• Asma Alameroo

  Author

As an Arabic woman, I can relay a saying that Arabs have; it goes along the lines of “money is a woman’s best and most honest friend.” I grew up with these words in my head; however, I did not completely realize their purpose and wisdom until I got married. Additionally, my parents and uncles have always advised me to study hard in order to get a good, gentle job (that is, not physically strenuous) such as my current job, lecturer at King Khaled University. They want me to earn money and then establish a business. Furthermore, I keep studying because I love my school and want to learn more, not to do what they want me to do. After getting married, I further realized the significance of having money. They want me to be an independent woman because Islam allows men to marry four women (in my particular case, my husband can marry three women), but requires a husband to be just with all of his wives. They want me to be ready in case anything that might make life more challenging for me happens in the future.
In re-reading Summer, I have noticed that Edith Wharton wants women to be independent, rather than dependent. She tries to direct women’s focus to the importance of work. Moreover, she focuses on “how the life of the individual is shaped…” (Vasshaug 1). Her work in Summer shows us that she comes from a line of feminist thinking that, during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was trying to note that women’s destinies should be shaped by more than who one chooses as a marriage partner. As Barry notes:
Feminists pointed out, for example, that in nineteenth-century fiction very few women work for a living, unless they are driven to it by dire necessity. Instead, the focus of interest is on the heroine’s choice of marriage partner, which will decide her ultimate social position and exclusively determine her happiness and fulfilment in life, or her lack of these. (117)
The novel Summer was published in 1917. The events start with Charity stands on “the doorstep” of Royall’s house ; the fact that Mr. Royall gives her this name (signifying pity or support for those in need) reminds her where she came from (an environment of abject poverty, having come from the Mountain of North Dormer) (Wharton 1). Furthermore, at the end of the novel Charity is pushed to marry Mr. Royall for the need of money.

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