The Choice by Edith Wharton (1916)
Cobham Stilling, the wealthiest and most self-important man in the Highfield summer colony, dominates a dinner party at the Red House, boasting endlessly about his new motor-boat to his guests — the Rector Mr. Swordsley and his wife, the Granger siblings, and young Jack Emmerton — while his wife Isabel sits silently at her embroidery. Her only real communication is a glance exchanged with Austin Wrayford, a lawyer and family friend who has come to discuss Stilling's finances. After the guests leave, Stilling chides Isabel for her dullness at dinner, then asks Wrayford to break bad financial news to her: Stilling has lost a large sum again and needs her to sign a promissory note for fifty thousand dollars. Stilling also swears Wrayford to secrecy about a separate, worse matter — that he has also lost his mother's securities — insisting he will tell his mother himself, since she idolizes him and he doesn't want Isabel's harsher judgment to color the disclosure. That night Wrayford goes down to the boat-house, a structure Stilling built years earlier for rowing and canoeing before abandoning it for motor sports; its floor slides open on runners over the lake, recently oiled by the boatman. Isabel meets him there in secret, as she evidently has many times before. In the darkness they discuss Stilling's losses, and Wrayford presses her to leave her husband. Isabel refuses, citing their son's attachment to his father and her loyalty to Stilling's proud, trusting old mother, who must never learn the truth of her son's failures. Wrayford tells her the full truth Stilling withheld — that he has ruined his mother financially too. Pressed by Wrayford about whether she has any hope for the future, Isabel confesses she wishes only for her husband's death, and pours out, in anguished detail, how she prays daily for an accident to kill him, resents his robust health and self-care, and dreads waking to find him still alive. Their exchange is interrupted by Stilling's drunken singing as he approaches down the path, having come to check on the launch before an anticipated storm. Isabel and Wrayford, trapped, realize they cannot escape without being discovered. Wrayford pulls back the sliding floor to reveal the black water below. When Stilling enters and fumbles into the boat-house in the dark, he stumbles into the open trapdoor and falls into the lake with a splash and a cry. Wrayford plunges in after him. From above, Isabel hears the two men struggling in the water; she extends an oar into the darkness, and Stilling seizes it, gasping for her to hold on, and she hauls him up, exhausted and bleeding-palmed. But when she calls for Wrayford and reaches for a second oar, there is no answer — Stilling, gasping that he felt Wrayford lose his hold as he himself came up, cannot save him. The narrative closes with Isabel, dazed, overhearing her husband — now surrounded by lantern-bearing rescuers — melodramatically eulogizing his "poor" friend Austin while expressing relief and self-regarding wonder at his own miraculous escape, wishing aloud that Wrayford could have known he, Stilling, was saved.
By Edith Wharton · First published 1916 · Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction · 2 chapters · 6,709 words
First lines
Stilling, that night after dinner, had surpassed himself. He always did,
Wrayford reflected, when the small fry from Highfield came to dine. He,
What this Textopian page supports
The Choice is listed on Textopian as a novel by Edith Wharton, dated 1916 CE.
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- Work type: Novel
- Author: Edith Wharton
- Date: 1916 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Realistic Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction, Drama
- Length: 6,709 words
- Structure: 2 chapters, 184 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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Discussion starters
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Genres
- Realistic Fiction — The Choice is a realistic fiction novel that follows the story of a young woman, Fanny, as she navigates the complexities of life and love in the late 19th century. The novel is set in a realistic world and explores themes of love, family, and social class.
- Romance — The Choice is a romantic novel that follows the story of Fanny and her two suitors, Stephen and Arthur. The novel explores the complexities of love and relationships, and ultimately Fanny must make a difficult choice between the two men.
- Historical Fiction — The Choice is set in the late 19th century and is written in the style of Edith Wharton, a renowned author of the time. The novel explores the social and cultural norms of the era, and the characters must navigate the expectations of their society.
- Drama — The Choice is a dramatic novel that follows the story of Fanny and her two suitors. The novel is filled with tension and emotion as Fanny must make a difficult decision between the two men, and the consequences of her choice will have a lasting impact on her life.
Tags
Fiction · Married people · Short stories · Triangles (Interpersonal relations) · austin · back · boat · door · go · good · got · hand