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Edith Wharton is well known for her vivid descriptions of wealthy, upper class New York society and their old-fashioned mores. The Custom of the Country illustrates not only the strict values of ‘old money,' from which Wharton herself descended, but, also, the variance in customs held by those with new money, as well as those from other states and abroad. Two of the novel's main characters that attempt to join this society exemplify the conflicts they face as their imbedded small-town, yet, somewhat modern values clash with those of New York society, further demonstrating the shift of values in American society near the end of the Gilded Age. As Undine Spragg and her family move to New York in hopes of securing a fortune and social status by marrying into one of the famously rich families, Elmer Moffat endeavors to make a name for himself in one of the most notoriously wealthy cities of the country. Wharton reveals how difficult it was for these two characters to penetrate the......

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Approximate Word Count: 1879
Approximate Pages: 8 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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