Twilight Sleep (novel)

In 1920s American Literature the motif of escape is ever present, and in Wharton’s Twilight Sleep this theme drives a melodramatic plot. Twilight sleep was a medical procedure in which pregnant women would be given a mixture of the drugs scopolamine and morphine as a way to simultaneously reduce the pain of childbirth and allow the mother to forget the experience altogether. In the novel, Lita experiences twilight sleep with the birth of her child, but she also uses twilight sleep as a metaphor for the way American’s in the 1920s seemed to do everything in their power to avoid pain and to search for quick fixes to their problems. She does this through her depictions of her characters and their own avoidances of pain and suffering.

Twilight Sleep is one of the ways that Wharton expressed her objections to modern science and its goal of relieving humans from suffering. The 1920s was a time of industrialization and Fordist thinking, where everything should be made easy and that one’s personal life could be organized to be made more efficient in the same way that one’s working life could be. Wharton was also very critical of this new way of thinking in America and her criticism plays out in Pauline’s character who subscribes to this kind of lifestyle, but is still left feeling all the pains and sorrows of human life no matter how hard she works to avoid it.[8]

Nona is the daughter of Pauline and Dexter Manford and half-sister to Jim Wyant. Nona is a flapper of the jazz age (though she identifies herself in this way more out of societal expectation then of a true want for that lifestyle)[9] and stands as the novel’s protagonist as she begins and ends the narrative. She is the driving force for the novel’s biggest plot thread, which is trying to save Jim and Lita Wyant’s marriage. Nona’s unhappiness in the novel comes from her own struggle with relationships as she is in love with the married Stanley Heuston, whose wife will not grant him a divorce.

Pauline is the mother of Nona Manford and Jim Wyant. She was previously married to Arthur Wyant with whom she got a divorce. She went on to marry her divorce attorney and current husband Dexter Manford. Pauline is an incredibly busy woman, though this busyness is entirely self-inflicted. She prefers to have every hour of her life mapped out in a schedule and when she is left with an empty hour she is pained by the prospect of trying to spontaneously fill this hour. Diane Lichtenstein asserts that Pauline’s self-proclaimed efficiency is really just a shield she uses against the pains and sufferings of life.[1]

Lita is the wife of Jim Wyant and the mother of a child, though she is seeking a divorce from Jim in the novel. Lita is the epitome of the 1920s flapper image. She’s athletic, with her favorite pass time being to go out to clubs and to dance. Her greatest aspiration is to become a movie star. She is an orphan and some critics of the novel assert that her origins are purposefully left a mystery as Lita’s character is firmly placed alongside Harlem culture and this connection and her unknown origins may hint at Lita being of a race other than white. However, some critics speak on Wharton’s use of Harlem in Twilight Sleep as nothing more than a metaphor for the oft reviled sexual liberation of white flapper women,[9] which can also be seen being represented through Lita’s character.

Arthur is Pauline's ex-husband and Jim's father. His character is viewed by the others as infirm and old-fashioned. Arthur is of the old New York society and his character and his relationship to Pauline (a character representative of new wealth) Serve as a representation of new wealth invading the old wealth of New York.[9]

During the 1920s, media platforms such as advertisements and film began to surface with the goal of popularizing this new idea of the perfect female body. With the trending use of cosmetics, as well as cosmetic surgery, becoming more available during this time, women, in particular, pounced on the idea of altering their bodies accordingly to fit in with these standards.[10] Edith Wharton’s 1927 novel Twilight Sleep, reflects these similar trends in a number of ways.

The novel essentially has three main female protagonists, and readers follow their daily lives throughout the novel. These main characters being Pauline, Lita and Nona. Each of these female characters has a different relationship with their body, and each has taken on a different literary role concerning 1920s technology of the female body. Beginning with Pauline, she has used new technological advances of the time, in order to work on tailoring her body to the 1920s idea of perfection. From the very beginning of the novel we see how Pauline Manford has an extremely busy schedule, full of techniques that she believes will alter her body and mind.[11] As she makes her many attempts at rejuvenating her body, she often forgets about her own children and has very little time for them as a result. In addition to this Pauline’s body is constantly on the move, making her one of the most efficient characters in this sense. Her body is consistently at work and goes from either running her home to achieving her many public duties outside of the home. As a female character set in the 1920s, Pauline spends a huge amount of time working and improving on her body and image.

On the other hand, Lita is the character within the novel who serves as the overall image of these new beauty standards. While this does come with a downfall as well, as the women in Lita’s life try to prevent her body from being used to attract men. For example, Nona follows Lita to multiple parties with the idea of keeping an eye on her. While Pauline attempts to talk Lita out of getting involved in movies and dancing, and instead pushes her towards focusing on being a housewife. Whereas Nona undergoes the pain of always comparing herself to Lita, and feeling as though she is hidden behind Lita’s shadow. Although at the end of the novel, this is the same body that saves her family, as she essentially takes a bullet for them.[12] Unlike her mother, Nona remains skeptical of these new technologies used on women’s exterior, and is the character who ends up staying most true to herself.

The most prominent theme in Twilight Sleep is the dysfunctional relationships that the characters have with one another. This is especially significant in terms of romantic relationships, marriage, and divorce. In the 1920s, marriage was a key life goal for women, but divorce was becoming more acceptable and the number of divorced couples was on the rise. This cultural shift is what Wharton chooses to focus on in Twilight Sleep. Through her characters, Wharton seemingly asserts that these breakdowns in relationships are tied to a lack of communication and sense of identity within the characters. All of the characters in this novel struggle to understand themselves and this makes it nearly impossible for them to understand each other.[2] This lack of communication and moments of misunderstanding can be most clearly seen with Pauline and her interactions with others, especially with her husband Dexter. During a dinner party she feels that she’s done something special for Dexter when she sets him next to Mrs. Toy, believing that Dexter gains pleasure from flirting with her. In reality Dexter has no social interest in Mrs. Toy and it isn’t until later that he has a purely sexual interest and has an affair with her.

Wharton’s characters are a display of the modern personalities of the 1920s, personalities that are often dull, shallow, and selfish. The characters’ need for a stronger sense of self identity leads them to be selfish and hold no loyalties to those they have relationships with Lita is a perfect example of this as she becomes increasingly bored with her life and her relationships.[2] She wants more for herself and continuing to be married to Jim does not fit into the identity she is seeking for herself.

The characters’ inability to communicate and self-identify are key factors in the breakdown of their relationships and the divorce/want for a divorce that result. Twilight Sleep shows the shift in the cultural perception of marriage from a symbol of wholeness and personal completion to that of a burden on one’s self-identity.[2]