There are serious 2020 quarantine vibes in Edith Wharton’s first published short story.
Edith Wharton’s first published short story, “Mrs. Manstey’s View,” was accepted on this day one hundred and twenty-nine years ago, in the year of our lord 1891, by the clever folks at Scribner’s magazine. I sat down to read the tale of a ruminative New York widow this morning and found it eerily appropriate for our current moment. Consider, if you will, the particulars:
(i) Mrs. Manstey is confined to her New York City apartment, her view of the world restricted to what can be seen through a single window.
(ii) Her enthusiasm for corresponding with a family member on the other side of the country is waning by the day.
(iii) She daydreams about moving to the country, where she can have a garden and keep chickens.
(iv) She obsesses over the (sometimes aberrant) behavior of her neighbors.
(v) A Rear Window-esque monomania has begun to set in…
Perhaps I’m projecting. Give it a read and judge for yourselves.
