William Dean Howells’s short story Editha is about a young woman (Editha) who encourages her fiance (George) to become a soldier, focusing entirely on her beliefs about war and her desire to have a “hero” for a husband while completely ignoring both his hesitations and the realities of war itself.
Editha was written in response to the Spanish-American war and the incredible support Americans had for this struggle. Most viewed the war as a way to grant freedom for the Cubans who, at the time, were fighting for the same independence America fought for during the revolution, only instead of England being the ruling power, it was Spain. (Belasco and Johnson 112)
Many failed to see or even question the other motives pushing the war ahead which we now know resulted in America’s taking over of many formerly-Spanish colonies, an imperialist move rather than an action to spread freedom. Furthermore, war was something distant to the American public, except perhaps in the South, and many focused on the glorious aspects of the war instead of its true horrors. This American mindset is epitomized in the character Editha.
Editha , a pushy woman from New York, has specific ideas about how the world works and where she wants her future to fit in that world. She has an almost-perfect fianc© who allows her to shape him to fit her idealized model, even to the point of putting his views and safety on the backburner; and she lives in a country she sees as completely correct in all aspects, deserving of the highest sacrifices. The problem is that Editha, like many who’ve only known war through word-of-mouth, did not have any real awareness of what sacrifice really entailed.
Throughout the story, Editha employs many tactics to get George to join the war. She uses argument, most notably the religious argument, saying “God meant it to be war.” (115) This likely appealed more to George than the idea of joining of the war for American glory or because of the newspaper buzzwords that Editha was prone to quote since George had initially intended to be a minister.
She continues this pushy manipulation even after he agrees to consider joining by writing a letter that bluntly states that she cannot marry a man who does not “love his country first of all.” (116) In other words, she’s telling George to go to war or she will not marry him. It’s difficult to determine whether she’s really at all interested in supporting her country or if her true motive is simply, as she stated earlier, having him “do something worthy to have won her- be a hero, her hero — ” (113) Although she doesn’t hand him the letter until after he has signed up for the war, she still gives it to him as an encouragement, saying “Read it if ever you doubt what you’ve done, or fear that I regret your having done it.” (117)
These behaviors and beliefs in Editha are examples of the impression Howells had about the views of the American public at the time, and most still hold true today. There was great support for the war by people who have never known it nor would they have to fight it; there was a sense that America acted out of unquestionable righteousness regardless of what it chose to do; there was the rage directed at the enemy fueled by media portrayals; and finally, there was the desire to sacrifice for the country, but not actually sacrifice oneself. This was characteristic of America’s mindset at the time, and all of these were brought to light in Editha .
While Editha does finally learn that war can result in death after George dies in combat, it is difficult to know if she actually learns a lesson from this. Granted, she does mourn his passing, but she never curses or even questions the brutality of war. This is probably because, as stated previously, there is still that distance. She did not see his body blown apart on the battlefield nor did she hear tales of the terrors; she saw a paper with his name among the deceased. In her mind, war is still very clean, very necessary.
A chance for ethical and emotional growth is missed when Editha casts George’s mother off as “not quite in her right mind.” (122) His mother had rightfully pointed out how Editha had sent the timid George off to war to “kill the sons of those miserable mothers and husbands of those girls that you would never see the faces of.” (121) Where Editha idealized war, George’s mother understood it for the tragedy it was , and tried to show Editha, or likely insult her, with these harsh truths about what George was facing over there.
Instead of changing her worldview, Editha seems surprised by his mother’s reaction, choosing to view her as crazy instead of correct. And upon returning home, she is further convinced of this when faced with a girl with a mindset much like her own, who, while painting Editha’s portrait, characterizes Geroge’s mother’s behavior as vulgar. After this affirming conversation, it is stated that Editha ” — rose from the groveling in shame and self-pity, and began to live again in the ideal.”(122) Everything is back to normal.
Again, Howells is saying something about the American attitude about war. Even when the war is explained or exemplified with fallen soldiers, several will continue to stick to their ideals rather than reevaluate and admit wrongness. It’s easier to say “he died for our country” when you refuse to admit that your country can make mistakes or even purposely does wrong upon others. If Editha had changed her views, she would have had to admit to herself that she sent George off to die in a war fought for the wrong reasons. Why live with that level of guilt when you can just pretend he died doing what he wanted to do for very noble purposes? Editha, as many Americans did and still do, chose to see the facts in a way that limited her fault, remaining ignorant, and thereby innocent, of any blame.
Source:
Belasco, Susan, and Linck C. Johnson. “Editha.” The Bedford Anthology of American Literature. Vol. 2. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 113-24. Print.
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