Editha

“Editha” is a criticism not only of the romanticizing of war but also of the exploitation of God, America, and the individual that results. Editha casts herself as a devoted American and Christian. In encouraging George to enlist in the war, she tells him “[t]here is nothing now but our country” (2) and that “God meant it to be war” (3); in her letter to him, in which she warns she cannot marry him until he makes the decision to enlist, she writes, “There is no honor above America with me” (4).

However, Editha’s sentimental statements are no more than empty platitudes. She draws on God and country in order to stir George’s emotions, in the hopes that his enlisting will allow for “the completion of her ideal of him” (1). Editha is, in fact, unconcerned with “Providence” (3) or America; rather, she believes George is “very nearly perfect as he was, and he must be allowed to perfect himself” (1). Editha desires that the man she marries “would have done something to win her” (1); George’s enlisting in the war is the perfect way for him to “be a hero, her hero” (1). Rather than order him to enlist, Editha attempts to manipulate him into believing it is his decision alone: It is not enough for him to join the army—he must do it out of sense of honor, not because he is being told to do so.