I often wonder whether a frumpy old woman can ever be quite fair in her estimate of a young and lovely one.

The line wryly acknowledges how self-image and social comparison can distort judgment. Wharton’s speaker suspects that age, diminished social “currency,” and internalized standards of beauty may bias an older woman against a younger, admired rival. The remark points to the psychological mechanics of envy and resentment—often unconscious—and to the gendered pressures that make women evaluate themselves and others through appearance. It also functions as a critique of a society that pits women against one another by treating youth and beauty as primary measures of worth, thereby making “fair” assessment difficult when one’s own status feels threatened.