The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton Symbols, Allegory and Motifs

Invalid-“The Lady’s Maid’s Bell”

Hartley recounts, “The next day, when I called, she told me the lady she’d in mind was a niece of hers, a Mrs. Brympton, a youngish lady but something of an invalid, who lived all the year round at her country place on the Hudson, owing not being able to stand the fatigue of town life.” Here, the invalid is emblematic of Mrs. Brympton’s incapacitation which means that she would not be an ordinary, abled-bodied boss. Alluding to her invalidity is intended to prepare then narrator for her upcoming job.

Ghosts- “The Eyes”

The narrator recounts, “We had been put in the mood for ghost, that evening after an excellent dinner at our old Friend Culwin’s by a tale of Fred Murchard’s –the narrative of strange personal visitation." The ghosts are primary symbols in "The Eyes" based on their appearance in the exposition. They are strange considering that their manifestations are mysterious.

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