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The Descent of Man
The Descent of Man
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 2013
2 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Edith Wharton
1,500 books5,343 followersEdith Wharton emerged as one of America’s most insightful novelists, deftly exposing the tensions between societal expectation and personal desire through her vivid portrayals of upper-class life. Drawing from her deep familiarity with New York’s privileged “aristocracy,” she offered readers a keenly observed and piercingly honest vision of Gilded Age society.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
Her work reached a milestone when she became the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, awarded for The Age of Innocence. This novel highlights the constraining rituals of 1870s New York society and remains a defining portrait of elegance laced with regret.
Wharton’s literary achievements span a wide canvas. The House of Mirth presents a tragic, vividly drawn character study of Lily Bart, navigating social expectations and the perils of genteel poverty in 1890s New York. In Ethan Frome, she explores rural hardship and emotional repression, contrasting sharply with her urban social dramas.
Her novella collection Old New York revisits the moral terrain of upper-class society, spanning decades and combining character studies with social commentary. Through these stories, she inevitably points back to themes and settings familiar from The Age of Innocence. Continuing her exploration of class and desire, The Glimpses of the Moon addresses marriage and social mobility in early 20th-century America. And in Summer, Wharton challenges societal norms with its rural setting and themes of sexual awakening and social inequality.
Beyond fiction, Wharton contributed compelling nonfiction and travel writing. The Decoration of Houses reflects her eye for design and architecture; Fighting France: From Dunkerque to Belfort presents a compelling account of her wartime observations. As editor of The Book of the Homeless, she curated a moving, international collaboration in support of war refugees.
Wharton’s influence extended beyond writing. She designed her own country estate, The Mount, a testament to her architectural sensibility and aesthetic vision. The Mount now stands as an educational museum celebrating her legacy.
Throughout her career, Wharton maintained friendships and artistic exchanges with luminaries such as Henry James, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, André Gide, and Theodore Roosevelt—reflecting her status as a respected and connected cultural figure.
Her literary legacy also includes multiple Nobel Prize nominations, underscoring her international recognition. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature more than once.
In sum, Edith Wharton remains celebrated for her unflinching, elegant prose, her psychological acuity, and her capacity to illuminate the unspoken constraints of society—from the glittering ballrooms of New York to quieter, more remote settings. Her wide-ranging work—novels, novellas, short stories, poetry, travel writing, essays—offers cultural insight, enduring emotional depth, and a piercing critique of the customs she both inhabited and dissected.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 10, 2023
First published in 1903. . . Too recondite for most, but for those who have read the id title by the other author, it's hilarious! The idea of TDOM as mere satire which was misunderstood by laymen is pure gold. The hypothesis in TDOM is, in reality, so heaped with "platitude on platitude, fallacy on fallacy, and false analogy on false analogy," that it's utter nonsense. What's even more hilarious is that although it has been completely falsified by genetics and it harkens back to ancient mythology (The Metamorphoses by Ovid), it is still believed in and promulgated by the ignorant majority to this day. To put things in more scientific terms: no species has ever been proven to have produced another species and intermediate forms do not prove relationship i.e. there is phenotypic variation via the genotype e.g. in dogs, but this never has produced a new species. Ergo, there is the phenogram which plots internal and/or external taxonomic similarities without any implication of relationship and the genealogic* tree which plots relationships, but there is no phylogenic or evolutionary tree except in the mythology of TDOM etc.
*Note: not to be confused with a genetic or genotypic tree, as genetics are linked sine qua non with phenotype. Genealogy, on the other hand, is the de facto ancestor/descendent relationship established via unique and arbitrary/random genetic sequences i.e. "genetic fingerprinting".
*Note: not to be confused with a genetic or genotypic tree, as genetics are linked sine qua non with phenotype. Genealogy, on the other hand, is the de facto ancestor/descendent relationship established via unique and arbitrary/random genetic sequences i.e. "genetic fingerprinting".
December 1, 2018
This short story is truly a classic. Still relevant today. This tale has so many sides to it. Here is a scientist who writes a book as a satire, which is published to great acclaim. But is he a sellout for selling his work? Or is it just a means to further his true labor of love? There are no clear answers provided at the end. But I thoroughly enjoyed another Edith Wharton’s work.
Curious is this also a satire on The Descent of Man written by Charles Darwin?
Curious is this also a satire on The Descent of Man written by Charles Darwin?
January 22, 2018
Brilliant. Edith Wharton, without a shadow of a doubt - zerooooooooo - my favorite top three authors of all time - Marcel, Edith, and George.
Google: Edith Wharton Short Stories Librovox - and listen to "The Descent of Man" at once. Mind blowing.
Google: Edith Wharton Short Stories Librovox - and listen to "The Descent of Man" at once. Mind blowing.
July 23, 2018
Terrible
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January 26, 2023This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews