Starting Over

Since my laptop crashed I've been frantically trying to write some portions of my thesis. My notes are mostly gone, so it's like a fresh start... which is usually good, but not always. I've started with a chapter on The Fruit of the Tree

Here's a little of what's been mustered:


Like many writers of her moment, Edith Wharton was deeply concerned with questions regarding nature and artifice. Although as scholar James L. Machor, author of Pastoral Cities, suggests, this concern was not a “central configuration of her work” but rather “a part of the imaginative pattern” (205). Still, even as a few threads in a finely wrought cloth, this part of the pattern is important and persistent across many of Wharton’s novels. Manchor looks to the canonical novel The House of Mirth for his example. There he finds that both the language and plot positioning of Nettie Crane’s story exhibit Wharton’s dissatisfaction with the notion of the “the home as pastoral enclave in the city” (206). For Manchor Lily Bart’s death “constitutes perhaps Wharton’s most ironic, tragic comment on the tenuous appeal but final inadequacy of urban-pastoral projections” (206). Although I find this reading quite compelling, I am somewhat troubled by its through reliance on the symbolic for it’s portrayal of the pastoral project. Of course when dealing with humanity and its cultural products, everything has a symbolic status, nevertheless I think an equally interesting critique of the urban-pastoral can be found in Wharton’s second, and less acclaimed novel, The Fruit of the Tree. In this work the urban-pastoral project in described in both symbolic and ecologic terms.

The opening pages of her 1907 novel The Fruit of the Tree establishes the tension between nature and artifice through Wharton’s descriptions of Justine Brent and John Amherst, two of the primary characters. Wharton presents Justine Brent in the following terms: “[s]he did not use, in speaking, the soothing inflection of her trade: she seemed to disdain to cajole or trick the sufferer. Her full young voice kept its cool note of authority, her sympathy revealing itself only in the expert touch of her hands and the constant vigilance of her dark steady eyes” (4). From this beginning Wharton develops traits in Justine that remain pivotal throughout the novel. Justine, although she fades into the background of the text for several chapters is really the main character, and it is through her perceptions that the reader first glimpses John Amherst who initially seems to be the main actor in the text.

Wharton states:
The nurse, sensitive by nature and training to all physical characteristics, was struck at once by the contrast between his alert face and figure and the silent way in which he moved. She noticed, too, that the same contrast was repeated in the face itself, its spare energetic outline, with the high nose and compressed lips of the mover of men, being curiously modified by the veiled inward gaze of the grey eyes he turned on her. It was one of the interests of Justine Brent's crowded yet lonely life to attempt a rapid mental classification of the persons she met; but the contradictions in Amherst's face baffled her, and she murmured inwardly "I don't know" (5)

Although this passage will likely slip from the readers mind as the text becomes powerfully focused on Amherst, this initial presentation of him is quite meaningful. Justine’s confusion regarding Amherst is well justified by the end of the novel, and so here Wharton is giving the reader exactly what she suggests in her description of Justine Brent, a character that is perceptive, honest, “sensitive to physical characteristics” and given to “rapid mental classification of the persons she met”. Justine Brent represents a scientific mind, a naturalist of sorts, in a highly urbanized setting. The contradictions in Amherst are troubling to her, but for the reader they seem perhaps enticing, after all the many appears to possess both a physique made for action and a mind made for reflection, two traits highly valued in men by western culture. If this troubles the perceptive Brent the reader might imagine that perhaps this is only because a girl in her “lonely” circumstance has not yet met a man possessing so many fine qualities.

However, Wharton’s prose continues to favor Brent’s perceptions. Outside of the hospital in the next chapter Justine “was amused to see that he [Amherst] failed to identify the uniformed nurse with the girl in her trim dark dress, soberly complete in all its accessories, who advanced to him, smiling under her little veil” (8). Brent can identify Amherst in the dim October evening, but he cannot pick her out, the language of this passage suggests that the reason for this is that Amherst has made her a social “type”, a nurse, rather than having examined her physical traits as is Justine Brent’s method.

Ode to the Wharton-l

So many people on the Wharton-l have offered great responses and suggestions. It seems I am behind the times. No surprise there. Apparently others have also suggested Adams as the location for The Fruit of the Tree.  This is great news. Now I have a place to really center my eco-historical research. 

I contacted the Massachusetts historical society in hopes that they might know of people doing environmental history research on the Berkshires. My aunt has also sent me a number of good leads on information regarding Adams and North Adams. Things are taking shape, or at the very least direction.

I'm reading Hudson River Bracketed right now, and am about  half way into the novel. This novel will present some challenges I think. I am hoping that some more direct water references will be made, but if not I could use this book as an example of how nature is used as an aesthetic. Plenty of room for this reading in the title alone.

Fruit of the Hoosic?

In my efforts to get some more work done on my thesis I've been concentrating my efforts on The Fruit of the Tree. I got myself onto the Wharton-l and started asking around to see what opinions other Wharton reserchers and readers might have. I have gotten back some interesting leads, one suggesting an edition of the novel edited by Donna Campell, and another directing me to a lecture given at the Mount last year by Dr. Jennie Kassanoff. I've emailed Dr. Kassanoff since I've been unable to find a copy of her lecture, and I'm on the look out for the Campbell edition in the University library. 

My theory at the moment is that the novel may well have been based on the Hoosic River Valley. I have a few reasons for this. 

1. The novel is set in the Moosuc River Valley (old spelling of Hoosic is Hoosuc. Similarity?)

2. The city of Adams is along the Hoosic and was the site of a large cotton mill

3. Adams mills were in the news quite a bit during 1906 due to worker strikes

4. Wharton was living in Lenox about 20 miles south of Adams

Even if there is no way to prove that Hanaford is based on Adams I think that I could make a strong case that the descriptions of fictional Hanaford strongly resemble the ecological and social concerns in Adams during the time in which the novel was written. 

My next challenge is finding sufficient environmental history regarding this region. I am particularly interested in how the river was engineered and otherwise degraded to benefit the mill in the time leading up to the 1907 publication date of Wharton's text. I am also very interested in any wetland drainage that may have occured in the area. Some contemporary sources indicate that there are few wetlands in the Hoosic Watershed but several older maps (1930's) show a number of small ponds in the area. This part of the search for information has been slow going so far. I think I might need to get in touch with some history folk for better leads. 

My interest in this wetlands aspect is due to the quote at the end of the novel: 

"And do you remember how we said that it was with most of us as it was
with Faust? That the moment one wanted to hold fast to was not, in most
lives, the moment of keenest personal happiness, but the other kind--the
kind that would have seemed grey and colourless at first: the moment
when the meaning of life began to come out from the mists--when one
could look out at last over the marsh one had drained?"

A tremor ran through Justine. "It was you who said that," she said,
half-smiling.

"But didn't you feel it with me? Don't you now?"

"Yes--I do now," she murmured.

He came close to her, and taking her hands in his, kissed them one after
the other.

"Dear," he said, "let us go out and look at the marsh we have drained."

Thesis Formation in Fluctuation

I met with Betjemann today and we discussed the progress of the thesis. I am feeling pretty good about the whole thing. He suggested the idea of three case studies which was right on target with what I was thinking. 

Three chapters, three novels, three water issues. 

I am feeling certain that the first novel I discuss will be The Custom of the Country. A history of reservoirs and drinking water with close attention to water issues in NYC should work well. Furthermore there is the Wharton family connection to a proposed drinking water project in New Jersey's Pine Barrens. 

The Fruit of the Tree will likely be the second case study with overlapping focus on the history of textile mills and water pollution in New England. I'm also intending to look into land reclamation and wetland loss in the region. 

The third novel is a mystery, but right now I'm thinking that The Glimpses of the Moon might work with regard to the recreation commodification of water. We'll see.

Completion and Contemplation

Some what recovered from my first week of class I took the better part of today to finish reading The Fruit of the Tree. I was pleased to finish it and am happy to think that I have now completed six of Wharton's novels. Of course there are many more to go before I could claim to have read all of them. She completed 16 novels in her life and many other works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. I was somewhat perplexed by the ending of the novel, but I am sure it will make clearer sense to me in time.

In class we have moved on from Chopin to Nella Larsen. I am excited to be reading a work I have never heard of before from the Harlem Renaissance. This is a period in American Literature which I dearly love and have had little exposure to since Steve Brown's Modernism class several years back. Part of me wants to write about Larsen for my final paper but I am concerned that such a decision would result in a massive increase in work for me, not something I particularly need at this moment. 

Tonight though I want to forget everything class related and focus only on Wharton, whom I feel deserves as much weekend attention as I can offer. Tonight we're watching Ethan Frome. Although I was grossly dismayed by how The House of Mirth was adapted to film, I have hope for Frome. We shall see.

Good Finds, Great Foods, and Garden Delights

Today I tried my best to get some work done on the thesis. I started out hearing from Betjemann (superhero lit master/thesis advisor). He essentially assured me that my original thesis idea was probably worth sticking with. We're meeting up next week to discuss it. In the meantime I've been advised to look into Italian Villas and Their Gardens in hopes of some info pertaining to water. Of course in this text I would likely find writings about fountains, ponds etc... I haven't followed this advice yet, but I did read a good essay today; Peter Hays "Undine is Us". The essay gave a good overview of how Undine (The Custom of the Country) is an embodiment of American materialism at its worst. I was also pleased to find several passages in The Fruit of the Tree which referred to swamps and marshes. I am still trying to figure out what state Westmore mills is set in so that I can better guide my historical research though I suppose it doesn't make too much of a difference if it's in New York or New England since the industrial histories of the two are quite similar.

In an effort not to let my whole day be consumed by Edith I took some time to cook world class awesome pancakes, prep a fruit salad, a garden salad, and make a pizza. Of all these I must say the pancakes, although I make them frequently, were amazingly superb. How to make such awesome pancakes?

1 cup whole wheat flour (organic of course if possible)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

1-2 tbsp raw sugar (or brown sugar)

2 tsp vanilla

1-2 tbs oil

1-1.5 cups water or soy milk

To this deliciousness I added liberal amounts of Wilt's Blueberries.

I also gave my garden some attention. We've finally run out of lettuce. I harvested the last head today and it has been consumed (yum). The tomatoes are looking good, the strawberries also look awesome and have been taken inside to avoid fruit loss to the marauding Western Scrub-Jays. The garden, small as it is and totally done in random containers, has been very productive for us. We've harvested six heads of lettuce, a large pot of salad greens, two types of peas, two types of radishes, cilantro, lavender, sage, oregeno, and strawberries. Still in the works are garlic, carrots, two tomato plants, gladiolas, beans and cukes.

Finley, Fruit, and Film

This morning bright and early-ish Bird and I headed out to the William L. Finley wildlife refuge where Bird is doing part of her study. The place we were looking at is basically a field dominated by various grasses and small rose bushes. Unlike where we were yesterday, Finley had almost no fruiting plants. There were, as far as I could see, no cherries, only a few apples and some other dark berries on a tree I've yet to identify. There were a number of lovely wildflowers, some that I know by name, but many unfamiliar to me. I took photos of them for later identification.  While at Finley we saw a group of about five Western Kingbirds. They are apparently uncommon in this area, so it was a nice find. They were also terribly cute and talkative. 

On the thesis front, my reading of The Fruit of the Tree continues. I spoke with one of the instructors at school today. She is the Composition Coordinator, in other words she essentially runs the writing program and is my boss when it comes to my capacity as a TA. She gave me some advice about planning out the organization of my thesis, and suggested that I make multiple introductions until I can nail down exactly what I want to focus on in the thesis. I told her that my focus might be shifting from Water to more broad connections between Ecology and Wharton's writing. She did not discourage the idea and suggested looking at Woolf also. I've considered combining a look at Wharton and Woolf before, but in many ways it seems like it might just complicate matters, or prevent me from digging deeply enough into either. I am unsure. The deadline for a Conference proposal I had been hoping to submit is tomorrow and I have nothing, but maybe it's for the best. I have a paper from my Columbia Basin Ecology class coming up (eco-historical look at Pendleton), my thesis to work on, and an English class starting on Monday. On top of all this I signed up to be a Comp. Coordinator Assistant this summer and that involves quite a bit of work that I've yet to attend to. There will be other conferences.

For tonight work is over and we're watching a film, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. I read this book some time ago, but so far the film doesn't disappoint.

Red Rose Tea, Birds and a Box Fan

It is finally heating up in the Willamette Valley. Not that I wanted it to get hot, but it had been cool and rainy from October well into June. Enjoyable, but I had wondered if there would be a summer. There is. It is overwhelmingly warm. We have the front door propped open with the dog kennel and a cheapo (though oddly made in the USA) box fan on top of it. 

We fill a giant glass jug with Red Rose and ice every morning and by the next day we need to do it all again. For some reason I love this tea and this tea alone though my current financial straits have prevented me from branching out toward some organic black tea (this will be done eventually, though by then it may not be hot enough to warrant it).

Bird and I went to EE Wilson today to prepare for her upcoming research project regarding mature forest birds in early sucessional forests. EE Wilson is run by the Fish and Wildlife folks, and has some interesting history (good overview at the attached link) .  There we saw a number of birds; osprey, herons, orange crowned warbler, bushtits, pied billed grebe... as well as some great plant life, butterflies, dragonflies, and deer. 

The rest of this day has largely been spent prostrate in front of the fan. I'm about 200 pages into Wharton's The Fruit of the Tree. Originally published in 1907 (after The House of Mirth) this book seems to have been ill received by the public and critics alike, but I am enjoying it quite a bit. It centers on a mill in the North Eastern US (I believe New England though others claim New York). I don't know how useful it will be for my attempt at ecocritical analysis of Wharton, but it is a good read.

On the topic of Wharton I am trying to assemble a list of any novel or story (or poem) of hers which contains suicide or attempted suicide. Any help is welcome. So far I have:

The House of Mirth

The Custom of the Country

Ethan Frome