Female psychological conflict and gendered consciousness in selected short stories of Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton’s short fiction offers a penetrating observation of women’s psychological interiority within the rigid moral and social frameworks of late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Anglo-American society. This article analysis the nature of female psychological conflict and the formation of gendered consciousness in selected short stories by Wharton, with particular reference to Roman Fever, The Last Asset, and Souls Belated. Drawing upon feminist literary criticism and psychological approaches to gender, the study investigates how Wharton represents women’s inner turmoil as a consequence of emotional repression, moral surveillance, marital constraint, and internalized patriarchal values. Rather than portraying her female characters merely as passive victims, Wharton reveals their acute self-awareness, moral reasoning, and conflicted agency, thereby complicating traditional binaries of submission and resistance. Through close textual analysis, this paper argues that Wharton’s women experience psychological conflict not simply because of external social restrictions, but because they have deeply absorbed the gender ideologies that govern their lives. These narratives expose the tension between desire and duty, autonomy and conformity, silence and articulation, providing a subtle portrayal of women’s consciousness at moments of emotional crisis. By foregrounding psychological depth and gendered self-reflection, the article contributes to ongoing scholarship on Wharton’s feminist sensibility and emphasis the relevance of her short fiction to contemporary discussions of gender, identity, and mental life.