On April 29, 1885, Edith married Edward R. “Teddy” Wharton, a friend of her brother. Teddy, who was thirteen years older than Edith, was from a socially acceptable Boston family. After their wedding, the Whartons settled in New York City and soon purchased a home in Newport, Rhode Island. Teddy supported them both on his inherited income, which made it possible for the couple to live in New York and Newport, and to travel to Europe frequently. In 1902, they moved into their mansion, “The Mount,” in Lenox, Massachusetts. Having collaborated with architect Ogden Codman on a book entitled The Decoration of Houses (1897), Edith put her knowledge to use and provided input regarding the design of the mansion as well as the interior decoration.
Though they were intellectually and sexually incompatible, the Whartons lived a companionable and expensive life, traveling back and forth between Europe and the United States. During the first years of Edith's marriage to Teddy, he was a companion to her and secured her position in the aristocratic society that she denounced, yet valued, throughout her life. Soon, however, events began to cloud their marriage. As Edith’s writing abilities increased, so did her reputation. During the 1890’s Edith wrote short stories for Scribner’s Magazine, published The Valley of Decision (1902), a historical novel, and The House of Mirth (1905). She spent a considerable amount of time with would-be and genuine literary personalities and Teddy found himself in the background of Edith’s life. His health and mental stability became progressively worse and required increasingly prolonged therapeutic trips to Europe. In 1907, the Whartons settled in France in the fashionable Rue de Varenne. While Edith’s marital relationship (which had never been an intimate one) began to fall apart, she continued to write. Her tragic love story, Ethan Frome, was published in 1911 to much success and acclaim. Eventually, Edith and Teddy began living apart, and in 1913, Edith divorced Teddy because of his unstable mental health and acts of adultery. Edith was also guilty of adultery. She had an affair with Morton Fullerton, a journalist for the London Times and friend of Henry James. (James, an American novelist, was a lifelong friend of Edith's. His writing style, known as American realism, influenced Edith’s own writing.)
