Review of "The Custom of the Country" by Edith Wharton

Set in New York City during the Gilded Age, “The Custom of the Country” by Edith Wharton follows the life of Undine Spragg as she attempts to climb the social ladder in New York high society after moving to Manhattan from Apex City, a town in the Midwest. In her attempts to climb this social ladder, she marries and remarries, constantly unsatisfied with her husband’s personalities and social standings as she burns through the money they provide for her. Over time, she begins to visit Europe, specifically France, more often. However, after her numerous marriages, the birth of her son, who she barely ever sees, and loads of money used up, Undine still remains unsatisfied with her position, and it becomes clear she may never be.

The most prominent theme in this novel is marriage and divorce and the optics of each. Undine marries several times on her never-ending path of climbing the social ladder, with each marriage promising a new height that she previously couldn’t reach but ends up throwing away to reach even higher. However, divorce in the Gilded Age is not something to be proud of, and in many cases with ultra-millionaires during this period, New York considered a divorce to be an unfathomable scandal. Undine, however, as a stubborn, greedy young girl, confronts this backlash without much care. Undine’s carelessness however, turns into an even greater issue after the birth of her first and only son, Paul. Paul grows up generally alone or with whoever his father figure is at that time, while Undine travels and spends money, rarely referring to her child by his name, but rather as “the boy.” Undine’s carelessness extends past Paul and reaches to her own money-spending habits and the ignorance with which she treats her husbands’ pleas to cut back on her spending. As Undine goes to parties and extravagant meals with her social circles, and her husbands often stay home with Paul or simply stay alone, “Custom of the Country” also exhibits a shocking switch of gender roles. Undine decides what’s fashionable, what she wants next, and who she surrounds herself with, and her perception and understanding of what is “in” and what is “out” relative to her position on the social ladder constantly changes. However, she does it all for the public gaze and for her image, and by the end of the novel, readers can all see how pointless and silly “custom[s] of the country” are. Undine has overturned her whole life to follow them, but at the cost of her own satisfaction and the happiness and peace of many others.