In this essay, I will write about “The moving finger” by “Edith Wharton”, which talks about the relationship between two men and the portrait of a dead woman. I will develop how the author portrays the relationship between Claydon, Mr Grancy and Mrs Grancy as a toxic relation full of control, love and obsession.
To begin with, when Mr Grancy married his second wife, Mrs Grancy, he recovered from a big depression he had; he blossomed again. Mr Grancy feelin deep love with Mrs Grancy, she was a precious thing he couldn't lose. That is why he traped her essence in a portrait. This was shown in the quotation “you're my prisoner now- I shall never lose you.” Even though Mrs Grancy was still alive, her husband wanted to preserve her. This concept was more visible when Mrs Grancy died since the only way Mr Grancy could control her was in his imagination and the portrait was the closest object to her memory.
Consequently, the portrait influenced a lot in Mr Grancy’s life a lot, his love and obsession were so intense that although he thought that he controlled the portrait in a way the portrait controlled him. Firstly, Mr Grancy wanted to unfreeze time, he asked Claydon to change the portrait because he felt that he was leaving his wife behind, that time was stopped; when time is not running is the same as being dead, for him Mrs Grancy was alive. When the portrait was edged Mr Grancy stopped thinking it as a picture, that picture became his real wife.After that Mr Grancy only obeyed his wife, that is the reason why when Claydon changed the portrait again and put Mrs Grancy with the face of a woman who knows that her husband will die, Mr Grancy believed her and in a way she became her warrant of death. This ideas are portrayed by the following quote “it was The Face of a woman who knows that her husband is dying,my heart stood still at the thought of what claydon had done”.In this quote claydon had changed the painting had ruined it, he made the woman grow old
On the other hand, Claydon was also obsessed with Mrs Grancy. He was in love with her and that is why he could paint her as Mr Grancy saw her. Claydon at the beginning did not want to change the portrait but he ended accepting. First, you do not know why he accepts but then Claydon told the narrator that Mrs Grancy said him to change the portrait, that she convinced him. Claydon wanted to have Mrs Grancy for his own to be his not of Mr Grancy. This is shown in the quotation “she belongs to me now...” However, Claydon also wanted (that) Mr Grancy To dies,that is why even though he blindly believes in the portrait he also used it as an excuse to convince himself that what he was doing was right.
To conclude, I think that these 3 ideas ,Control ,Love and obsession are the main 3 themes of the story, if we choose a Event of the story we will at least find one of these concepts
