“Wharton through a Kristevan Lens: The Maternality of The Gods Arrive.”

Olin-Ammentorp, Julie. “Wharton through a Kristevan Lens: The Maternality of The Gods Arrive.” Wretched Exotic: Essays on Edith Wharton in Europe. Eds. Katherine Joslin and Alan Price. New York. Peter Lang, 1993. 295-312

Quotation

1.          “Wharton has not made the error of ignoring maternality, nor of seeing it as a merely pragmatic experience—a necessary but routine job. If Wharton ends her career emphasizing a fantasy of motherhood more than the experience, it is to insist on the essential importance—essential for adult men and women as for children—of maternality in a culture that chooses to continue both biologically and culturally.” (Olin-Ammentorp p. 309-310)