The Other Two Flashcards
by Edith Wharton — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: The Other Two
What event forces the Waythorns to cut short their honeymoon?
Lily Haskett, Alice's daughter from her first marriage, falls ill with typhoid fever.
Why does Haskett begin visiting the Waythorn home?
The courts grant him visitation rights, and since Lily is too sick to travel, he must come to the house to see her.
How does Waythorn end up handling Varick's business affairs?
His partner Sellers falls ill with gout, and Varick's investment deal can't wait, so Waythorn must step in as the only one who knows the details.
What reveals that Alice once prepared cognac in coffee for Varick?
She automatically pours cognac into Waythorn's coffee -- a habit from her marriage to Varick -- and they both realize the slip when Waythorn says he doesn't take cognac.
What complaint does Haskett bring to Waythorn about Lily's care?
He objects to the French governess, saying she is teaching Lily to be underhanded and untruthful.
What does Alice lie to Waythorn about after Haskett's first visit?
She tells Waythorn she let the nurse see Haskett, but she actually saw him herself and even discussed the governess with him.
What happens in the final scene of the story?
Waythorn, Haskett, and Varick all end up in the library at the same time, and Alice enters and gracefully serves tea to all three husbands.
How does Waythorn react to the final tea scene?
He takes the third cup of tea with a laugh, suggesting resigned acceptance of the absurd situation.
Who is Alice Waythorn, and what is notable about her marital history?
She is Waythorn's new wife who has been married twice before -- first to Haskett, then to Gus Varick -- and divorced both times.
How does Waythorn's perception of Haskett change over the course of the story?
He initially expects a brute based on Alice's hints, but discovers Haskett is a mild, decent, devoted father who sacrificed his career to be near Lily.
What kind of man is Gus Varick, and how does he contrast with Haskett?
Varick is a sociable, handsome gentleman who enjoys good living and moves easily in high society -- the opposite of the humble, shabby Haskett.
What is Alice's most defining character trait as Waythorn comes to see it?
Her adaptability -- she reshapes herself perfectly for each husband and situation, which Waythorn finds both impressive and deeply unsettling.
What role does Lily Haskett play in the story's plot?
She is the catalyst who forces Haskett into the Waythorn household. Her illness and upbringing create unavoidable contact between her biological father and stepfather.
What does the 'syndicate' metaphor reveal about Waythorn's view of his marriage?
He sees himself as owning only shares in his wife's personality, with Haskett and Varick as partners in the business -- marriage is reduced to a commercial arrangement rather than exclusive intimacy.
How does the story explore the theme of identity?
Alice has been Alice Haskett, Alice Varick, and Alice Waythorn, shedding each identity so completely that Waythorn wonders if an authentic self exists beneath the adaptations.
What does the story suggest about divorce and social class in Gilded Age New York?
Divorce was legal but socially fraught -- society accepted Alice but with reservations, and a 'New York divorce' served as a paradoxical 'diploma of virtue.'
How does Waythorn's progression from discomfort to acceptance illustrate the theme of compromise?
He moves from revulsion to rationalization to resignation, eventually valuing domestic comfort enough to accept sharing his wife's past with her former husbands.
What is ironic about the cognac-in-coffee scene?
Alice's perfectly composed exterior cracks through an unconscious habit from her previous marriage, revealing that her past is physically embedded in her gestures despite her efforts to erase it.
How does Wharton use the 'old shoe' simile to characterize Alice?
Waythorn thinks Alice is 'as easy as an old shoe -- a shoe that too many feet had worn,' suggesting her pleasing adaptability comes from being shaped by multiple husbands.
What does Haskett's made-up tie on an elastic symbolize for Waythorn?
It symbolizes Alice's humble origins and the provincial middle-class life she lived during her first marriage -- a past she has completely erased from her polished social persona.
What is the narrative point of view, and how does it shape the reader's understanding?
Third-person limited, filtered through Waythorn's consciousness. Readers see Alice only through his increasingly disillusioned perspective, never from her own point of view.
What does 'propinquity' mean as used repeatedly in the story?
Physical nearness or proximity. Wharton uses it to describe the uncomfortable closeness Waythorn must endure with Varick and Haskett.
What does 'effaced' mean in the description of Haskett as 'a small effaced-looking man'?
Self-effacing or inconspicuous -- suggesting Haskett is so modest and unremarkable that he seems to have erased his own presence.
What does 'pliancy' mean in the context of Alice's behavior toward Waythorn?
Excessive willingness to bend or comply. Waythorn finds her pliancy sickening because it suggests she has no will of her own.
What is the significance of the line 'Yes -- and with your ears shut'?
A friend's warning that while Waythorn claims to enter the marriage with open eyes, he is deliberately ignoring what Alice's two divorces reveal about her character.
What does Waythorn mean when he thinks Alice is like 'a juggler tossing knives; but the knives were blunt and she knew they would never cut her'?
Alice manages the dangerous situation of three husbands with practiced skill, but she does so without emotional risk -- her composure means she is never truly vulnerable.