Angel at the Grave by Edith Wharton Analysis

There are however some women that break away from the cycle and in their determination to do things out of ordinary make them to shine in the society. An example of such kind of a woman is Edith Wharton who lived from the year 1862 to 1937. She was born in a period that a woman's life was very restrictive and controlled and it was considered that a ladies only achievement would be having a proper marriage. Edith, however, managed to break away from the cycle and from her early childhood she had an exemplary performance. Born to a wealthy family Edith spent much of her young life in France and her desire to make a difference in the society was evident to all.

The author of the Angel at the grave uses her vast experience in gender-related problems to address matters relating to the masculine superiority. She believed that a woman was destined to doing more than just house chores. Having divorced her husband just before the world war Edith uses her writing knowledge to ensure that things that she wanted to be addressed in the society. The story is mainly used to address gender inferiority that was being faced by the women in the society (Port, 10). She uses Paulina who is the main character in the story to show that a woman does not have to rely on a man in order in order to make it in life. Edith had the same attitude in her life and spent much of her time developing humanitarian organizations to cater for the poor and sick in the society especially to the people that had been affected by tuberculosis during the world war.

Imagery is a literary device that is majorly used in the story by the writer in the story to make certain inscription towards certain messages that she seeks to be addressed. Imagery is strong literary devices used for making the comparison to allow a theme come out more clearly as the reader has to do an analysis on the device and in the process understand the story better hence coming to terms with the message that the author wants to put across. The use of biblical imagery has been so important to the story to improve in making the heroine described in the story to be morally strong and more to present her as a visionary woman full of proper morals and respect (Angel, 173).

Her duty towards the kind of service that she engages in is considered to be a sacred task that she has to undertake no matter what. The tomb is symbolism of the reality versus the hopes that do not get to be achieved. It is in the virtual tomb that Pauline realizes she is lonely yet again and much of what she had desired to achieve it was not possible to get to the final mark despite her loyalty. Her aspiration and what she gets, in reality, are totally different. Edith's life can be described to have been characterized by a lot of hopes that were hard to achieve as she uses Pauline description. In conclusion, the writer of the story uses stories to describe facts that she has faced in the real life to address them as issues in the society.

 Edith Wharton Review 31. Singley, Carol J. and Robert Thacker. Wharton and Cather.  American Literary Scholarship 2014.