Edith Wharton and Cosmopolitanism

Edith Wharton and Cosmopolitanism explores Edith Wharton’s relation to the concept of cosmopolitanism, as it extended toward her politics, her aesthetics, and her vision of cultural differences. Essays explore Wharton’s cosmopolitan ideas and ideals, influences such as American art historian Charles Eliot Norton; her attitudes toward transatlanticism and globalization; and her art-historical discoveries in Europe. This book also calls significant attention to Wharton’s lesser-known works, including her travel writing on Europe, war writing, and other nonfiction, as well as her first novel, The Valley of Decision. It demonstrates how Wharton struggled to balance her ideas about national and local identity with cosmopolitan values throughout her career.