An analytical paper of the short story summer by Edith Wharton Essay

An analytical paper of the short story summer by Edith Wharton - Essay Example Then she remembered his sudden pause when he had come close to the desk and had his first look at her. The sight had made him forget what he was going to say; she recalled the change in his face, and jumping up she ran over the bare boards to her washstand, found the matches, lit a candle, and lifted it to the square of looking-glass on the white-washed wall. Her small face, usually so darkly pale, glowed like a rose in the faint orb of light, and under her rumpled hair her eyes seemed deeper and larger than by day. Perhaps after all it was a mistake to wish they were blue. A clumsy band and button fastened her unbleached night-gown about the throat. She undid it, freed her thin shoulders, and saw herself a bride in low-necked satin, walking down an aisle with Lucius Harney. He would kiss her as they left the church....She put down the candle and covered her face with her hands as if to imprison the kiss.† (Edith Wharton, Summer, Ch.III) The vocabulary used in the above passage is powerfully suggestive. It explores the two central themes of the novel – ‘different social classes’ and ‘sexual awakening’. "Its no use trying to be anything in this place," – this line only echoes the sexual repression of her times. The arrival of Lucius Harney had evoked in her, a sense of being ‘the other’. She now, more than ever, began to feel the burden of her improper lineage. It aroused in her – both, a sense of shame and a sense of envy. Despite her lower social ranking, she increasingly seems to become aware of her growing desires. This passage traces the beginning of Charity’s awakening to a new sense of self. The simile, â€Å"glowed like a rose† is provocative in implication. She experiences a growing passion when she â€Å"freed her thin shoulders†. The imagery used in these lines boldly shows how liberating and satisfying awareness of sexuality can be. This physical awakening heralds her