The novel The Reef, by Edith Wharton,
follows Wharton's characterization techniques by describing a young widow and socialite,
Anna Leath, as a woman whose marriage had bound her to a very rigid social code of
etiquette that is mainly triggered and then monopolized by the Old New York society. As
a part of this set, Anna is basically part of the first clan of New Yorkers in the early
20thcentury, who ran New York City with their ties to their Dutch ancestors and former
rulers of the land.
Anna had been living the fantasy world
of the New York aristocracy and disguised her natural wonder and curiosity of life by
following their rules. Her widowhood came as a shock, but gave her a small inkling into
all that she had repressed in favor of continuing living to the expectations of
marriage. When she encounters her long lost live, George Darrow, she experiences an
awakening much like Edna Pontellier in Wharton's novel The
Awakening.
However, Anna's awakening comes too
late, as her infused traditions had already taken a good part of her behavior, and her
past fears resurface again. She is in a love conundrum: She is insecure, unsure, and
does not feel safe enough, brave enough, nor bold enough to sustain a relationship with
George. She abandons her chances at happiness because tends to revert to her comfort
zone, which is the strictness of her nature. In the end, there are no winners in her
story. She loses her chance, and life goes on with that risk already taken. Anna is
basically the epitome of awakening sexually, mentally, and psychologically but not being
wise enough to understand the changes that come with such
awakenings.
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