Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 55-60).

Thesis (M. A.)--Florida State University, 2005. / Advisor: Dr. Leigh H. Edwards, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 15, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 49 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Dennis D. Moore, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of English. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 18, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 193 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Although Edith Wharton is finally recognized as a major American novelist, her remarkable canon of short stories has been largely ignored. Such neglect is regrettable, for the diversity of the stories suggests that some common perceptions of Wharton may well be misconceptions: that her works are masterpieces of technique, but not content; that her inconsistency reflects an instability; that her works are pervaded with a repressing pessimism. The short stories evoke a reconsideration of these prevailing attitudes about Wharton and her art.The stories reinforce the critics' evaluation of Edith Wharton as a master of rhetorical strategy. She employs verbal irony and situational irony. She also focuses closely on the ironies in American society, particularly those associated with the upper class, with marriage, and with art. But Wharton's conscious and pervasive use of irony in the stories points to the fact that she is a philosopher of irony as well.The philosophy of irony -- a philosophy of constant revisionism, questioning, and subjunctivity, of the rejection of absolutes, and of the celebration of paradox and ambivalence -- is one which reconciles many of the conflicts both in Wharton's short stories and in her life. It accounts for Wharton's insistence in her letters and her autobiography of the possibilities of life and for the optimism and hope that are clearly demonstrated in the stories. Despite the conclusions that have traditionally been drawn by critics who have focused on Wharton the novelist, the stories reinforce what the life has also suggested: that Edith Wharton actually achieved transcendence, hope, and joy.Chapter Five of this study reevaluates Ethan Frome, often considered Wharton's most pessimistic novel, in light of her philosophic irony. It challenges the commonly held notion that Ethan Frome is only a technical success, assuming the position that technique and vision cannot be separated. It finds in the ambivalence of the book an acknowledgment of possibility -- tones of optimism, triumph, and celebration. Furthermore, this dissertation suggests that a second look, with an eye toward Wharton's philosophy of irony as well as her techniques of irony, is warranted for each of the novels. / Department of English

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Susan Goodman, Dept. of English. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1987. / Bibliography: leaves 310-330.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1957. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [369]-379).

Thesis (M.A.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2005. / Thesis advisor: Jason B. Jones. "... submitted as the capstone requirement for the Master of Arts Degree in English." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 64-69). Also available via the World Wide Web.

For this study, an analysis will be made of six of Edith Wharton's heroines: Lily Bart, the luxury-loving, aristocratic heroine of The House of Mirth, who was destroyed by her own class; Ellen Olenska, who neither lost nor sought an established place in New York society, since it belonged to her, and she stayed there by the sacrifice of instinct and happiness; Anna Leath, a typical product of puritan New York, who suffered from having learned so thoroughly the rules of her generation; Halo Tarrant, who took love into her own hands and defied society but felt the strength of the social convention which shuts out the woman who does not play the game according to the rules; Undine Spragg, the social adventurer, who represents ambition, which Mrs. Wharton had come to recognize as the dominant characteristic of the new woman of America; and Sophy Viner, an American girl who, yielding to temptation, is plunged into insecurity because she comes into contact with Anna Leath and the rules of her world.