A Synopsis: A zero-sum game is played by two female cousins; a young woman is blissfully unaware of her puppet strings.
The Rules of the Game: "In some variants, all players discard after the dealer has drawn. The objective of the game is to continue to take cards, discarding pairs, until all players except one have no cards. That one player will be left with the lone unmatchable card; they are 'stuck with the old maid' and lose."
A Certain Kind of Style: Wharton makes a luscious cake with her words. Sly critique and sardonic appraisal carefully hidden beneath the rich details, the sophisticated rendering of a time and place. Under the layers of creamy butter frosting, screws and nails.
A Protagonist (or perhaps An Antagonist):
Rich Delia has let love slip through her fingers; she instead chooses conformity as her bedmate. But there lurks the heart of a revolutionary beating within her bosom. And so she will redirect her passions; she will give a young woman the freedom to attain what she has herself never achieved. This thoughtful widow barely understands her own motivations. She will give as she takes away.
An Antagonist (or perhaps A Protagonist):
Poor Charlotte must content herself with others' belongings, be they material goods or children or a man who comes and then goes. And so she will take the Stoical route and don the garb of An Old Maid until the costume becomes a reality; she will attempt to redirect a young woman towards a more realistic path. This embittered spinster has sacrificed everything to save one precious thing.
A Movie Adaptation: "Vividly, unforgettably, a woman's love starved soul is revealed. All those strange secrets she locks in her heart ... moments of rapture and of heartbreak ... longings that no man can fathom. Of these has the year's finest picture been woven!"
A Favorite Quote: "But she had learned that one can do almost anything... if one does not attempt to explain it"
The Moral of the Tale: Conformity will destroy your dreams and maybe your soul. Perhaps it is best to be a puppet who is unaware of their strings.
Lucky Tina, the happy, clueless puppet!