The New Age of Divorce and Social Darwinism in ‘the Other Two’

Published in 1904, Edith Wharton’s "The Other Two" explores the infancy of divorce within New York’s middle-class society by utilizing the concept of the futile struggle to escape social forces that are out of one’s control. In addition to that, the story presents consequences of this change in social system in the form of social Darwinism, which is observed through the characteristics of Waythorn’s wife, Alice.

Wharton uses Alice’s divorces with Haskett and Varick in order to reveal the true nature of society’s attitude towards the notion of divorce. It was a relatively new concept at the time to have gained society’s approval, especially that of a woman instigating the separation. However, with her amiable personality, Alice is easily given the image of “the injured wife” – the victim of the whole tribulation – and naturally “took on an air of sanctity.” Certainly, her luck had played a role in this helpful outcome as her first husband Haskett was never met by her friends and acquaintances, and so “it was easy to believe the worst of him”; and her second husband Varick was known to have possessed a temperament that resulted in even his “staunchest supporters” admitting “that he was not meant for matrimony.” A woman seeking divorce would be obliged to give up all the advantages of matrimony, such as wealth and security. So, not only does the public empathize with Alice’s separation, but also perceives her as courageous and independent, thus making her automatically worthy of “a diploma of virtue”.

Yet, it appears that society has unconsciously installed a limit to the number of times a woman can remarry, rather than get divorced. “…when it was known that she was to marry Waythorn there was a momentary reaction. Her best friends would have preferred to see her remain in the role of the injured wife.” Whether Alice’s friends would have felt the same way if she were to divorce for a third time, instead of marry for a third time, is an ambiguous question open for suggestion. However, what can be irrefutably noted is that society has its own ideas of divorce and marriage, whereby the public’s opinions of an individual’s personal life choices are concerned. Even Waythorn receives criticism for announcing his marriage to the “popular” Alice whose past divorces are obviously no private matter to New York’s middle-class community.

It is therefore evident that society romanticizes Alice’s situation as a divorcee. Her friends had been pleased with Alice’s second separation and getaway from an unhappy, “stormy” marriage which places her in a position of the helpless victim in a marital conflict. This idea of her that society established is linked to the image of purity: “A New York divorce is in itself a diploma of virtue”. Perhaps this sentence indicates that at the time, only in New York would a divorce result in a certificate of virtuousness; and Alice’s marriage to Waythorn would remove her from this persona of a sanctified victim. It is this certification of Alice’s righteousness that society does not want to relinquish.

After Alice marries Waythorn, Alice’s personality is brought to light: first as a “fresh” and “elastic” woman of “unperturbed gaiety” which appropriately balances his “gray” and uninteresting character and lifestyle. Then, after befriending her two former husbands and beginning to doubt the true causes of the termination of Alice’s previous marriages, Waythorn finds his wife disturbingly compliant to the extent where he compares her to the saying: “as easy as an old shoe” – “a shoe that too many feet had worn. Her elasticity was the result of tension in too many different directions”.

Although this illustration of Alice’s “adaptability” is relayed in a reproachful manner, it can be concluded that by the end of the story, her docility is not a harmful trait at all but in fact, merely a part of her versatility. She has simply accommodated herself to suit each of her husbands’ varying personalities. She is, in her own way, democratic: by adjusting herself to please all her husbands. This feature reflects the concept of social Darwinism, which is the notion that humans, like animals and plants, compete in the struggle for survival, or in a more common term: survival of the fittest.

In order to survive, Alice left her old husbands and even her old ways. She surmounts her obstacles and leaves unemotionally attached to her past. This consequently results in her flexibility, which causes her to naturally appease everyone and therefore giving Waythorn the impression that she does not possess an identity or any “will” of her own. So, just as how the theory of social Darwinism delineates, Alice demonstrates the capability of a woman to survive in a meddling society by adapting to new situations that benefit her.

In the end, Edith Wharton proved to her readers that it is possible for divorces to lead to satisfaction and end in mutual understanding. The brotherly companionship formed by Haskett, Varick and Waythorn served as a healthy example for the 19th century’s new age of divorce ; highlighting the idea of adjustment which leads to eventual maturity.