different people. When with her lover, Gannet, Lydia embodies a free spirit-like attitude by pretending to not care about other people's beliefs about her relationship with Gannett and her belief on marriage that you do not need do not need to prove your love for someone else through marriage. Throughout the story, Lydia's personal identity undergoes many changes all depending on the people she is surrounded by. Lydia's personal identity is most dramatically altered when she is with the women at the hotel because she does not want to be isolated from them. Personally, I believe Lydia's marriage to Gannett was all apart of her desire to please society and its expectations of women.
Edith Wharton, the author of the short story “Souls Belated”, investigates how societal views can affect one’s actions. During 1899, when this story was written, women were expected follow these ideals of being a perfect wife, mother, friend, etc. Lydia struggles to separate her personal identity and beliefs from society’s principles. Towards the beginning of the story we learn that Lydia has just been delivered divorce papers and “the direction of the road had changed” (Wharton, 205), meaning she was about to start her new life filled with liberties she so badly desired. Lydia “knew what would be said” (Wharton, 209), yet society’s opinions did not faze her. As the book continues, Lydia becomes more and more concerned about how others perceive her and she slowly starts to reject her original values. “The ladies' eyebrows would emphasize the worthlessness of such enforced fidelity; and after all, they would be right” (Wharton, 209). Lydia is reminded of “the small circle of prejudices…[and] the kind of society in which…the ladies compared…while the husbands…lamented municipal corruption” (Wharton, 208) when she and Gannett settle down into a hotel that has it’s own society similar to the Tillotson’s society. She becomes more susceptible to the idea of being labeled as Mrs. Gannett because of the social benefits she reaps. Freedom was important to her when she was alone with Gannett on the train; she even got offended when Gannett suggests marriage to her, but as soon as they are in the public’s eyes Lydia succumbs to the pressure to fit in and be accept. “The mere fact that…she must take her place on the hotel register as Mrs. Gannett seemed to weaken the springs of her resistance” (Wharton, 214). It is assumed that Lydia eventually surrenders completely to societies principles, leaving behind her dreams of freedom to marry Gannett, proving that societal views can affect one’s actions.
According to Madeline Lewis, Lydia from “Souls Belated” marries Gannett because it is her way of being accepted back into society. Lewis points out that while Lydia is secluded on the train and not under the pressure of society she tells her true opinions about society and their harsh judgments but once she steps out of the train she keeps it all inside in order to hide her secret and “conform to social empathy.” I agree how Edith Wharton, author of “Souls Belated”, shows the response to society’s pressure and influence that sparks from the judgments. The response from people in today’s society is still the same as it was then. Many people change themselves to avoid judgment from the majority of society. Lewis agrees that Wharton displays the large amounts of pressure on people, in this context it is of women’s affairs and marriage, very well. Wharton includes both the women’s views of a lot of pressure and the men’s more permissive view on the situations because society doesn’t judge men as harshly as women.
I think Edith Wharton's "Souls Belated" tells a story about how society can impact your way of thinking and completely stop you from transitioning into your own independent self. Lydia depends very much on herself and doesn't try to follow the rules of society in the beginning of the book. She's married, but she is having an affair with a man named Gannett. Going against society in this manner made her feel free and without worry. However, when she gets divorce papers from her husband, she is forced to make the decision of marrying Gannett or not. Gannett wants to marry because its the traditional thing to do, however, Lydia isn't a traditional type of person. She likes to defy the rules and think for herself. When they reach the hotel, they are surrounded by all sorts of different people who cause a lot of drama that they have been traveling away from this whole time. They hang around there so much that Lydia's way of thinking by the end of the book was completely changed. "Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land (Wharton,)." Lydia ends up marrying Gannett and going along with all the rules and traditions of society, as if it had finally overpowered her.
According to Kylie Yates, “Souls Belated” mostly concerns itself with the idea that people weren’t married for love but for the social status it gave them. She writes that through out the short story Lydia’s view on marriage slowly starts to change and she’s not sure weather or not she should marry Gannet or how to even take on this new chapter in her life. “Wharton seems to believe that it is more important for one to conform to society, than to strip oneself of social “chains” and swim free from the possible feeling of imprisonment due to marriage.” In other words Wharton believes that being pressured into the ways of society and what society sees as “right” and “okay” is more important than to be yourself and be your own individual even if society looks down upon you. I agree with the fact that Wharton feels this way about it. She constantly has Lydia second-guessing herself and being torn between wanting to be herself and wanting to be married but not have to deal with the pressure of society. I agree with Kylie’s response. I feel as though Wharton does indeed make it clear that she feels like fitting in with society is more important then being your own individual.
Electra Williams makes the point that in Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated,” Lydia is always feeling regret in her decisions, and is trying to make her decisions based on what she would regret the least. Williams points out that it is not so much about Lydia’s freedom she is losing, as opposed to the regret she would feel by each decision.
Williams makes a good point; however, I would consider freedom a main factor in her decision-making. Not getting married to Gannet is Lydia’s form of independence of not falling into the pressure of society. As Lydia says, “but now this vulgar fraud upon society – and upon society we despised and laughed at – this sneaking back into position that we’ve voluntarily forfeited” (Wharton, 212). By staying with Gannet and marrying him, she is giving up on what she voluntarily did, which was finally go against society and not do the things that make her accepted. She doesn’t want to fall into the trap of being accepted into the “vulgar fraud” of society again and have to care about fitting in again. So it’s not that she would be losing her independence to Gannet, she would be losing her independence to society.
According to Mary Laurence, Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” deals with marriage and the traditional aspect of it, but also the security and safety it brings. Laurence states, “Wharton delves into the difficulty of choosing freedom over advantages that are noticeably shown by how Lydia moves ‘waveringly’ (231) between her choices, but ultimately chooses the uncomplicated conformity of traditional marriage” (Laurence). In other words, throughout the short story we see Lydia realize that without marriage she essentially cannot be a part of the society and, if she chooses not to conform to what they view as acceptable, she will be looked down upon. I agree with Laurence because I noticed that marriage is the major conflict that Lydia struggles with throughout “Souls Belated”. I think that Lydia did not want to marry Gannett at first because she wanted to make a statement. Lydia wanted to throw this in society's face and show them that marriage should not be essential to love. But we see Lydia open her eyes and see the big picture. Although Lydia wants to not care what people think, she really does. Throughout history we have seen people disagree with and want to change the world. But in my opinion it doesn't matter how passionate you are about something, unless the world is ready for a change, nothing is going to happen. I think Lydia realizes that even though she does not believe in this there is nothing she can do at this very moment. If she marries Gannett, although unhappy with conforming, she will be safe from the disappointment and embarrassment society would create for her. Overall Lydia accepts her situation and the world’s values even though she sees things in a very different way.
According to Danielle Azari, Edith Wharton uses her short story, “Souls Belated” to show the significance of having certain titles in society. Specifically, marriage is a title of great importance between a man and a woman. Because of the circumstances of Gannet and Lydia’s relationship, the morally acceptable thing to do is to get married, then they would be initiated into society. By someone accepting a title, it gives someone a role into society. Azari concludes her claim with the idea that Wharton leads Lydia to contemplate about “an inner struggle between what she wants to be and what she believes is right.” In other words, Lydia is not able to do what she wants to do—travel, live a life of continuous freedom, and marry out of pure love instead of demand—because she has to do what society feels is acceptable. I agree with Azari’s claim, and I support the idea that it is not just the title of marriage that is important, but simply titles in general. For example, Lord Trevenna has to go in disguise about his affair because of his high title as a Lord. Because of his stature, this gives Lydia the perception that what she is doing with Gannet is completely different, than what Lord Trevenna is doing with Ms. Cope. This also shows how when Ms. Cope does marry Lord Trevenna, than she would be the wife of a Lord, making their affair more justifiable to society. This concludes, that marriage might be the most significant title in society because it gives women the title of their husbands, which is much more desirable than one of a single woman. Wharton has come to this understanding, and even though marrying Gannet goes against every thing that Lydia believes in, she still decides to marry him. Lydia claims that marriage “classifies people by arbitrary signs,” (213) and that one only marries in society for “social advantages, to subscribe to a creed that ignores the complexity of human motives.” (213) This shows that marriage is not for love in Lydia and Gannet’s society during this time period, so marriage is simply a title. This is more than a reasonable message for Wharton to be trying to send to her audience, due to the significance of titles throughout “Souls Belated.”
According to Kristina Mercolino, the point of Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” was to question the true love and compassion between Gannett and Lydia, but similarly compares the topic of conforming to traditional marital deeds, in a feministic viewpoint. Although Lydia specifically adds that she does not want to abide to “all sorts of invisible threads,” she ends her journey of adventure by following the conventional roads of a typical woman marrying after divorcing her husband (Wharton 213). I agree with Mercolino’s position because of her idea that society rules over love, which causes Lydia to face with the greatest opposition of her life – marrying Gannett because of the “secret fear” that a divorced woman and single man cannot be in a relationship, without being frowned upon society. This also touches on the topic that women during the late 19th century silently judged women who were taking part in love affairs without the traditional and formal concept of marriage (Gannett also mentions that Lydia and him should marry and live in a quiet villa away from society, so that they “shouldn’t be bothered”). Based on the reading, the questioning of the ideas of opposing marriage and the inability to find one’s identity are evidently clear (Wharton 212) (Wharton 211).
According to Jenna Tran, Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” was about “the struggle of being an individual in a very overpowering society and uses the validity of marriage to prove a point” (Tran). The author discusses how Lydia was dissatisfied with her married life and that marriage gave her no freedom to make her own decisions. Tran claims that Lydia is indeed jealous of Mrs. Cope because she was able to withstand the society’s power and not conform to the social norms. I completely agree with the author. Though society did not purposefully create marriage to prove its control over people, everyone made it that. Lydia feels trapped so she runs away with Gannet, leaving married life behind in hopes to start anew where she could lead her own life and make her own decisions. That is why when Gannet is insistent on getting married she says no. Lydia just ran away from married life and why would she want to go back? She and Gannett love each other and Lydia does not understand why they need to get married. Is the fact that they love each other not enough? Lydia asks “if marriage is sacred in itself and the individual must always be sacrificed to the family-then there can be no real marriage between [them]" (213). She is jealous of Mrs. Cope because in the end, Lydia gives up that fight with society and stays with Gannett.
Kristina made a great point saying that Lydia saw no other option than to almost leave Gannett. However, I found that by Lydia leaving, she understood that the people in her society would eventually find out that she left Gannett, making it seem as if she actually divorced him, just as she did Tillotson. I do think that she did have another option: to marry Gannett. I think Lydia was too overwhelmed by not only Gannett's proposal of love and marriage, but also by the high-class people—her friends—at the hotel. In all honesty, I think Lydia is still trying to figure out who she is, but it was so difficult to do so in the hotel, so when she leaves, I don't think she is just leaving Gannett, but she is also leaving a way of life that she no longer wants to live by. I think that maybe she has grown out of that previous way of life. I do wonder, though, why she stayed with Gannett if he brought her to a place that was so similar to the life she lived when she was married to Tillotson.
While I agree with Madison Dawn’s good claim about Lydia’s views changing, I disagree that it revolves around Lydia’s view of Gannett as her lover due to the new mini-society the couple has entered. I think the only thing truly changing within their relationship since they arrived at Hotel Bellosguardo would be the way the couple presents itself to others. Lydia and Gannett lie and leave their peers under the wrong impression that the two are a married couple. So while I do agree with Madison that when the duo arrived at the hotel their relationship was altered in some way, I do not believe that the reasoning behind it was just because they were traveling and walked through the hotel doors. It seems to be a bit deeper in meaning than that as to why Lydia changed her views on Gannett during this portion of the short story. I believe this mainly has something to do with Lydia striving and liking to be accepted by her peers within the mini-society, especially, when Miss Pinset claims, “Lady Susan is so difficult--so very difficult--about new people. One might say she disapproves of them beforehand, on principle,” (Wharton, 216). In my opinion this seems to make evident that newcomers should be fearful of being accepted within the clique due to Lady Susan’s strict policies and harsh opinion. Thus, Lydia fears that if her secret gets out about her actually being a divorcee, that she will not be accepted. Therefore, the text does not really focus on Lydia putting aside moral values but more of Lydia conforming to the society she was taking part in during that time throughout the short story, “Souls Belated” to impress her peers and be welcomed into the society with a polished reputation.
Electra Williams makes a unique point about Lydia that changed my outlook on the story, although I disagree with her opinion. Lydia does not regret any of the decisions she makes. She does not regret leaving her husband because she already had the mindset for leaving him in the first place—She feels trapped by the upper class society that she lived in with Tillotson and thinks that “He had embodied all of her reasons for leaving him (Wharton, 207).” She simply wants to get away from the repetitive life she had with Tillotson. Lydia does not rue running off with Gannett because spending time with him was the reason she left her husband—because she felt free. The couple only had tension after the divorce papers were revealed because it made them feel awkward. Being on vacation together, having to deal with divorce papers is quite unexpected for the both of them. Lydia does not make any further decisions out of regret, rather she does not want to feel isolated and wants to maintain the social benefits she receives from going along with social expectations. As humans, we do not want to feel isolated, and Lydia is a great example of a person whose personality conforms to the social environment she is in to avoid being excluded. Lydia marries Gannett because marriage is a social norm. Leaving her husband is looked down upon; therefore marrying Gannett gives her social advantages and helps her avoid being rejected by others.
I agree with what Katie Krappman’s post on how society affects Lydia, but I disagree with the statement that it affects Lydia’s decisions. Society heavily influences Lydia and through that, she learns about herself and how she fits into society and how she thinks others fit into society. When she and Gannet were on the train, “he and she were alone, (Wharton, 207)” and there were no expectations of society, and she stated how neither of them, “believe in the abstract ‘sacredness’ of marriage, (Wharton, 212)” and how they laughed at society. When Lydia is away from society she looks down upon the expectations of society, but when she enters society again her point of view quickly changes. Lydia enjoys the benefits of society when she pretends to be Mrs. Gannett instead of following her beliefs from the train. This shows how Lydia can easily be swayed based on her environment and she demonstrates that when she rejects Mrs. Cope who is in the same position she is in. This shows who she is and how her society is shaping her and not only affects her decisions but illustrates who she is as a person. Her final decision to stay with Gannett and marry him despite not wanting to shows that, in the end, she wanted to fit into society and reap the benefits of it.
I support Bryce Bakewell’s claims that, “is it not just the title of marriage that is important, but simply titles in general.” Lydia knows that the best way for her to live is to be an unmarried woman free to think her thoughts, but she seems to only do this in her own seclusion. When she is surrounded by other people, she takes on a different persona and gives into the pressures of having titles in society. Lydia wants to be socially accepted into society because she wants to find who she is, but her soul searching is compromised by society. She feels that she needs a label in order to justify her place in society, which causes her to abandon Mrs. Cope, who happens to be in the same situation as her. But because the women in the hotel have given her this label as Gannett’s wife, she follows convention and slowly begins to believe that she is married to Gannett. “Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land (231).” No matter how much Lydia wanted to believe in her true thoughts and leave, she forced herself to come back into society and think what others force her to think because she enjoys this acceptance. She feels that she can relax and finally be at peace with herself, but she knows that she never will be because society pressured her to think this way, and she forcefully adhered to it. Hence, bringing up the unresolved self-conflict she has been facing for the longest time.
I agree with Maria’s point she makes about the how Lydia is finally indulged in a relationship in which she feels actual passion with Gannet, however, I feel that Wharton was expressing much more about the social aspect of their relationship. While Lydia is married to Tillotson, she does not feel accustomed to the outward expression of “prejudices” (208) that the upper class tends to convey. I think that the reason she refuses to marry Gannett is her attempt to stray away from social convention and break free from everything that the higher society expects of them to do. While I do think that Wharton is using the character of Lydia as an expression that women have no other contribution to society than who she chooses to marry, I think that she wants the readers to focus more on the fact that she completely alters her morals and principles once she realizes the positive social advantages that accompany marriage. On the train to the hotel, Lydia makes it very clear that she does not have any intention to marry Gannett, even though she loves him, she does not believe that “a ceremony is needed to concrete [their] love for each other” (212). After arriving at the hotel, she is shown attention from many of the other residents and discovers that she really likes the benefits that come along with being married to a writer; so as a result, she transforms her whole belief system to conform to the social norms of society. I think the fact that Lydia alters her opinions based on her attraction to the compliments she receives, is the point that Edith Wharton wants readers to recognize.
I agree with Ella’s paragraph in that Lydia falls into social pressure of acting as a married woman solely for social benefits, but I do not think that her principles of not wanting to marry again are foolish. Lydia is persistent in her ideals until they are no longer beneficial to her, so I do not believe that she is with Gannet for comfort but rather for security that will keep her informed and a part of a society she wishes to be ushered into. Ella also makes a good point in reporting that Lydia is a brave woman for saying that she will not marry but when she eventually conforms to the pressure society has put on her relationship with her lover Gannet, their relationship becomes one solely of social benefits.
I agree on one major point that Nicolette Harutunian makes in her post. I agree with her in that Wharton might be trying to examine how divorcees and married couples get labeled in society. However I feel that Wharton is trying to examine the inner thoughts and conflictions that Lydia has as a divorced woman deciding between either freedom or marriage to Gannett that includes a life of luxuries. Wharton displays the importance of Lydia’s choices and actions from the beginning to the end. Lydia goes back and forth with herself and even Gannett sees it in her when he analyzes “the fear of unwillingly involving Gannett [himself] in the trammels of her dependence” (Wharton 209). Wharton uses Gannett as another view to see that Lydia is still conflicted in her decisions. Wharton uses his thoughts as a way to show that Lydia has not made a decision and has not even proven to like one option more than another. Also, Lydia herself proves this in the middle and end of the book when she simply thinks about “the secret longing to work [her] way back gradually…into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality [she] has always ridiculed...” (Wharton, 212). Lydia is now leaning toward the side of staying with Gannett and living a life of social benefits and luxuries. However, at the very end of the story, she goes back and forth with herself until the last possible second while she boards the boat. She was “halfway down the short incline to the deck, she stopped again”, then she “turned and ran back to the land” (Wharton, 231). At the end, Wharton answers the pending question throughout the short story; whether Lydia chooses a life of her own or a life with Gannett, and as she “ran back to the land”, it was clear to see that she chose a life of extravagant profit over a life of freedom for herself.
Katrina makes a good point when she recognizes the reflections of emotions between Lydia's and Gannett. However, I interpreted the short story in a different light and saw the reflection other each other in more of a negative sense than being in love with hone another. In the short story, Souls Belated, Wharton discusses the social expectations and strain that Lydia feels from her society leading her conform to her society’s ideals, but from the beginning, neither Lydia nor Gannett was 100 percent willing to leave all they had known. Lydia and Gannet come into the story with good intentions, as they recognize, “the direction of the road had changed” (Wharton 205), but instantly as they are traveling together on the train they begin to question their personal motives as Lydia “caught the same regret in his look”, as both were “both sorry to be alone” (Wharton 205). Both people in this relationship are feeling uncomfortable and regretful about the decision they had made, and if their intentions were strong and passionate from the beginning, the two lovers would not have allowed society to conform them. Lydia's actions and intentions do not match up, as her main purpose was to be with Gannett and break away from society, but untimely is forced back into the community’s way of life, when she abandons all sense of personal identity and goals for the the ideas of her community.
I understand Jamie’s point of view, but I disagree with the interpretation of Wharton’s conclusion. The story focuses more on the theme of individual vs. society. Her refusal towards marriage conveyed her real principles and idea. However, she’ll never be socially accepted with those types of beliefs. This is the confliction with herself that is seen throughout the story. She cannot isolate herself from this society, because of the “social advantages, to subscribe to a creed that ignores the complexity for human motives” (213). Lydia is terrified to set herself for constant judgment and rejection from society, as she says, “who would let [her] die in a gutter today because I am ‘leading a life of sin’”(212). The confliction represented in Lydia’s values expresses the difficulty of being accepted into a society that isn’t ready to change.
According to Electra Williams, Lydia is not sure of herself when making decisions, she neither wants to be married nor wants to leave Gannett. By marrying Gannett, Lydia is trying attaining peace of mind, because leaving him would only mean persistent and regretting. Lydia is being struggle of being an individual in a very overpowering society. Lydia believes that marriage symbolizes “the sacred fear of each that the other may escape” (Wharton, 212). When she was married, she plays the role of being a loyal wife, who takes care of the children, be a housewife, and supports her husband. Living in a prudent society made her have no room to make her own decisions, which is why she detested her current lifestyle so much. “Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land (Wharton 212).” This means Lydia is unsure in every decision she makes; she is hesitating and struggle. She has persistent feeling in whether leaving her husband, staying with Gannett, or running off with Gannett. I agree with Electra’s ideas, by marrying Gannett, Lydia is trying to make the decisions that she was regret before. Being married atomically forces Lydia to conform to the society. By the end of the story, Lydia chooses marrying Gannett, shows that she has give up on the thought of individual and begin conforming to society.
Sarah Hankins makes a good point about how “if marrying someone you love makes you fall out of love, then were you ever truly in love with them in the first place”, but I disagree that Lydia supposedly runs back to Gannett because she truly loves him. I believe that Lydia runs back to Gannett because she feels guilty for leading him on. Wharton says, “even had his love lessened, he was bound to her now by a hundred ties of pity and self-reproach, and she, poor child, must turn back to him as Latude returned to his cell” (Wharton, 229). Lydia feels imprisoned by her marriage with Gannett, but she knows she will regret abandoning him. She knows she will lose her social gains if she leaves him, and will repent distracting Gannett from his writing career; "Gannett, before they met, had made himself known as a successful writer...Lydia interfered with the fulfillment of his promise" (Wharton, 213). In conclusion, I believe that Lydia felt compelled to return to Gannett out of pity and regret.
I think the story at its core is really about the struggles and complexities of marriages, and I think it attempts to ask if marriage even matters at all. Taking into account the historical context of the story, this would have been quite the controversial statement, but it's definitely a question that I think needs to be asked. Lydia has a complicated romantic life, skipping from marriage to affair to divorce to relationship one after the other. She is opposed to marriage and even takes it as an insult when Gannett proposes to her on the train, saying "but I don't want to marry you!...This is sneaking back into a position that we've voluntarily forfeited: don't you see what a cheap compromise it is? We neither of us believe in the abstract 'sacredness' of marriage." (Wharton 212) Wharton makes an important point through Lydia's speech: why is marriage even 'sacred' at all? Who do people get married for, if not each other? Later, this question is answered when Lydia pretends to be Mrs. Gannett at the hotel. It is apparent that marriage, at this point, is nothing more than a sham used for the benefits society gives to married people. It's so easy for her to pretend to be married to him, which shows how little marriage really means to her. Then, at the end, she runs away, but comes back to marry him anyways. She's so easily able to run back and forth between her decision - something she wouldn't do if marriage actually meant anything. Therefore, Wharton is studying the significance of marriage through Lydia- and it's easy to come to the conclusion that it doesn't mean much at all.
I think that the text is intended as a reflection of people's' tendencies to contradict their own beliefs and to lie about who they are in order to fit into societal norms. In the beginning of the story, Lydia feels very strongly about her opinion on how she dislikes marriage and others who have forfeited to it , but as she enters the hotel she instantly becomes a married person and she enjoys the advantages she receives from it. In her conversation with Mrs. Pinsent, Lydia intentionally agreed with her quick judgement on Mrs. Linton because of her marital status and her praise for Mrs. Susan, even though she previously “despised and laughed at (212)” the society she is experiencing. By doing this she eventually discovers that pretending to be someone else can never truly conceal who you actually are. When Lydia responds to Mrs. Cope’s need for help with dismissal, Mrs. Cope threatens to reveal that Lydia is not married to Gannet. I think that the author created this situation of Lydia’s failure to mask her beliefs to show that lying about your personal identity won’t change who you really are.
Alex writes that “Marriage seems to be something that was not so much something done out of love, but out of societal pressures” (Donner). She also claims that Lydia is stuck between leaving Gannett and keeping true to her own beliefs or conforming to societal pressures by marrying Gannett. While I do believe that she makes a good point, I do not believe those are her options. “There was money enough,” but she couldn’t go home because she committed a major sin there and she would be an outcast (Wharton, 230) In other words, the quote implies only that she couldn’t go home because of the sin. It does not state that she had to choose between marrying Gannett or sticking to her beliefs and leaving him. Up until the last paragraph of the story, I believed that Gannett and Lydia would’ve eventually gotten married but not because of society but because they themselves had made that decision out of love for each other. Then she got off the boat and Gannett “mechanically, without knowing what he did” (Wharton 231) At this point, he definitely subconsciously feels like he needs to marry her. However, the story finishes there so we don’t know how she feels. Also, Alex claims “that when two people get married, there is an aspect of their love that dies, but I also believe that through the text, she is saying that sometimes, although one may want to be an individual and not conform to society, you need to conform for your own good” (Donner). I agree with her thinking. It seems as though Wharton had some bad experience in her life that makes her believe that once you are married you are basically done. All of the love that once was there is completely gone and you are left with a boring, formal love that is only there because of claim on a piece of paper.
I think that Julia Martin made a lot of good points, however I disagree with the part about Lydia becoming someone who she is not when she begins conforming to society by doing and saying things to impress and please the women at the hotel. She admits to Gannett that society “was the one thing in life that [she] was sure [she] didn’t care about, and it’s grown so precious to [her] that [she’s] stolen it because [she] couldn’t get it any other way” (Wharton, 226). The non-conformist that Lydia thinks she is in the beginning of the story is not who she really is. If it were, she would never deign to associate with those women, much less work as hard as she did to please them, because they represent everything that she claimed to despise. So I disagree on the point that she becomes someone who she is not when she falls back into society at the hotel, because I think that is when her true self comes out. She is someone who actually cares deeply about society; the whole non-conformist thing was an act to cover for her fear of marriage.
While Sarah Hankins makes some great points in her initial post, I have to disagree: I don’t think Lydia “ran back” to Gannett because she realized how in love they were or how happy she could be with him. I think she goes back to him because she realizes the societal benefits she is granted when she has a husband. Women accept her into their circles and she is seen as a “proper” woman. Sarah is right in the assumption that they will be married, but I don’t think the way Wharton portrays Lydia’s return suggests that they are doing it for love, even if they are still as in love as they were in the beginning- or that they will even be happy at all. Lydia doesn't run away to have social face, as it would be, she runs away to avoid having to make a decision about a relationship she isn't sure she is ready to make. In the last line of the story, as Gannett sees Lydia returning from the dock, he begins looking up trains to Paris “mechanically” and “without knowing what he did.” (Wharton 231) He isn’t ecstatic, or joyful, or anything. In fact, he doesn’t seem remotely relieved or emotional at all as he begins mechanically making preparations for their wedding. I think Gannett knows that Lydia is doing this more for the benefits rather than their love, because Lydia is very vocal about not wanting to be married in the beginning, but then withdraws and reverts back into “marriage mode” after experiencing the treatment she received as a married woman in the hotel. There’s not doubt that she does love him, however I do not think her actions are based out of love, and I don’t think that she necessarily loves him the way she used to when they began their affair. Lydia says to Gannet that “marriage is…to keep people away from each other” (Wharton 227) and goes on to say “sometimes I think that two people who love each other can be saved from madness only by the things that come between them…we’ve been too close together- that has been our sin.” (Wharton 227) She knows that the only way to save each other is to get married, to experience that societal benefit, but she also recognizes that they will never be the same as when they were first in love. So, to answer Sarah’s question of the hour, I’d actually have to say yes.
While I respect Sarah Hankins’ view of marriage and its value to Lydia in Souls Belated, I disagree with her claim that Lydia decided not to leave Gannett due to love and that she is actually escaping society’s pressures by staying with Gannet. I concluded after reading the text that the end result of the story was in fact the complete opposite. From the beginning of the story, Lydia refers to marriage as “a vulgar fraud upon society” (Wharton, 212) and that marriage would “spoil everything” between her and Gannet (Wharton, 212). She makes these claims while alone with Gannet. It is only when Lydia is back in society that she begins to pretend she is married to Gannet, in order to conform to social norms and be included amongst women in her social class. She even goes on to explain that she has “enjoyed being with those people” (Wharton, 227) while playing a charade with Gannet. Once Lydia obtains the courage to finally leave her life of lies, she is again reminded of the consequences that will follow in society and she regretfully decides not to leave after all. This action was not out of love for Gannet, but to merely return to a society where she is accepted as Mrs. Gannet. Marriage is enslavement, but it will guarantee a respectable place in society.
As Sarah Hankins said, I do believe that Wharton was trying to convey to the reader that “it is necessary to conform to social norms” and I agree with her point of saying that it “is not necessarily a bad thing" (Hankins). But I do disagree with her when she claims that when Lydia decided not to get on the boat, it was because “she, for the first time, put complete trust in her love for Gannett and decided their love was worth the risk because it was true” (Hankins). I can see where that idea can be found in the text and it is quite an interesting idea but I have to disagree. I do not think that Lydia ran back to Gannett out of love. Rather, I believe Lydia chose to stay with Gannett out of rational contemplation. Gannett makes a good point when he says “there was money enough but she asked so much of life…No now would understand her—no one would pity her,” which, to me, shows that Lydia would not do so well on her own (Wharton, 230). I believe that Lydia decided to stay with Gannett out of selfishness. I believe she stayed with him so she could get the marital benefits and because she knew she would be “OK”. Because she was a women she would not have equal job opportunities (if any), and making a life for herself would be a challenge. I don’t think she was up for the challenge of independence and individualism, therefore she conformed to society because as Jenna said, “conforming to society was much easier than fighting for individuality” (Tran).
Although I find the points that Madeline is making to be valid, I do not agree completely with her assertion that the choice Lydia made to marry Gannett for purely for social acceptance. Although I would agree that there are social advantages to being married and for a time, both Lydia and Gannett enjoyed those advantages in their "married" guise, I would have to restate my previous point that in the moment of truth at the docks on the night Lydia was planning to leave, it was love--not social advantages or reputation--that made her stay. The entire reason that Lydia decided that she would leave Gannett was because she was afraid that once the people at the hotel found out that they were lying, she would be ostracized, her reputation ruined. In this moment, it was actually her speculating leaving Gannett that would have provided the social advantage--not her staying! Lydia stays with Gannett out of true love and puts that love to the risk of marriage because despite the fact that she had one failed marriage, she still found value in marriage and had unadulterated confidence in her love. In addition, saying that Lydia simply "tossed her ideas aside" to fit the social norm in the hotel is making a grave assumption that she has remained the same the whole way through the story. People learn and change--maybe Lydia changed her opinions and is still loyal to what she now believes is right, which so happens to be the social norm? It is an option worth considering.
In a response to Sarah Burrola, who also made a very interesting claim, I would have to agree with her point about love: one does not have to be married to be in love. However, I do not believe that the author is trying to dispute the validity of marriage, but rather the preconceived idea that marriage is always enslaving. It very well can be if you marry the wrong person--but the fundamental idea of marriage is that you do marry the right person, and in that union, you are freed from the burden of being two separate beings.
Great point Alyssa! I see where you are right, but there's some things I'm confused on. For instance, you said that we, like Edna, can be "internally and mentally against our role in life" but then you go on to say that we develop "pride in what we do". What do you think? Is Edna against her role, or is she proud of it? Also you talk about how she refuses to marry Gannett to take on a "new" role but then later on "she is clearly conflicted because she realizes how terrifying and unnatural" it is to take on a new role for the first time. However, I don't see how "taking on a new role" is new to her. She's getting divorced, something really controversial for that time, so I would think experiencing a new role is something she's been familiar with. In conclusion, great job, I really like your ideas, I'm just wondering which evidence you're using. For example where does it say "inside she feels that she really has no other option"?
According to Riley Benjamin, “Souls Bleated” is about “how society can impact your way of thinking and completely stop you from transitioning into your own independent self,” (Benjamin). I agree that society definitely impacts the individual. While on the train with only Gannett, Lydia states that she is against marriage, but as soon as she is thrust into a society at the hotel, she completely goes against her own principles. I disagree with Riley’s statement that “they hang around there [the hotel] so much that Lydia's way of thinking by the end of the book was completely changed,” (Benjamin). She pretends to be married to Gannett; however, just because she contradicts herself in practice, does not mean her thoughts or principles have changed. Even after her experience at the hotel and realizing that she actually enjoys the people and the society (226-227), Lydia still refuses to marry Gannett. She thinks marriage will just cause more complications and would only help her leaving Gannett in the end (228). “Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land,” (231). What makes Lydia come back to Gannett and presumably marry him is not that society has changed her principles, but it’s that society has pressured her to ignore her principles. She sees that “it won’t do,” (227). It won’t work for her to remain unmarried to Gannett in society. She is forced to conform to society, but not, however, to change her beliefs. “The rules and traditions of society,” do “overpower” (Benjamin) Lydia, but through changing her actions and not her thoughts.
Although I do agree with Electra Williams about the fact that Lydia has a “persistent feeling of regret"(Williams) in some of her decisions, I do not believe that she had a feeling of regret when she left Tilloston. The text points out that “Tillston meant to divorce her, but what did it matter?”(Wharton, 207). Lydia “was free…(she had begun to be aware) that freedom had released her from Tillotson”(Wharton, 207). She thought Tilloston and her way of life when married to Tilloston “embodied all her reasons for leaving him”(Wharton, 207). In fact, she didn’t have much regret about the divorce but more of a feeling of relief because she would no longer have to abide to the social norms and roles that she was tied down to when being married. Where she does face some type of regret is when she realizes “that she had left her husband only to be with Gannett”(Wharton, 208-209). She should not and does not have any regret in leaving her husband because “her husband…had virtually thrown her at Gannett”(Wharton, 209). I think Lydia’s main conflict of regret, which Electra points out, is when she’s deciding whether she wants to say and be married with Gannet, or leave him along with gaining individual freedom
In response to those who addressed me, all of your points showed me aspects from the text that I did not deeply consider before. Clare, I agree with you 100% about the observation hat Lydia seeks to act in order to avoid regret, and not primarily for her own happiness or principles. We see this in the way she is originally against marriage, but eventually decides to marry Gannett. She goes against her own principles in order to avoid regret, because that is what she fears the most.
Similarly, Laura was making a paralleled point. Whether or not regret is the most prominent characteristic of Lydia and her behavior, we can both agree that she goes against herself in order to comply with society’s norms. By then going against her own personal way of doing things, she obtains an overwhelming feeling of regret.
To address Camille’s point, freedom surely plays a big role in the story. However, the regret that Lydia experiences works against her freedom. While Lydia strives to keep her sense of freedom and make decisions for herself regarding her marriage, regret always seems to work against her. After every “free choice” she makes, she is followed by an aura of regret. So while Lydia’s sense of freedom is vital to her decision-making process, the possibility of regret ends up dictating every decision she makes.
While you make a valid point that Lydia acts in order to be happy and obtain social benefits, Julia, I cannot seem to shake the feeling that regret is an omnipresent motif of the story. Certainly she appears to be married to Gannett in order to get more benefits, and she might even stay with Gannett in order to make herself happy, but we cannot ignore that she questions every decision she makes. A primary instance of this is when she is about to leave Gannett, and actually ends up staying with him. The fact that she had to question her own motives highlights her constant feelings of regret.
Iris makes some well-put arguments about Lydia wanting to marry Gannett. It is recognizable to assert that Lydia is simply conforming to society by marrying Gannett, but I believe that there is a deeper meaning to her decisions. She decides to marry Gannett in order to avoid the regret of leaving yet another man. If Gannett wants to marry in order to be happier, then so it is. However, Lydia’s main motives for marrying Gannett are for personal happiness. Lydia’s happiness can only be maintained if she can have confidence in her decisions and principles, and not have to regret her actions.
I think the text suggests that Lydia is trying to break free from someone who is tied down by marriage by escaping from the society, instead of that she “yearns to be a member in society”. It is ironic since that Lydia registered as Mrs. Gannett at the hotel, yet does not want to marry him. This shows Lydia’s dilemma. It is obvious that Lydia loved Gannett, as she said, “It was her love for Gannett that had made life with Tillotson so poor and incomplete a business (207).” So, being with Gannett was not a social pressure, and what made it seem like she was forced is the idea of marriage. Lydia was not forced to love Gannett; however, she just want to keep this relationship aside from marriage because she considers it as a “sacrifice of the individual to the family (213).” In which, the family is the society. Lydia’s idea of the keeping her relationship is a way of escaping as it was symbolized by the idea of traveling, Lydia’s refusal to settle at a place with Gannett showed that she wanted to leave behind the society she was in and keep on traveling so that there is no time for Gannett and her to really settle down and discuss about their marriage seriously.
There have been several people in this blog, including myself, who have referenced the idea of Lydia not wanting to ‘conform’ to society, or submit to it; this is apparently why she does not want to marry Gannett. However, upon closer examination of the text, I’ve come to the opinion that in fact nonconformity is a mere veil, a scapegoat, for the real reason she does not want to get married: she is afraid. On the train with Lydia at the beginning of the story, Gannett mentions marriage to her and references her divorce papers as the thing that allowed them “to be free” (Wharton, 214)---implying that her marriage and conformity imprisoned them under social stigma. But if you look at Lydia’s response, we know that she did not feel imprisoned by the social marital structure but in fact that she “was free before” (Wharton, 214). And referencing comments of regret that Electra and some other bloggers have made: that is why she regrets her decisions, because she ruined her marriage, fell out of love, and is now fearful of repeating the same mistakes.
While Anita Ayala’s point proves to be true when saying “Lydia’s independence has made her stronger”, I believe it is false to assume that “she does not need to be a wife in order to fit in society” as seen in the hotel and at the end of the text. Lydia puts on an unnecessary charade at the hotel when she pretends to be Mrs. Gannett. All motives behind this lie directly with societal acceptance. Lydia is not concerned with being “faithful to Gannet” rather she is more concerned with the image she portrays. When at last she decides to marry Gannet, it is for purposes that solely benefit her social status. She is elated with the fact that she “gossiped with Miss Pinsent”(226) and “toadied Lady Susan”(226), subsequently this pushes Lydia towards marriage. Gannet fails in persuading Lydia to get married, but the social benefits and acceptance she feels pushes her into that “vulgar fraud upon society”(212).
“Souls Belated” is obviously a very complex text. Wharton conveys multiples aspects as well as multiple views. For this reason, the meaning of the text can be interpreted in different ways, and these different analyses could all be potentially right. In Bryce Bakewell’s analysis, she points out that “by someone accepting a title, it gives someone a role into society.” I think this a valid point. A title helps develop personal identity and gives men and women some type of purpose. However, I think that one does not necessarily need a title to have a role in society; we all have a role in society in some way, whether we have a title or not. Rather, I contest that a title is simply a part of the role that one plays. With this, I also think Lydia’s struggle was not whether she should conform to society; I think she actually struggled to decide whether she was ready to take on a new role in society. In the end, she stays within her role because marrying Gannett means staying in the comfortable range she has become accustomed to and that has “grown so precious to [her]” (p. 226), while leaving Gannett means entering a new, daunting role in society, one that potentially will not change the amount of freedom that she has because she knows that throughout her former marriage “[she] was free before” (212). I also like Electra’s analysis because I agree that Lydia was always full of regret. When she makes her final decision, she is presumably regretful because even though she stayed within her role in society, she in a way takes on a new role since she is now a divorced woman moving to get married for the second time. I think she is always full of regret because she chose to slightly alter her role in society the minute she decided to leave Tillotson.
The novel, Souls Belated takes place during the late 1800’s when the conception of marriage was seen as a covenant between a man and a woman in society. The story focuses on Lydia Tillotson who falls into a dilemma because she has fallen in love with a man named, Gannett while still being married to another man. Her affair, however, does not bother her at the least, but it is the idea of promising devotion to one another through a ceremony. The study of the novel is based around Lydia’s detesting perception of marriage, as she consistently addresses about it to the readers and Gannett, who wishes to marry her. This can be seen throughout the novel as she refers to marriage either as a “cheap comprise (Wharton, 208)”, “rehabilitation of such a marriage (Wharton, 209)”, and “a real disgrace (Wharton, 209.)” The author, Edith Wharton utilized a time period in American history when people at type of adherence to the norms of society. This can be depicted in the opening part, on page 208 when Lydia describes the boring, dull, and conventional society she lives in where the wife would tend to the children’s needs and sow, while the husband would just smoke, talk, and work.
While I agree with what Ana said about always thinking that they were eventually going to get married, I don’t think that their decision to get married was completely out of love for each other. Someone “mechanically looking up trains” that will take them to the place that they will be married is not a way to describe someone who is acting joyously out of love. The action is mechanical because, like so many others in their society, Lydia and Gannett are succumbing to the pressures to get married. In Souls Belated, Edith Wharton asks the question: “Can a person with even the strongest moral values withstand the pressures of society to maintain the status quo?” Her question is brought about in the story as Lydia faces her conflicted feelings on marrying Gannett. She holds strong beliefs on what the trajectory of her relationship should be, and it doesn’t include marriage because she doesn’t believe in the sanctity of it. She says that if they were to get married it would be as if they were “sneaking back into a position that we’ve voluntarily forfeited” (5). However, her strong conviction that they must sacrifice their conventions for freedom do not withstand their stay at the Hotel Bellosguardo, where they are thrown back into society, and she finds herself lying to the people that make up the microcosm by saying she is married to Gannett. Though her values are in question here, she hasn’t completely compromised them until she decides to marry Gannett instead of setting off on her own, answering Wharton’s question.
According to Katrina Caley in Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” Lydia and Gannett are similar characters but she also questions Lydia’s personal identity. Caley specifically questions the thoughts of Lydia and whether she understood the effects her society had on her life. By living in the society where she is consistently judge it had affected her judgment later with Gannett. Caley concludes that, “Something she [Lydia] never before wanted to be like [common woman in society]… was becoming her whole being and she made choices that would affect her—and Gannett—deeply for the rest of her life.” In other words Lydia ends up conforming to society even though she loathed it from the start. To respond to Caley’s original question—“Does Lydia realize how similar Gannett is to her?”—I agree with you on the fact that they [Lydia and Gannett] have similar attributes, I think that they have different futures visualized in mind. Edith Wharton represented Lydia as a women longing for freedom and although Caley may see a comparison in Gannett and Lydia, I see more of a resemblance between Mrs. Cope and Lydia. Mrs. Cope and Lydia are technically in similar situations but Lydia believes she is too good to even be involved in society, “You're too good to be mixed up in my affairs, are you? Why, you little fool, the first day I laid eyes on you I saw that you and I were both in the same box that's the reason I spoke to you (Wharton, 224).” Although Caley’s analysis of the ending of the story is reasonable we don’t literally see Lydia conforming to society, the final pages are rather there to pose hypotheticals. Wharton had created the ending as a cliffhanger for the audience by saying, “and mechanically, without knowing what he did, he began looking out the trains to Paris (Wharton, 231).” In a way the two characters are reflecting each other because they are choosing to both take different but better paths. Lydia allows herself to finally conform to in a sense mirror the emotions Gannett feels.
Yaqi Zhang writes her opinions for the story “Souls Belated,” which she claims questions the meaning of freedom through marriage. According to Zhang’s writing, the story describes Lydia’s different struggles before and after her divorce; Lydia was "physically trapped" in a marriage and wants the freedom to love others. However, after Lydia is divorced and physically free, she is still trapped in a psychological sense because she thinks marriage will separate them apart just like her previous marriage did. Zhang also states that Lydia is liberated psychologically after she decides to go back to Gannett. I agree with Zhang’s analysis to this story.
“Souls Belated” discusses the relationship between Lydia’s idea about marriage and freedom. Lydia was totally lost on her way to find true freedom; what she did to Gannett showed her misunderstanding about marriage. She thought marriage would make them fall apart just like the previous experience happened to her. Lydia was standing against to the whole society’s view. Similar things happen in The Awakening: Edna was also the woman who was seeking freedom, but she didn’t struggle between marriage and freedom. Edna didn’t have to hide her love for Robert, while Lydia and Gannett have to either hide theirs or marry.
I completely agree with Electra! In the beginning of the text, Edith Wharton uses the adverb “regretfully”. Though it is not used in the context of Lydia’s larger life choices, it still presented the idea of regret right away. Lydia didn’t understand the social consequences of leaving her husband. If she had known how her ending her marriage would affect her social status, she probably wouldn’t have done it in the first place. Camille made a good point that Lydia considered freedom to be the main factor in her decision-making. I agree that the want for freedom impacted Lydia’s choices, but I don’t think freedom is what she wants the most. If she ‘d wanted freedom, she wouldn’t have married Gannet. The thing that I find most interesting about Lydia is that she doesn’t really know what she wants. It was her decision so I guess it is okay to want “social advantages”, as a reader I disagree with her decision but she wasn’t necessarily wrong to do what she did. When your society tells you to do something, you usually do it. Not everyone has the strength to go against society. People fall under the influence every day. Lydia learned from her mistakes and did what she thought would fix them. There would be no good outcome for her.
According to Jamie Helberg, the text “Souls Belated” by Edith Wharton “was about someone who kept fighting against society and eventually grew tired, gave up the fight and conformed to what society asked of her: to be with Gannett.” (Helberg) Helberg claims that the text is a study of questioning an individual’s loss of freedom and independence if they get married. However, I disagree with Helberg’s claim. I believe the text studies an individual’s, very difficult yet possible ability to resist society’s established roles, powerful possession, and impact on one’s beliefs and personal identity. During 1899, when the story was written, society put a lot of pressure on women. Women felt identity and appearances were everything, because they were constantly viewed as property of men. Women were expected to follow society’s established role of them—to be an obedient and faithful wife to their husbands by becoming powerless and answering to their husband’s every whim AND to be a loving and understanding mother. Throughout the story, Lydia proves to be very impressionable and transforms her personal identity dramatically. For example, Lydia tried to change and take on a different role in society by refusing to marry Gannett but eventually comes to the realization that she is not ready to transform her roles in society. Society’s critical judgments of individual’s roles take a huge toll on Lydia leading her to the refusal and fear of marriage. “We neither of us believe in the abstract “sacredness neither of us believe in the abstract 'sacredness' of marriage; we both know that no ceremony is needed co consecrate our love for each other; what object can we have in marrying, except the secret fear of each that the ocher may escape, or the secret longing to work our way back gradually… the women who talk about the indissolubility of marriage, and who would let me die in a gutter today because I am 'leading a life of sin'.” (Wharton 212) Wharton reveals the impossibility of changing our personal morals, beliefs, and roles because we have subconsciously formed pride in our daily actions. Lydia shows this form of self-pride through her acceptance of her marriage to Gannett at Hotel Bellosguardo.
I agree with Yaqi Zhangs’s idea of “Souls Belated” because it states how a marriage can keep you physically trapped inside of a relationship but also emotionally make you free to love others. I believe when Zhanag stated her opinion about how the “principles of staying a free woman who is not bounded by marriage” shows how a woman is only free when she is not married. While Lydia was married to Tillotson she shows how she was not happy, “It was her love for Gannet that made life with Tilloston so poor and incomplete a business.” (Wharton, 207) When Lydia is with Gannet she is not married so therefore she has an excuse to be free, but also plays the role as a girlfriend. In the society that Lydia lives in, you either are married or your not. Lydia does not want to get married because she says, “what object can we have in marrying, except the secret fear of each that the other may escape.”(Wharton, 212) She knows that Gannet loves her too much to leave and let her go.
According to Madalyn D’Alfonso, society influences an individual’s identity that has been openly revealed to the community. D’Alfonso claims that independently we all make the choice to model ourselves after a socially accepted lifestyle. She draws out for us the lengths we will go just to fit in; “Potentially, individuals will do anything it takes in order to retain the social advantages that accompany being an avid citizen in society.” In other words we plan out our lives and base our actions off of the guidelines of these popular and socially expected ideals. I agree with D’Alfonso’s message; it is clear to me that almost everyone rationalizes their decisions and their lifestyles by connecting them to what is considered as normal in their environment. It has been the pattern over the course of history that those whom are caste out or persecuted, are the groups of people with differences, which evidently causes them to stand out in their communities. Another point that D’Alfonso makes, referring back to the short story “Souls Belated”, is that the idea of being socially accepted can and did easily change someone’s morals or values. I also saw how independent and strong of a character Lydia was in the beginning of the story; she leaves her boring husband and goes to start a new and exciting life away from the ridiculous high status people and their, as D’Alfonso calls them, “societal benefits”. However, as independent and self-determined as Lydia seemed, she never really fixed the problem, she only ran away from it. And in the end of the short story she is faced with it again, although this time she is pulled in and unsuccessfully refuses to conform to the desire to be accepted.
I agree with Sara Collins when she writes about how strong a society's influence is on a person; so strong to cause the person to give up who they are. In "Souls Belated", Lydia struggles to understand what it is she values in life: social acceptance or personal identity. As a woman in the late 1800s, you did not have many rights, so therefore, a woman's title and role in society was based on her husband's title and occupation. As a result, Lydia struggles to figure out what it is exactly that she wants. When Gannett confronts Lydia about the idea of marriage, she says, "It may be necessary that the world should be ruled by conventions--but if we believed in them, why did we break through them? And if we don't believe in them, is it honest to take advantage of the protection they afford" (Wharton 212)? In this case, the convention is the idea of marriage, and when breaking the conventions, she's referencing divorce and being a single woman. If the society's idea of marriage was perfect, no one would ever feel the need to break the "rules", but if they aren't broken, its also not right to just stay in the marriage to gain the advantages. Lydia experiences this when she goes from being alone on the train with Gannett, where she is proudly single, to being ashamed of herself when at the hotel, with the rest of society and her status actually matters. At the hotel, Miss Pinsent tells a story and says, "She gave up her seat at a table to oblige them--such a lack of dignity" (Wharton 216). This is very controversial to Miss Pinsent's actions. Although she is disappointed for a woman not having the dignity to stand up for herself and just fall under the pressure of society, she is the first person in the hotel to judge others, especially the Lintons, for not being married. With this quote, i think Wharton makes it apparent that even though one might have their own beliefs against societal norms, they often get so caught up in "fitting in" that they don't realize they are part of the poor influences in society. I think this quote links to Lydia's acceptance of marriage since she too will feel the same way and not realize it because she already does have these thoughts when she despises Mrs. Cope's social status.
I think that this story is the study of how society can affect, greatly, the personal life of someone. Society sets unwritten rules, which change over time, that people feel the need to follow to be accepted by society. In "Souls Belated," Lydia feels the need to register in the hotel as Mrs. Gannett. She does not indicate that she is not actually married to Ralph because she does not want to lose the social benefits of being a married woman. Wharton writes that Lydia "must take her place on the hotel register as Mrs. Gannett" (214) if she wants to receive the social benefits of being a married woman. Lydia refuses to get married to Ralph because she wants to be herself. She is constantly trying to figure out if she wants to get married or not because she enjoys finding herself and the benefits of being a married woman. She expresses her struggle with deciding to get married or not on pages 212-213. She ultimately decides to just pretend that she is married to Ralph. But, as the story goes on, she realizes that she can't keep pretending anymore, so she decides to change her mind and get married to Ralph. Wharton writes about this conflict because she wants to express how society can really influence a person's decisions. She does this when she describes Lydia's final decision: "Halfway down the short incline to the deck she stopped again; then she turned and ran back to the land... As she approached the hotel she looked up furtively and Gannett drew back into the room. He sat down beside a table; a Bradshaw lay at his elbow, and mechanically, without knowing what he did, he began looking out the trains to Paris" (231). Wharton depicts Lydia's struggle to make her decision in that passage, as well as other passages before this one. I think Wharton writes about marriage and social benefits because she wants to show how society has such a huge affect on people's choices.
I think that both Claire Furlong and Dylan Harrow have an interesting idea on the title for Edith Wharton’s Souls Belated, however, I think that like Claire, the title implies that Lydia and Gannett are two people that meet at an inopportune time. In this short story, Gennett and Lydia have to decide to either conform to social standards or create their own identity. Lydia implies that they both “despise and laughed at” (Wharton 212) the society in which they lived, and marriage would be something that would slowly bring them back into that same society. However, both Gannett and Lydia travel and try to avoid being in society, realizing this to be an unrealistic plan.
I think that Souls Belated is the study of contemplation between complete happiness or satisfaction with your individual identity or following the different conventions in society and sacrificing some of that happiness. Whether a person thinks so or not, society’s opinion is important in the way that they look at his or herself. In this sense I agree with Madalyn. Each individual in society wants to be accepted and avoid being looked at differently. However, Lydia wants to defy society in this sense. She wants to avoid getting married because she believes “no ceremony is needed to consecrate” her love (Wharton 212). However, by not getting married, they “needn’t pretend, for social advantages” (Wharton 213) but these advantages are what Lydia ends up wanting. At Hotel Bellosguardo, Lydia interacts with the society she is rejecting and realizes that those advantages are something she wants to continue to be apart of. When she is at the hotel, she appears to be married and she gets to taste the benefits of a married couple and the advantages that come with it. She pretends with the “conventional morality” she had “always ridiculed and hated” (Wharton 212) as she learns to be part of society rather than an individual. She observes how others that are not married are shunned and even joins in on the shunning. With that, she decides to ultimately give into the conventions of society and fulfill the desire to divulge in the riches she receives. Based on the character of Lydia, I think that Wharton is telling her audience that sometimes we fall for the appearance of what society gives us, even if it means sacrificing our own identity. Lydia does just this: she gives in to the appearance that marriage will give her, in turn sacrificing her own identity. As humans, we are faced with the dilemma to be our own person or to be one in society. We can either conform to society in return for the security and the rewards that may come with that or we can question and avoid conventional ideas, resulting in maybe an unpopular opinion by others. Either way, Wharton is telling the readers that both options are difficult because there are flaws in the structure of society because we are human and each option creates both advantages and disadvantages.
Jenna Tran examines that the difference of Lydia’s opinion towards marry that it can restrict Lydia but also protects her from scandle. Based on Tran, Lydia eventually choose to be in society through marriage is because her weakness to confront the whole society. I totally agrees with Tran, Lydia’s fear defeats her ideal of individuality and lead her to marry which represents that she yields to be free from the contract. Based on what Jenna Tran’s statement shows, Lydia escapes from the constraint of marriage in purpose of pursuing the free relationship without comprises. Lydia has no plan to marry with Gannett, but he thinks that the reason Lydia runs away from her husband is to be with him. “The secret fear of each that the other may escape, or the secret longing to work our way back gradually—into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality we have always ridiculed and hates” (99). Lydia points out how she resents the “vulgar fraud upon society” (212). and imposes her thought to Gannett. Breaking down the“invisible threads” (213)., Lydia flees from what a society expects her to be. Lydia strongly against puppet-like marriage, hoping to get rid of the control of conventional society. Another marriage with Gannett would be scandals that widely discusses among those women, which stands for society. However, Gannett fears to face with the future that being with a unaccepted woman from society and has none of comprises with her. As a writer, Gannett definitely needs reputation so that he could sell his literature composition. Gannett thinks that marriage is legit and accepted by the society, they should “take advantage of the protection they afforded” in order to keep his reputation. However, Lydia’s attitude towards marriage dramatically change when they arrive at the hotel because she represents herself as Mrs. Gannett. It represents that she gradually yields to the conventional society through her pretended marriage. Through the opposition of Mrs. Cope and Lydia, Lydia realizes the crisis that she would face with if she has no comprises with Gannett.
When Mrs. Cope threatens Lydia that she would tell others “she and I are in the same box” (224)., Lydia is frightened overwhelming her expectation of free relationship. But also Lydia sees the difference between Gannett and Lord Trevenna", who posited at the high status in the society. The main different is that Mrs.Cope looks forward to get divorce with her ex-husband and get marry with Lord Trevenna so that she would be accepted by society and also holds high power as Lady Trevenna. Lydia eventually conforms to society and decides to marry with Gannett after a series of contradiction. She gives up to pursue her individuality but at the same time she has to confront the society as a unacceptable woman and lives alone. The ultimate loneliness frightens her.
In my opinion, the text of “Souls Belated” is talking about that marriage values social advantage over love, the author Edith Wharton was trying to reveal the struggle of being individual in an overpowering society. As the main character in the text, Lydia is running away of the society norms from being trapped by marriage, keeping traveling away is the symbolized for her to keep or to escape the relationship between the “social creature” and individual. In the novel, Lydia is playing pendulum between married and unmarried. At first, she wants to keep the relationship between she and Gannett aside from marriage, the “sacrifice of the individual to the family”(213); because she wants to be independent and believes that she is “unconventional”(119) who is having idea of “no ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other.”(212) However, in the end of the story, Lydia changes her mind by “turned and ran back to the land”(231) and chooses the side of marriage, which is totally opposite of what she wants from the very beginning. At this point, she gives up the idea of being individually and makes herself become a “sacrifice of the individual to the marriage”.
"Souls Belated" is a study of the inevitability of conformity. Marriage is a social practice that is intensely expected of every human to experience and value. It is “accepted… as a provisional compensation” (207) for the state of being a single or unmarried adult. In 1899, the time the story was written, to be an unmarried or a single adult was not socially accepted and was most definitely disapproved of by society. Lydia justifies the belief of marriage being a social norm when she states, it is “necessary that the world should be ruled by conventions” (213). Along with admitting that society sets a specific canon that everyone must get married, she explains that it is up to individuals to decide whether to accept the conventions of marriage or “break through them” (213). Even though Lydia and Gannett try to resist conforming to their society’s belief that marriage is a necessary convention, they admit to “sneaking back into a position that we’ve voluntarily forfeited” (212) ourselves to. The “position” (212) mentioned is each individual’s expectancy to get married. Wharton provides a realistic solution to the inevitability of conformity by ending her story with Lydia and Gannett ultimately deciding to get married. Lydia and Gannett “work” their “way back gradually… into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality” they “have always ridiculed and hated” (212). Wharton suggests that the only solution to the pressures of conformity is to simply conform.
Souls Belated, written by Edith Wharton in 1899, is the study of how social structure and rules about marriage affected women’s freedom during that time period. She argues that women had no freedom and that it was simply easier to conform because there was nowhere else for them to go. Lydia was married to Mr. Tillotson, a rich man from high-class society. As his wife, Lydia was surrounded by “prudent people” (207) and lived in a world where “one could make sure of doing exactly the same thing every day ta the same hour” (208). Although she is in a high class experiencing all of the social advantages that come with it, Lydia is not happy and is always “bored” (208). There is no outlet for her to express herself because anything out of the ordinary is “foolish” (207). She is expected to fit into a cookie cutter society where the rules dominated her life. Even after she defies social customs and runs away with Gannett, she soon realizes “that freedom had released her from Tillotson as that it had given her to Gannett” (207). Women in 1899 were seen as property and as a burden, or as someone that had to be cared for. Women could not stand on their own and be individuals. In an attempt to maintain her personal freedom, Lydia protests against marrying Gannett saying that they would be “sneaking back into a position that [they’ve] already forfeited” (212) and going back to the reality that they despised. Her philosophy is to travel from place to place and live life as an unmarried couple.
However, Lydia and Gannett end up slipping into the society that they both are disgusted by because it is easier to pretend and lie than to keep travelling. Despite the philosophy that Lydia believes in, she chooses to pretend to be married at the hotel to get all of the social advantages that a married couple experiences because it is easier. She gets to gossip with the women and be in the presence of Lady Susan. Lydia is treated as an equal and is accepted. She chooses to pretend because Lydia sees the disadvantages she would experience through Mrs. Cope’s experience had she not cheated the system. Everyone, particularly by Lydia, exiles Mrs. Cope. Once Mrs. Cope threatens to “tell Lady Susan Condit that there’s a pair” (221) of unmarried women, Lydia realizes she has to make a choice. She realizes it is “impossible” (229) to cheat the system by pretending to be married. She is faced with a conflict between her actions which she “loved” (226) and her philosophy. Ultimately, Lydia chooses to conform to the system and marry Gannett because she realizes she would have no place to go because women did not have the freedom to be individuals. Wharton comes to the conclusion that it is easier to simply conform to society than to try to single-handedly defy it given the limited resources and large amount of social restrictions the women had in 1899.
Similar to Sara and Nicole viewpoint, “Souls Belated” is an examination of an individual’s natural tendency to fall back into the norms of society. We all have the strength, courage, and mindset for a short while to escape the social structures and political pressures. However, when we are faced with too many obstacles, we loose hope and accept these pressures, abandoning our personal opinions and sometimes values. Lydia at first has a clear, personal view of marriage and her opinion has been affected by her previous marriage. She recognizes that the traditional view of marriage from “a society we [Lydia and Gannett] despised and laughed at” (Wharton 212) is sneaking back into their lives. To her, and even Gannett, love didn’t need to be confirmed through a ceremonial marriage. Lydia also talks about “social advantages” and pretending “to subscribe” to things that are unreal representations of humans’ actual feelings (Wharton 213). Gannett hears this powerful speech and at this time Lydia knows exactly what she wants, and can be overall seen as a confident woman. However, after interacting with Mrs. Cope and a few of the other women, something changes. She pretends to be married to Gannett and then in the final paragraphs of the story when she gets ready to leave the society, Gannett, and all of the negativity of the hotel behind her, she fails and comes back. Despite her powerful and convincing speech, society will always influence her. She was a part of it with her old husband and no matter how hard she tries, she many never be able to overcome the coercion of her former society and culture. The context of the story, as her being a woman in 1899, could affect the overall outcome of her attempts to have her own opinion about marriage and carry it out. Women in general were taken less seriously than men, which ultimately could have affected Lydia’s lack of success in overcoming the social barrier.
"Souls Belated” by Edith Wharton tells a story of a women struggling between her love for a man, the want to be her own
person, and her want to be excepted by society. Many of my classmates view Lydia as someone who is looking for approval from society despite her disgust for them. I agree with the fact that people want to fit in but I don't think Lydia is necessarily giving up her desire to be her own person when she goes back to Gannet. Lydia is looking to be free. Lydia sees a future with Gannet as a show for the society. She is afraid that Gannets wanting to marry her is a reaction to what society thinks he should do. She loves him and he loves her so she believes that "no ceremony is needed to consecrate our[their] love for each other" (212 Wharton). She also sees a future without Gannet where she is alone and still judged because she is a divorcee who ran away with her lover. Sarah Hankins makes the excellent point "Perhaps she was lying to herself" (Hankins). Lydia is trying so hard not to live her life based off of the way society says she should that she works to convince herself that she can't give herself to her love. At the end of the book I believe Lydia turns back because she honestly loves Gannet and not that she is excepting defeat. She had her ticket and was on the boat when she turned back which suggest to me that her not leaving was her own decision.
In Souls Belated, Edith Wharton points out the individuality and personal desires of citizen, especially of woman, is overwhelmed and entirely crushed by the overpowering society. She demonstrates an undefined relationship between Lydia, who is an enlightened female image, and her lover called Gannett. Lydia’s expectation to love cannot be satisfied in her marriage with her husband, so she chooses a furtive relationship with another man. She owns critical opinion towards marriage, “the secret fear of each that the other may escape, or the secret longing to work our way back gradually – oh very gradually – into the esteem of the people whose conventional morality we have always ridiculed and hated”(Wharton, 212). She has unorthodox ideas, yet she cannot totally free herself. She has to acknowledged that marriage of high social class brings her great amount of social advantages and protection “It may be necessary that the world should be ruled by conventions - but if we believed in them, why did we break through them? And if we don’t believe in them, is it honest to take advantage of the protection they afford”(Wharton, 213) The “new system of ethics” (Wharton, 213) with Gannet cannot offer Lydia such social advantages. While she is pursuing her personal feelings, she still concern about maintaining her profit from marriage. The power of the society is much more stronger than her individual power. On the other hand, she is also trammeled by the social judgement. “Can’t you see how it would humiliate me?” (Wharton, 212) The pressure from people’s comments and isolation from the society deepen Lydia's fear to reveal her real relationship with Gannet.
Souls Belated by Edith Wharton takes place during 1899, a time when it was believed that women's only functions were to be wives and mothers. Souls Belated is a study of the social constraints on women and her fight to become free. Wharton discusses the importance for a balance between sacrificing one's personal identity to benefit from conforming to social norms. For example, Lydia in the end of the book marries Gannett in order to be a part of society and benefit from social norms. Thus, women like Lydia depend on social structures such as marriage to survive, even though they might have to lose a part of their own identity. Marriage, being a social convention appears to be the way in which Lydia will gain the most freedom in her society, without marriage she is not respected and with marriage she has a position in the social structure of her society. Although Lydia’s previous marriage was a failure, I believe Wharton has allowed Lydia to travel with Gannett because if she never travels how will she know she needs to stop eventually. Lydia is more knowledgeable about marriage and what marriage means to her now that she has been divorced. Lydia says, “We neither of us believe in the abstract sacredness of marriage; we both know ceremony is needed to consecrate our love for each other” (212). Thus, Lydia does not believe that marriage is needed and true love should be enough. Sarah, I find your comment about Lydia only marrying Gannett out of true love interesting because she does not believe marriage is needed to prove true love. Therefore, I believe that, although she did truly love Gannett, she did not marry him because she truly loved him but because her society tells her that she must be married in order to fit into a certain social class. Thus, demonstrating that society restricts women, in this case Lydia, in their freedoms because marriage is so influential in her society and Lydia will not be able to break loose of those constraints of she wants to be a part of society. Lydia is searching for a balance between social conformity and giving up some of her own personal identity, but marriage is the easiest and best solution to this imbalance.
Souls Belated is a short story pertaining to marriage and Lydia’s, the main character, reaction toward marriage. Women are seen as possessions in marriage and are not entitled to the same rights as men are. Marriage “humiliates” Lydia and she uses the wold “misery” to describe the emotion marriage brings her. Edna wants to be entitled to herself and own her own feelings, beliefs, and simply her life. Marriage brings humiliation and misery to Lydia because Lydia wants to belong only to herself. This story goes in depth about the emotions marriage brings to Lydia, and based on those emotions, this story also goes in depth about the choices Lydia makes, and that is one of regret. Lydia at the end of the story regrets the choice of trying to live a life by herself, a life without marriage. I see regret with Lydia when “she must take her place on the hotel register as Mrs. Gannett”. If Lydia believed in not partaking in marriage, why would she register herself as being married? Regret, again, appears at the end of the short story when Lydia “moved waveringly, and at the edge of the ward she paused”. Lydia is hesitant about boarding the boat that were deliver her to the freedom she craved and fought for. Lydia is hesitating because she regrets the decision she made about wanting to live by her. Regret in Lydia is seen in the hotel and on the boat solidifying that Wharton’s story is about a woman who wants to break free from marriage. However, that woman, Lydia, does not know what she is getting herself into until she reaches her freedom.
I think this story is a study of the influence of social pressures on one's identity.We see Lydia's character form an obsession with remaining uncontrolled by the labels society feels compelled to tag people with: in this case marriage. She defines marriage as “a cheap compromise” and describes it as having an “abstract sacredness” (212). She believes the object of marriage is to give oneself a defense against “the secret fear that the other may escape” (212). She makes the decision that she will be able to live without “the protection” that marriage affords: the shield it gives an individual against the harsh judgement of their surrounding society. However, it is this exact need to be uncontrolled by the label of marriage that ties her to it. She makes this recognition when she says, "These people- the very prototypes of the bores you took me away from, with the same fenced-in view of life,..well, I've clung to them"(226). In the beginning of the novel, Lydia’s “view of life had become a matter of course”(208). This demonstrates the effect social pressures can have on an individual, even if they are not directly conforming to them, a major discussion in Wharton's story.
Edith Wharton’s “Souls Belated” is a study of the struggle between independence and acceptance in society with high social pressures. The main character, Lydia escapes her previous marriage in order to obtain freedom. But with this divorce, the question of marriage with a new man, Gannett, becomes the center of her problems. Lydia expresses her disapproval of marriage when stating that it is “a cheap compromise” (Wharton 212). However, her reluctance to marriage is soon contradicted when she enters the hotel and pretends to be married to Gannett. Wharton makes it known to the reader that Lydia is unaware of her dependence on the social advantages of marriage until she reaches the hotel. Lydia recognizes her wrongdoings when stating, “these people—with the same fenced-in view of life—well I’ve clung to them, I’ve delighted them, I’ve done my best to please them” (Wharton 226). Although independence and freedom is what Lydia truly wants, the fear of facing life without the acceptance of society causes her to stay with Gannett rather than pursue her true values and dreams.
I do not believe Wharton portrays the character as weak, but instead practical and realistic. Lydia is aware that life without a husband would be difficult in her society. Instead she makes her decision based on the fact that with Gannett, life would be easier and more accepting.
Edith Wharton's "Souls Belated" is a study of society's norms regarding marriage. At the beginning of the text, Lydia is strongly against marriage, "regarding [it] as a full canceling of her claims upon life" (Wharton 207). However, as she experiences the social advantages of being a married couple, her idealogical beliefs become more difficult to carry out, until she finally gives in to Gannett's pressures to stay with him and presumably get married. Lydia's situation reflects the dilemma of having strong beliefs and following them, or of just going with what society would say to do. She wants to protect her reputation and keep the social advantages that being "married" gives her, but she also believes that marriage is binding and wants her freedom. I believe that Wharton is saying that although it is important to have strong beliefs, it is sometimes necessary to conform to society's standards. Although Lydia's individuality is important to her, and she almost goes to such an extent as to leave the love of her life to follow her beliefs, she chooses love over her beliefs.
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