The Other Two (short story)

"The Other Two" is a short story written by Edith Wharton. It was published in Collier’s Weekly on February 13, 1904. It is known by critics as the best story she has written out of her nearly 90 stories . Wharton writes about marriage, divorce and social class through the eyes of businessman Mr. Waythorn, shortly after he married two-time divorcee Alice, whom he is accepting of. We see Mr. Waythorn's views called into question when he meets both of Alice's ex-husbands, "the other two", Mr. Haskett and Mr. Varick.

Plot Summary

In The Other Two by Edith Wharton, the short story follows Waythorn, a man who’s recently married Alice, a woman with two previous marriages, and revolves around Waythorn’s fears and insecurities that he feels regarding his new wife and her divorces. At first, Waythorn is okay with Alice’s past, but things get complicated when he has to deal with both of the ex-husbands, Mr. Haskett and Gus Varick .

The Waythorns' marriage appears to be set off kilter when Alice’s daughter Lily fall

The Other Two

Author	Edith Wharton
Publication date	February 13, 1904

s ill, forcing the two to return quickly from their honeymoon along with Alice’s first husband, Mr. Haskett, back into their lives. Haskett decides he needs to stay involved in the child’s life, and therefore Mrs.Waythorn allows him to show up at the Waythorn’s house in order to visit Lily.

Later on, Varick ends up crossing paths with Waythorn in business and the two decide to continue a business relationship. As Waythorn continues to interact with these men, he starts seeing Alice differently; readers see Waythorn’s views toward his wife change as he learns more about her ex-husbands and the lives she had previously lived with them. He realizes that she’s changed herself to fit the needs of her past husbands, and this unsettles him.

The story ends with a chance meeting of all four adults involved in this twisted rectangle of relationships revolving around Mrs.Waythorn. This awkward scene where Waythorn, Alice, and her ex-husbands are coincidentally all together, makes Waythorn come to terms with Alice’s past and the fact that relationships are more complicated than he previously thought.

The Other Two short story is not only a commentary on the awkwardness that comes with divorce, marriage and new beginnings, but also pokes at the idea of how people adapt in relationships and what it means to accept someone’s history.

Setting

Edith Wharton's "The Other Two" story is set in early 1900s New York City and focuses on the city's upper-class social circles. It regularly takes place in the Waythorns' luxurious home, which represents the period's extravagant way of life. It is set in a time when divorce is not common and is often looked down on by society. The story takes place in New York City during the end of the Gilded Age, a time in American history following the Civil War that was marked by fast urbanization, industrialization, and economic expansion. Elite upper-class neighborhoods started to emerge in urban areas as more people relocated there and more businessmen began accumulating personal wealth.

Character summaries

Mr. Waythorn: Alice's current husband. The story is told from Mr. Waythorn's point of view; readers see his wife as he sees her. Mr. Waythorn is a successful businessman who, based on his arrogance when he learns that Alice most likely has lower-class ancestry, seems to have been born into an upper-class life. Mr. Waythorn has social connections and is wealthy. In addition, he is initially gullible and stupid, missing numerous warning signs regarding his twice-divorced wife. He would rather see her projecting herself, all light and tenderness. At first, he views her as his property. But as the narrative progresses, he will develop a new perspective on his wife that will lead to his bitterness and criticism.

Alice Waythorn: A twice-divorced woman who has recently remarried. She is the mother to Lily Haskett, the wife to Mr. Waythorn, and the ex-wife to Mr. Varick and Mr. Haskett. Alice is attractive; she is slim, light, and radiant. She is effortless, calm, and extremely socially skilled. Mr. Waythorn initially appreciates this composure. But over time, Waythorn discovers that Alice is dishonest and has given him false information about her past. He starts to see that she is a cruel social climber who married him for prestige rather than out of love or affection. Her beautiful exterior, which hides a morally dead interior, starts to annoy him.

Mr. Gus Varick: Alice's second husband, Varick, is also a successful businessman and a sophisticated foodie. A few years ago, when he was broke, Varick tells Waythorn that he would have sold his soul for the money he has now. Waythorn has heard stories that Alice and Varick were divorced over money, and this makes him think of those rumors. When the three men meet at the end of the novel, Alice offers Varick the most attention, suggesting that she prefers him above Haskett and Waythorn.

Mr. Haskett: Alice's first husband and the father of her daughter. He is not as well off as Varick or Waythorn. Alice represents Mr. Haskett to Waythorn as almost barbaric. But when Waythorn encounters him, he finds himself meeting a shy, gentle father who adores his daughter and is very protective of her, even going to great lengths to live close to her.

Lily Haskett: The daughter of Alice and her first husband, Mr. Haskett. Lily lives with her mother and Mr. Waythorn but is adored by her biological father. She is extremely ill with typhoid at the beginning of “The Other Two,” prompting Mr. Haskett to come to visit her, but she improves steadily as the story progresses.

Mr. Sellers: He is the senior partner at Mr. Waythorn’s office. His absence due to illness leads to Mr. Waythorn and Mr. Varick meeting.

Themes

Marriage and fidelity

The story begins with the newlywed Waythorns returning from their honeymoon with a description of why Waythorn had been drawn to his wife; "her unperturbed gaiety which kept her fresh and elastic at an age when most women's activities are growing either slack or febrile" . However, when Mrs. Waythorn's previous husbands begin to get involved, Mr. Waythorn must discern his feelings towards them and his wife's past.

Social class and status

Alice Waythorn has had two divorces and yet was able to secure herself a third husband. At this point in time, society was not openly accepting of divorces and men were less likely to marry women who had previous divorces. However, Alice's divorces are described as New York divorces which "is in itself a diploma of virtue" . Being able to afford a New York divorce which allows Alice to escape judgement of society at this time, let alone two, shows how high up in the social ranks that Alice is.

Isolation

Throughout this short story Mr.Waythorn must navigate how alienated he feels as he discovers his wife's past relations. Each character must navigate their own feelings of isolation as the husbands begin to interact with each other and form relationships. Haskett has such an effect on Waythorn that Wharton describes him as being uncomfortable in his own house; "It was Haskett's presence in his own house that made the situation so intolerable" .

Reception and Literary Criticism

Wharton published The Other Two in 1904, one year before the publication of The House of Mirth . At this point, Wharton has already made a name for herself, and The Other Two adds to her growing list of works focused around marriage and social class. This story serves as an example of Wharton's continuously explored themes of marriage, gender roles, and societal issues as audiences found it to be relatable and relevant at the time.

Gerard M. Sweeney, a professor at the University of Akron before his passing, focused on The Other Two in his article titled "Wharton's The Other Two". Sweeney's article details the sometimes overlooked relationship between Alice and Lily. The article begins to describe the history of typhoid using outside sources and comparisons to other works of writing that were written around the same time as The Other Two, and explains how this illness affects the mother-daughter dynamic throughout the short story.

Paul R Petrie, a member of the Southern Connecticut State University faculty, refers to the feminist aspects of Wharton's The Other Two in his article titled "Fantastic Effigy". Petrie discusses in his article the way that Wharton’s feminist ideas perhaps influenced how the masculinity in the story was conveyed. Proposing the idea that assigning a male narrator to her stories means that Wharton provides her male characters an authority over the story, Petrie goes on to argue this using other sources of analysis and the short story itself as support.

Donna Campbell, a professor of English at the Washington State University, writes about The Other Two in her article titled "The Ghost Story as Structure in Edith Wharton's The Other Two". Campbell discusses how while The Other Two may not be a ghost story in actuality, it has a similar structure to the ghost stories that Wharton wrote. Campbell breaks the story into five different sections and pulls quotes from the short story in order to argue her stance along with discussing how the social situations of the story provide a comedic aspect for the readers.