The Custom of the Country

41. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
editor: Linda Wagner-Martin (introduction and notes, 2006)
published: 1913
format: 384-page Penguin Classic
acquired: July read: Aug 1-30 time reading: 15:29, 2.4 mpp
rating: 4
genre/style: Classic novel theme: Wharton
locations: New York, Paris, and elsewhere in France
about the author: 1862-1937. Born Edith Newbold Jones on West 23rd Street, New York City. Relocated permanently to France after 1911.

One of Wharton's better-known novels is a quite fun and disturbing look at the New York City leisure class she was famous for attacking. She is playing with social Darwinism, and looking at the interaction between the those who came to New York and struck it rich on Wall Street and the old moneyed show more families of New York, often with Dutch sounding names, who are very protective of their turf. (There are a few striking parallels to [The Great Gatsby], a later novel. But this one would be from Daisy's point of view.) The nouveau riche are presented like an invasive species in the more ancient other's habitat. One old-family character is described as having "bratracian" (frog-like) features. His last name is Van Degen. Your smartphone, being a good literary critic, may try to autocorrect that to "degenerate". Another, uselessly poetic, is describe as "a survival", a doomed species.

Wharton centers her book on a magnificent villain. Undine Spragg is a stunningly beautiful young woman who cannot be satisfied. The daughter of Wall Street new-comers, she strives for what she cannot get, access to the old rich families. But she is relentless in pursuit of whatever it is she thinks she wants. And, it‘s never enough; and nothing, nor anyone, is sacred. She is like an insatiable predator. But she hides this in a meek outwards appearance, like a shiny fishhook, snagging the interest of single and married men. But what is it she ultimately wants and why? And why doesn‘t there seem to be anything underneath?

I think I was horrified by Undine, especially as I watched other characters stumble into her storm, unaware. But I also I think with Undine, Wharton has created a masterpiece. She is, in a way, an allegory of practical cutthroat Wall Street then and now, the perfect goddess of soulless economy.

The novel isn‘t perfect IMO, but Undine maybe is. Recommended to anyone interested in Wharton.

2022
https://www.librarything.com/topic/342768#7923228 show less

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton should be subtitled “The Social Climbing Adventures of Undine Spragg”. (Yup, that is the name of the main character; her parents’ pet name for her is, I kid you not, “Undie".) Her birthplace is the small Midwestern city of Apex where her businessman father is doing fairly well. Somewhat mysterious circumstances involving Undine bring the family to New York City. They live in a semi-upscale hotel and this provides a sufficient launching pad for Undine to propel herself into the upper echelons of New York Society, and beyond. She is aided in this endeavor by her stunning good looks and the advice of Mrs. Heeney, a masseuse/manicurist who services the Spragg women, and who acts as a kind show more of Gilded Age social media watcher. Naturally, Undine intends to reach her goals via marriage, and off she goes. Unlike other literary social climbers, e.g. Becky Sharpe or Lucy Steele, Undine possesses no sympathetic qualities whatsoever. Having been spoiled rotten by her parents, she is a bottomless pit of selfishness, egomania, and greed. Much of the psychological profile Wharton paints of her is shocking, and the tolerance for and indulgence of her monstrous behavior borders on the unbelievable. She also causes (and cares not one bit about) a lot of pain and suffering to others. On the other hand, look at the era we live in today. She would probably get elected to public office. This novel is a masterful character study and critique of American values. show less

Firstly: how can you fail to love a novel whose main character is UNDINE SPAGG? This story of manners and morals in Gilded Age Manhattan and Paris centers on a shallow woman whose beauty entraps the men who strive to install her in their trophy cases. Out of all her suitors, only the point of view of her first husband, Ralph, is heard. In his mundane upper class life, he seeks in Undine a purpose and a direction for himself, realizing too late, and tragically, that she sees nothing beyond improving her social standing and acquiring clothing and jewels. As she continues on her upward trajectory, Undine leaves behind the parents who funded her voyage and her young son. Obstacles in the form of her own transparency and the unforgiving show more social strictures trip her up, but never for long. The author sees her and the hypocrisy that surrounds her, especially in regards to the place of women of that time, all-powerful at evening soirees but with nothing to do but depend upon the business success of their husbands. A cruel world for sure, but most others are starving in unheated tenements, so it's hard to muster up much sympathy for Undine and her cohort. show less

It was difficult to really enjoy this because the main character, Undine, is so utterly unlikable. She is beautiful and shallow but completely ruthless in getting whatever she thinks she deserves, which is often that next thing beyond her reach. If there was any shred of humanity about her, you might almost feel sorry for her but there isn't and you don't. I only felt deep pity for the anguish she put everyone around her through. The writing is wonderful and the final sentence is just brilliant.

The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton tells the story of Undine Spragg, a Midwestern girl who attempts to scale the heights of New York City society. Undine is one of the most unique characters I have come across. Beautiful, selfish, and ignorant. She is terribly spoiled and seems incapable of understanding the consequences of her actions. She has no empathy and leaves a wake of damaged lives behind her. She repulsed me with her nastiness, yet I had to read on and find out what she was going to do next.

As we follow Undine through first one husband and then another, I kept waiting for her to learn a life lesson or two, but instead she always seems to think that her wishes must come first, that money should always be available to show more her and that her beauty entitled her to anything she wanted. Undine always seems to get what she wanted, but she also was quickly dissatisfied. Motherhood did nothing to mature her and I felt very sorry for her son, Paul. Wharton never wavered in keeping Undine true to her vision, even at the end of the book, the reader is given a glimpse of Undine that allows us to know that she will never be satisfied with the status quo.

Wharton delivers her story beautifully and uses her wit and insight to give us a sharp look at upper crust society as the nouveau riche come up against the old guard. I enjoyed this book immensely and will keep Undine Spragg on the memory shelf alongside of Scarlett O’Hara and Becky Sharp. show less

This was a tough one. Wharton is such a skilled writer with a keen observant eye for her social milieu, but I really think she missed her mark with Custom. I've had an ongoing argument with my partner about whether this could be considered a feminist work; I think it is one of her few novels that is pointedly anti-feminist, and more socially conservative. By creating the monstrous character of Undine Spragg, who is horrible in such an over-the-top way, Wharton seems to be satirizing the social climbers who are willing to trample on relations and customs in order to achieve material success. The older more established New York families seem to be the only ones who see Undine for what she is, and Ralph Marvell is the only truly good show more person, a tragic hero whose old ideas of marriage are not able to cope with Undine's need for riches and glory.

Some critics have called the novel a satire on marriage and divorce. Undine is a satirical character in that she is a pure consumption machine who has no character arc - she represents the voracious capitalism of the era that corrupts everyone who touches it. Elmer Moffat is the male counterpart, the crude business genius who confidently knows what he wants, which is more stuff. Everyone else resists Undine's corruption, although it is hinted that her neglected son Paul will eventually succumb to the amoral pursuits of his putative parents. show less

Even now, however, she was not always happy. She had everything she wanted, but she still felt, at times, that there were other things she might want if she knew about them.

As soon as I saw that the heroine's name was Undine Spragg I could tell that this book would be fun, and I was right. It is a satire about a social climbing golddigger from the mid-West and her attempts to marry into high society via several different husbands.

Undine is a nightmare and I started off pitying her poor parents, but then decided that they had brought it on themselves by spoiling her so badly. However, the story makes the serious point that if men keep their wives in the dark about their careers and everything else that is important to them, it is not show more surprising that their wives are empty-headed and vain as they have nothing but socialising to occupy themselves with. Undine is manipulative but stupid and would be no match for Becky Sharp, although she ends the book in a far better position in life than Becky did in Vanity Fair.

If you have the Oxford World Classics edition, leave the introduction until last as it is full of spoilers. show less