Edith Wharton’s Ghost Stories: (Oct. 29) A Master of Menace and Unease

Edith Wharton, best known for Realist novels of class and manners in Old New York, is less known for her mastery of the ghost story form. In 1937 Wharton published “Ghosts,” 11 tales of ambiguity and dark, lurking menace. Why the gothic? She admitted to the paradox, “I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’m afraid of them.” She attributed her life-long fascination with the gothic ghost story to a childhood episode of typhoid fever in which she nearly died. Wharton woke to “a world haunted by formless horrors” and slept with a light on well into her adult years. The protagonists sense a threatening presence, and the silent isolation of a remote home heightens the chill of a formless fear. The results fulfill her test for a successful ghost story: “If it sends a shiver down one’s spine it has done its job and done it well.”

This seminar will consider selected stories from the “Ghosts” collection, all of which are available free online.

Mary Murphy, Ph.D., received her doctorate in English and American Literature from New York University. Her expertise is in the 19^th-century American novel. Newport artists and writers are an area of particular interest. Mary taught English and literature at Fairfield University for many years before retiring to Newport.