artist as moralist: Edith Wharton's revisions to the Last Chapter of The Custom of the Country, The

Papers on Language and Literature, Winter 2001 by MacNaughton, William R

The blatant editorializing evinced by the addition of "even" is unusual in this chapter: almost without exception, Wharton's practice is to try to create the illusion that readers are being allowed to respond freely to their own observations (even though what and how they observe are controlled by Wharton's values). At this point, however, she seemed to have felt the need to reveal clearly her own moral perspective on the action, probably because Undine had been presented with some sympathy earlier in Book V. Cynthia Griffin Wolf argues, for example, that during Undine's exile at Saint Desert, the aptly named de Chelles country estate, "we are tempted to chafe with this bright spirit, whose radiant ebullience has been unnaturally eclipsed" (241) .5 Another important revision takes place in the chapter's fourth paragraph when Paul thinks of Raymond de Chelles. Originally, the section had read, "& the stepfather he had been most used to, and fondest of, had suddenly disappeared from his life" (649); in the book it becomes "and the father he had been most used to, and liked best, had abruptly disappeared from his life" (emphasis mine, CC 1003). The substitution of "father" for "stepfather" suggests the emotional commitment Paul has made to de Chelles; "abruptly" (from the Latin abrumpere, to break off) suggests the child's belief that this commitment is not shared because de Chelles has broken off not only "suddenly" but also "curtly" or "brusquely." 6

The first section ends by focusing on Paul's memories of his new room, which is for him the "loneliest spot in the whole house" because all links-such as toys or books-to his personal past have been expunged. Several contrasts between the original version of this part and the book are worth examining. In the original version, Paul, reflecting on servants who cannot find anything belonging to him, thinks "they were new each time he came back" (649), which becomes "they were always new" in the book (CC 1004). Through the tightening and resulting change in rhythm, with the stress now falling on "always," Wharton more clearly suggests Paul's frustration. The room itself, in manuscript, is described as seeming "the strangest and loneliest spot in the whole house" (649); in the book Wharton has excised "strangest," thus adding emphasis to the part of Paul's experience she centers on throughout. In another description, Wharton informs readers of Paul's embarrassment because of the "newness and sumptuousness of the room." In the manuscript, she emphasized the embarrassment by writing "the white fur rugs and brocade chairs seemed wickedly on the watch for smears and ink-spots" (650); in the book, "wickedly" has been replaced by "maliciously" (CC 1004); thus Wharton suggests more strongly the unhealthy way in which Paul has personalized the room's relationship to his unhappiness, because "maliciously" implies a desire to inflict an injury on someone. In a final significant change, Wharton allows Paul's desultory thinking to take place in the library, rather than the drawing room, where the boy stood in the manuscript. Through this change, Wharton subtly introduces a motif she later emphasizes: the importance of Paul's relationship to books, one that links him ironically to his dead and barely remembered father; this relationship will, it is implied, eventually be threatened because of his mother's indifference to reading and his stepfather's desire to push him into a business environment.