I really, really loved your comparison of characters from two different books facing the same moral quandary!
And I agree--those examinations of conscience that great stories open us up to are so convicting!
I just finished North and South and the strength of these Victorian heroines is so heartening in light of the popular moral code of our place and time (and Wharton's). My sister and I watched the miniseries afterwards and we both discussed how wild it is that Margaret Hale's lie in the book causes her so much distress, but it's completely glanced over as being justifiable in the movie.
I haven't read Age of Innocence but Custom of the Country just blew me away. I want to read my way through her whole oeuvre. Wharton is dead on about human nature and writes about it so compellingly!
I really, really loved your comparison of characters from two different books facing the same moral quandary!
And I agree--those examinations of conscience that great stories open us up to are so convicting!
I just finished North and South and the strength of these Victorian heroines is so heartening in light of the popular moral code of our place and time (and Wharton's). My sister and I watched the miniseries afterwards and we both discussed how wild it is that Margaret Hale's lie in the book causes her so much distress, but it's completely glanced over as being justifiable in the movie.
I haven't read Age of Innocence but Custom of the Country just blew me away. I want to read my way through her whole oeuvre. Wharton is dead on about human nature and writes about it so compellingly!
Thank you for this!