The Psychology of Undine Spragg | The Custom of the Country

Let's talk about the spoiled rotten Undine Spragg in Edith Wharton's The Custom of the Country & try to get to the bottom of what makes her tick.
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[@Yesica1993]

If there's two types of people I cannot stand, it's spoiled/selfish women and weak men. UGH! This book would've had me throwing it across the room, out of sheer hatred for all these characters!

[@matthewedwards6025]

I had difficulty reading Madame Bovary for the same reason.

[@Echo-mg5em]

Wonderful analysis of a fascinatingly frustrating character! Not enough people speak about the crude colors with which Wharton paints this picture, and we all know how Undine would hate to go unnoticed.

[@katehowereads]

What you have taught me, Olive is that I just have to read Edith Wharton! Her characters sound like they just jump off the page and are so fleshed out and flawed. I’m planning on trying her out this year. She seems very worth my time. Her plots sound so layered and intriguing. Also, Undine’s father sounds like a more tragic version of Mr. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.

[@abookolive]

You absolutely do need to read some Edith Wharton! I wish I had read more of her books by this point so I could best direct you on where to start, but unfortunately I'm still exploring. As to your other point, I think Mr. Bennet is infinitely more loving than Mr. Spragg!

[@katehowereads]

abookolive I’ve always been pretty unimpressed by Mr. Bennet with how he lets Kitty, Lydia, Mary, and his wife act like idiots, lets all five daughters be out in society at once, hides away in his study instead of seeing what is actually happening in his family and freaking letting Lydia go to Brighton! He is loving but he really does take his role as husband and father seriously. Can you tell I’m a little salty about him? 🤣

[@erldagerl9826]

Edith Wharton is amazing. I also love Ethan Frome and Summer.

[@jeffreykaufmann2867]

@@erldagerl9826 I have The Custom of the Country on my bookshelf but haven't read it yet. Why do you like Wharton so much? I'm guessing that it would be mostly Women reading her books.

[@erldagerl9826]

@@jeffreykaufmann2867 I find she has an uncanny knack for capturing human motivations and passions. She is also refreshingly unsentimental. Often her characters make poor choices; sometimes those are the only choices they have.

[@patriciabrett3820]

Dusted off “Age of Innocence” last Spring and have adopted Edith Wharton as my favorite writer! Just finished “Custom….” and couldn’t agree more with you! I can’t believe I’ve let Ms Wharton remain unread and unopened since my college days…. And I’m 70! 😂

[@InfiniteText]

I love these character-focused videos sooooo much. Great work Olive

[@NadaOQ96]

Great video! I read the book quite a few years ago so I don't remember that many details but the last sentence is still crystal clear in my mind and, tragic as the situation is, I couldn't help laughing out loud when I read it xD I love Edith Wharton's wit

[@abookolive]

Her wit is unparalleled!

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Great rant! I agree both she and Ralph are tragic figures. The character who made me the saddest was of course Paul. Poor kid doesn't have a chance. Sometime I think she just should've married Mr. Popple and enjoyed life, although I suppose that wouldn't have been enough for her... the irony of who she should have married/ends up with is too spoilery to get into, but also so delicious. I love Undine, she combines a lot of aspects of other Wharton characters, but as you said, "on crack" - she's got Charity Royall's vapidness (without her innocence), Lily Bart's entitlement (without her self respect), May Welland's ruthlessness (without the focus to pull it off)...

[@Jogilusz]

This series is the best thing on your channel. I can't wait for more

[@layab22]

Thanks for the interesting insight. I am adding this book to my TBR.

[@jazzylemonfizzbomb4]

Yuss I feel every bit of this passion for Undine when reading this book, she’s so terribly flawed

[@michaelcunningham4219]

Thank you for this. It's so smart and insightful and, rarest of all, passionate and objective at the same time. I'm a huge fan.

[@lindaaege4476]

What a great review. Definitely going to read this book

[@marie-luclemay]

What a great, insightful discussion! I'm really loving this series about the psychology of various classics heroines you have going. Can't wait for the next one :)

[@abookolive]

Thank you so much! I'm planning the one for February right now :)

[@StriketheSunMD]

I need to get back into Edith Wharton. I've always loved her work. Thanks for the reminder!

[@lydiafeliciano2900]

Fantastic review! I was going through my books and found several Edith Wharton books, some which were doubles. I gave my son's girlfriend a copy of The Custom of the Country and will suggest that she read it so we can discuss it together! Thank you for the interest you just gave me in this book!

[@karlalikestoread]

Edith Wharton is an author I planned to finally read this year and this isn’t a book of hers that was on my radar. Your discussion was so good I’m so looking forward to reading it! Might start with it too! 😄

[@bobdal1946]

what a great summary. I just read the book and your analysis was very helpful.

[@calimorgan6533]

This is a relatable conversation to everything.

[@ssg8051]

Awesome, awesome book review and behavioral insights, Olive. Such characters seem to view others solely as set dressing for their own vastly more interesting and valuable lives...a viewpoint easily achieved when not paying attention or giving credence to the existence of anyone else. As for their enablers, your passionate and succinct call out says it all. Cheers, Ardith

[@abookolive]

Thanks so much!

[@user-pz5mu4rd8w]

Thank you for doing this.

[@chrisbrandon6597]

Just discovered your channel searching for talks about House of Mirth. Wharton is one of my favorites (and I find myself re-reading Age of Innocence every few years for the tragic violin that is Olenska) and I'm so glad you've also done Undine. Every chapter I found myself asking, "Ok, Wharton hates her, right?" I think she dislikes most of these characters and the only person she -perhaps- has pity for is Clare Van Degen and maybe Paul Marvell

[@tabithadorcas7763]

Looking forward to reading this one. I'm 66 years old and have loved Wharton since being assigned "Ethan Frome" as a junior in high school. I reread "The House of Mirth" at least once a year. Just finished "Twilight Sleep" (what a scathing hoot!). Yesterday picked up a library request that I made: "Edith Wharton on Film". Enjoyed your review. It would be nice to sit down with you and others to discuss such works. Cheers.

[@BookZealots]

Well done~ Refreshing review and excellent rant about these parental characters in real life.

[@abookolive]

Thank you!

[@marytumulty4257]

Oh, this is such a delicious and, as ever, a well thought out review. The Custom of the Country is such a good depiction of not only 1890’s nouveau-riche crashing into old money New York but also, it’s marauding through title rich cash poor European aristocracy. It’s too bad it’s not as well known as some of Wharton’s other works. Per your enthusiasm for analyzing the characters I am guessing you enjoyed reading this book because of Wharton’s great skill for depicting Undine’s grasping misbehavior and it’s rippling effects. (After your review, I was curious about Undine’s name. Wikitionary defined “undine” as a water sprite of nymph and “spragg” as kicking and scratching the ground as would a chicken. 🤔 Hmm! )

[@abookolive]

I did enjoy it! So far I've really loved all of Edith Wharton's novels.

[@teresamedeiros7312]

I finished Being Mortal and thank you for your recommendation. I really liked the questions he asks and his growth into what does the patient want from the time he/she has left. I borrowed it from the library but I'm definitely going to buy it.

[@abookolive]

Being Mortal is definitely one to own. I anticipate I'll be consulting it many times throughout my life and I assume that would be the case for most people.

[@shannonneese952]

I am eager to see what Sofia Coppola does with Undine. She made Marie Antoinette quite sympathetic, so perhaps she'll find something redemptive in Undine. Undine's father is a great deal like Edith Wharton's mother who was cold and unfeeling and was mentally abusive toward Edith.

[@moonbook12]

Good job of hitting 17k sub

[@jeanettepaulson4525]

I forgot about this long ago read, great review.

[@abookolive]

Thank you!

[@renatakimmerly6497]

Love your review !!!! Interesting that a rich girl writes about someone like Undine. Did Edith mock the shallowness of NYC society ?

[@yourlehrness]

Just reading now

[@sara10973]

"No! No, Ralph!" I love it 🤣

[@rhondab.3774]

Just finished this book! And wow Undine is just an awful completely unrepentant self absorbed woman. Hearing her thought process is fascinating and so twisted She’s a master of manipulation. Poor Paul, her son.

[@patriciabrooks1813]

Thank you for agreeing with what I read. Just saying no at an early age might have changed her.

[@MorganScorpion]

SPOILER P O I L E R I think much of the pain and suffering of the characters could have been spared if Undine's parents had just let her stay married to her first husband. After all, it was the only marriage she made with honest intentions.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

I'm guessing your experience in the past as a nanny has played into this analysis! It's so frustrating to see how parents' lack of boundaries can lead to kids acting atrociously when you know that they're fine when proper boundaries are set. I can definitely see the tragic aspect of her character based on your description. Also, what you mention about the bar for happiness always being moved higher and higher as you achieve more reminds me of some of the principles of positive psychology - the book The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor goes into a lot of detail on that. Great video!

[@abookolive]

Haha, my experience as a nanny plays into most things in my life! Kids, just being the way they are and all that they require, make great teachers.

[@dorothywillis1]

I have not read the book, so I can't comment on that aspect, but Undine is a very old word/name meaning a water spirit who is immortal until she falls in love with a mortal. (Think of Andersen's Little Mermaid.) Does this connect with the character you are discussing?

[@MorganScorpion]

Pretty sure not.

[@dorothywillis1]

@@MorganScorpion Used ironically?

[@MorganScorpion]

@@dorothywillis1 I'm kind of worried about spoiling the plot for you, but it is explained fairly early in the book that Undine is named after the Undinator, a hair-curling device that her father invented, and named after the Latin word for wave "Unda". I found it interesting that such a sublime name should have such a prosaic origin.

[@MorganScorpion]

I'm very fond of this novel, having just listened to it read by Elizabeth Klett. I see it as almost a mirror image of The House of Mirth.

[@dorothywillis1]

@@MorganScorpion That's hilarious! Of course products were, and still are, given names their promoters think sound classy. Don't worry about spoiling the plot for me. I don't read books for the plot, although of course I don't like books with poorly constructed plots. I have never been able to get into Wharton's books. I shouldn't say that, as the only one I've read completely is The Age of Innocence. I have only dipped into some of the others. I just don't want to hang out around her characters.