What will you do if your girlfriend asks you to give up your life for your country? The first thing I'll do is pick up my cell phone to call my family doctor to make an appointment to check my ears and make sure they're working well, or I can put on a highly emotional appearance to ask her, "Are you serious?" ?" Most people would not want to see the person they love go to a place where they might die. In William Dean Howells' short story, "Editha", however, the protagonist is an unusual woman, Editha, who has her own perfect ideals and pushes them to her lover, George, to ask him to fight in the Spanish-American War. In the story Howells not only brought his anti-war message to bear on the dangers of war, but also satirized the United States governments. senseless ideas about the reasons for going to war, Editha's personalities are irrational patriotism, understanding of selfish romanticism and unrealistic ideas about war. Editha is guilty of exaggerated irrational patriotism to push George to war we can talk about wrong since the war came people have no choice between right and wrong since this is the decision of our government that must be right. No matter how much the war costs us, we must uphold our patriotism. At first, Editha throws all her ideals of duty and blind devotion to her country to convince George to go to war even though his conscience condemns war. Howells did not mention any other major reasons for fighting for the country. Does this mean we can use our love for our country to also kill other foreigners who love their country? Then the new definition of patriotism emerges: using love to kill. Editha's patriotism reflects how people use patriotism to push other people into war because they think war is necessary. Looking beyond the wars of the past, are we protecting our country and are we truly patriotic? Editha's romantic idea for war is that the one she loves must prove to her that he is capable of being a hero to her. When George announces that there is war, Editha surprises him and the readers by saying “how wonderful" (298).