Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize… and dang if she didn't deserve it. She won it in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence, which (spoiler alert) is about people acting anything but innocent. Her work is often associated with that of Naturalist writers. Like them, she was very interested in detailing and exploring social environments and how they affect the development of character and psychology—mostly in depressing ways.

Much of Wharton's fiction deals with the upper class social circles she was born into. A lot of her fiction was also set in New England, where she spent much of her time. Her portrayal of New England is often so depressing, though, that you'll rethink booking that Autumn Colors tour of Vermont.

The House of Mirth (1905)

Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth, comes from a pretty well-off background. But just because she's rich doesn't mean that things are easy for her. Wharton's novel traces the way in which Lily's social environment dooms her to a tragic fate. This book will not make you feel merry and mirthful.

Lily, who is unmarried, finds herself the object of all kinds of rumors and gossip as she innocently makes her way through society. Unlike other Naturalist novels, this book depicts characters from privileged backgrounds, but it shows how all of us—no matter how rich or poor—are the victims of our social environments. Emphasis on the "victim" part.

Ethan Frome (1911)

Starkfield, Massachusetts, is really, really cold. It's also really, really stark. This fictional town is the setting of Wharton's novel Ethan Frome, and you do not want to go there on your honeymoon. The inhabitants of Starkfield are poor, and Ethan Frome, who lives in the town, is no exception.

Frome is silent and he's dark. But he's a good guy, who finds himself torn between his sense of duty to his wife and family and his love of a woman whom he shouldn't love. It all leads to tragedy, of course. This is Naturalism, folks.

Chew On This

The characters in Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome are stuck in poverty. Check out what a big theme poverty is in this analysis of the novel's setting.

Social context and environment is a huge theme in Wharton's House of Mirth. Dive into an analysis of this theme here.