In the short story "Souls Belated" by Edith Wharton, a woman named Lydia leaves her husband for her lover Gannett and with him, respectability and social status . in upper class society. In the midst of all this scandal, Lydia discovers the gap between her desires and happiness and the needs of societal norms. In this short story, the plot seems to reveal a lot about marriages and perceived notions of what society needs from people and what married individuals do to keep that notion intact. Taking into account everything that Wharton's short story, "Souls Belated" has to offer, it becomes increasingly difficult for the reader to deny the argument that Wharton is trying to make that marriages are a facade worn while throughout life on the backs of two individuals to please others. members of this society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay In “Souls Belated,” it seemingly quickly becomes apparent that the main character, Lydia, has left her husband, Tillotson for people like Gannett. Although at first you might think the story is about how women coming out of divorce cope, it gradually reveals itself as a war between personal dreams and social norms. Lydia, proving to be a defiant and daring character, clearly rejects upper-class lifestyles, leading her to leave her husband. While wanting to escape the boring lifestyle of her marriage forever, she found in Gannett the full awareness that what was imposed on her by the community around her was not in line with what she wanted. From this realization, many would hypothesize that rejecting her husband for Gannett would mean that Lydia had finally found her happiness in life, which was finding a compatible partner for herself. However, it becomes clear that Lydia is anything but satisfied. On the train, Gannett asks him if he lives in a house similar to the one the train had passed by a short time ago, leading them to finally talk after an uncomfortable silence. After briefly discussing which house to live in, Lydia remarks, "Why not live everywhere, like we do?" ". This alone shows how free-spirited Lydia is. She would much rather spend her life traveling, free from anything that might hold her back for a moment, which from a societal perspective is considered scandalous. Wharton adds this to the story to further emphasize that Lydia has no intention of wanting to be held back by anything, not even society. His wanderlust is in direct conflict with what is expected of married people. As the story progresses, Lydia and Gannett have more and more conflict as Lydia makes it clear that she does not intend to marry Gannett right away. Wharton's view of marriage was revealed in the passage in which Lydia declaims: “We both know that no ceremony is necessary to consecrate our love for each other; what purpose can we have in marrying, if not the secret fear of each that the other might escape, or the secret desire to gradually return……to the esteem of the people whose conventional morality we have ridiculed and detested? mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Wharton strongly portrays a negative view of marriage in this text by implying that marriage in society is only for a false sense of security and only as a means of..