Edith Wharton

Afterward Edith Wharton

Publisher Marketing: Afterward is a short story by Edith Wharton. It was first published in the 1910 edition of The Century Magazine and in her books, The Collected Short Stories of Edith Wharton and Tales of Men and Ghosts, 1910. It is an ironic ghost story about greed and retribution. The ghost comes for one of the main characters long after a business transgression where the character wronged another. The story is divided into five parts and is told as an exploration of the memories of the central character with several instances of foreshadowing. The dynamic plot starts at the end and bounces back and forth throughout time within a six-month period. An unnamed narrator in third person limited omniscience point of view tells the story. There are several conflicts throughout the story, both internal and external, which include: woman against self, woman against another, woman against society, man against self, man against another, man against society. The focus of the narration is on the central character, Mary Boyne. She is happy to know nothing of her husband's business affairs until he goes missing. Her mood transforms from happy to worried and then sad by the end of the story. Mary is the wife of Ned. He is a businessman who strikes it rich in the states and moves his wife to England. He is secretive and his mood transforms from happy to forlorn in a matter of three months. The secrets that he keeps from Mary are his downfall. The setting is on old house name Lyng in Dorsetshire England. The house is in disrepair and the location is remote. The narrator alludes to darkness and history throughout the story, which contributes to the dark and secretive atmosphere. There is irony in the story. The irony is that they brought the ghost with them. The ghost appears to the house's inhabitants but they do not realize it until long after the damage is done. The Boyne's bought the house because of the ghost and the ghost took Ned away, in effect wrecking their idyllic life. Contributor Bio:  Wharton, Edith Edith Wharton was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, known for such classics as The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and The Age of Innocence, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921. A member of the New York elite, Wharton drew on her experiences as part of society to critique its inner workings and the conflict between personal desires and societal norms. Wharton died in 1937, leaving behind a rich literary legacy.