The House of Mirth: The Tragic End

Finally, Edith Wharton draws The House of Mirth to an end.  Not only is the end clever and tragic at the same time, it is consistent with the theme that has persistent throughout the book: the roller coaster and spontaneous events that seem to add to Lily Bart's demise every time.

I feel like I'm having deja vu with the blatant parallels between the closing of this story and that of Romeo and Juliet.  Lily did not intend to overdose on the chloral which where the two tragedies differ, but she was surely not careful in preventing it.  The tragedy is intensified by the fact that she finally arrives at the realization of the truly important things in life only right before her death after her happening upon a girl named Nettie, who claims that Lily saved her life when she lived a the girls' home that Gerty led.  Lily sees the happiness in Nettie's life despite her poverty and participation in the working class and sees that she too could be happy at this status if she was not so lonely, if she had a baby and husband to love her as Nettie did.  In a case of extreme irony, Selden realizes once again that he loves Lily Bart.  He awakes the morning after her still unknown death with elation, excited to go find Lily and express his adoration for her once again.  To his dismay, he arrives at Lily's apartment to be confronted with Gerty informing him of the horrible news. "The doctor found a bottle of chloral - she had been sleeping badly for a long time, and she must have taken an overdose by mistake" (Wharton, 264).  Selden goes into her room to see the form of the deceased Lily lying peacefully on her bed.  He gazes about the room and after small investigation of the things lying about the room pieces together Lily's entire predicament.  He finds the $9,000 check for Gus Trenor and the $10,000 check from her aunt's will.  Lily's moral respectability is confirmed in Selden's mind as he realizes her intentions to repay Mr. Trenor despite her current situation.  Edith Wharton's ending to this great story is a huge success in my opinion.  She creates a tragedy that is classic and ironic at the same time. Somehow, despite the fact that the book is ended, she manages to still keep the reader guessing.  What if Lily had survived the night to greet Selden at her door the following morning? Would they have married? Had children? All of these thoughts were running through my head anyways, and though i with that Lily would have lived to answer them, the lesson she learned prior to her death still sheds a light of joy on the situation.  

The House of Mirth: Seldon's Back!

Yay! Selden's back again! Lily is working as a social secretary for a woman from the South when Selden visits to insist that she return to Gerty so that she make help her make a life for herself.  Selden is saddened by the fact that Lily has put herself in this position, proving that she will go to almost any length to stay among the elite.  He is wrong though, Lily will not go to an length and proves this a few weeks later.  Meanwhile, Lily begins to work for a living.  She works in a hat shop and is reprimanded fore her bad hat-making skills.  I feel bad Lily and find her a bit pathetic at this point in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.  She has no idea what it takes to make a living for those who are not born into the blessing of wealth.  This might be a good experience for her to adjust her priorities which are so ridiculously out of whack, with social standing at the top and love at the bottom.  Lily has actually grown almost depressed with her longing for her old life, resorting to a strong sleeping medication that the doctor warns her to be careful with (FORESHADOWING).  I hope Lily doesn't continue to use this medication as a crutch.  I have heard of and seen people using substances as crutches and in no circumstance has it ever benefited the situation.  Simon Rosedale visits Lily and is appalled at her living conditions and insists that she is far too pretty to work for a living.  He reminds her that his marriage offer still stand if she reconciles with Bertha.  I hate to admit it, but Simon is growing on me as well.  I really want Lily to marry Selden but it seems that option might no longer exist.  Lily decides to take the letters that she still has as proof of Bertha's unfaithfulness and blackmail her until she once again agrees to be Lily's friend, at least publicly.  However, on her way to the Dorset home, Lily thinks of Selden.  She imagines her current plan of action through his eyes and is immediately ashamed.  Throughout this novel this has been Lily's saving grace.  Although she has bad judgment and is eternally superficial, she always intends to do the right thing.  Most of the time her actions are to make herself appear in a better light, but she still tries.  So instead she goes to see Selden.  This part makes me very happy despite the lack of romance.  Lily and Selden have both changed a lot since the beginning of the book, and their conversations no longer consist of playful flirting.  Lily thanks him for visiting her months prior and informs him of her current status while he notices her thinner and unhappy appearance.  Before she leaves Selden notices that, "When she rose he fancied that he saw her draw something from her dress and drop it into the fire" (Wharton 252), clearly the letters that she had carried with harmful intentions earlier that evening.

  

The House of Mirth: Lily's Broke

Desperate times call for desperate measurers, or so the saying says.  In Lily's case, this saying is spot on.  Carry Fisher advises Lily to marry as soon as possible, and Lily (along with her depleted finances) agrees that this is necessary.  Her two option, according to Carry, are either George Dorset or Simon Rosedale, both of which are not particularly appealing to Lily.  She outright refuses the suggestion to confirm to George Dorset his suspicions of her affair with Ned Silverton and therefore break up their marriage for the sole purpose that he might marry her in return.  However, the idea of marrying Rosedale is more acceptable. I really wish that Selden would make a reappearance because now would be the opportune time.  I wonder if Lily would take a marriage proposal from him more seriously now that she is no longer included in the top social community.  But, Lily chooses to pursue Rosedale since she is sure he still is very attracted to her, although her falling from her previous social status is no help to her cause.  I cannot imagine living in a society in which people care so much about what others think.  I think i mentioned this in an earlier blog, but it simply baffles me.  I would hate that environment with the constant pressure to live up to the expectations of others and then the gossip and humiliation if you don't.  In a way, high school is a milder form of this, but  by no means wake up every morning with my main concern being to impress others.  I certainly like to look nice and buying new clothes to wear is fun, but if that were my main concern in life I think I would be about as miserable as Lily seems, if not more.  Lily's omnipresent need for the luxurious rules her decision making.  She ends up alone with Simon Rosedale as they take a walk down a street in New York.  Lily tells Simon that she will marry him, and it is now he that hesitates.  I am hoping that something will happen to prevent their marriage, especially because Lilly's thoughts wander to Selden as she walks with Simon, reminiscing the walk she once took with him.  If I knew that I loved someone, I would not be able to force myself ion marrying someone else.  That is why there is so many marriage problems among the elite in The House of Mirth, all of them marry in order to reap the benefits of their spouse.  No one marries for love so they hardly feel bad cheating on them, unless, God forbid, rumors started and their social status was harmed.

This is how most women in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth are except that they are more attracted to their husbands' money than anything else.

Rosedale, being no different from the rest of the elite New York society, is hesitant to marry Lily because he is aware that the most highly thought of women in New York are disconcerted with her because of recent events.  Bertha Dorset absolutely despises her and is actually still trying to hurt her social status, which is ridiculous because it is her fault that the rumors between her husband and Lily were started in the first place.  She know perfectly well that there is nothing suspicious going on between the two and resents only Lily's knowledge of her affairs.  I cannot stand this woman.  Simon proposes another offer to marrying Lilly, that they be "good friends", "'What is your idea of being good friends?' she returned with a slight smile. 'Making love to me without asking me to marry you?' Rosedale laughed with a recovered sense of ease. 'Well, that's about the size of it, I suppose'"(Wharton, 206).  He suggests this unless she repairs her friendship with Bertha.  If I were Lily, he probably would have been slapped right across the face then and there.  Edith Wharton is really great at creating characters for me to dislike.  Who does he think he is speaking about the beautiful Miss Lily Bart is such a way? In the end, the only thing established is that Lily's financial woes will not be addressed any time soon.

The House of Mirth: Curiosity Killed the Cat

Alright, so this title doesn't have a lot to do with this part of the story unless like me, the gossip and speculation about Lily and her supposed relationship with Mr. Dorset is the "curiosity" and Lily's hope for a luxurious life is the "cat". Upon her return to New York, Mrs. Peniston, Lily and Grace Stepney's aunt, has died.  To make Lily's entire situation (the debt, scandal with Mr. Trenor, scandal with Mr. Dorset, the fallout with Selden, etc.) immeasurably worse, Mrs. Peniston left all of her belongings to Grace Stepney over Lily, with the exception of ten thousand dollars.  Apparently, Lily's aunt had heard the rumors all the way from Europe that Bertha Dorset had fabricated about her husband and Lily, in order to cover her own situation with Ned Silverton.  This is really very sad.  I would be heartbroken if my aunt whom had sheltered and provided for me since the deaths of my parents, as Lily's aunt did, died with such horrible misconceptions of me.  Lily didn't make it back in time to correct these misunderstandings with her aunt.  The fact that she went to such measures to change her will would shame me, even if I knew I was innocent. The fact is that Lily is not completely innocent, and she knows this.  In regards to the rumored affairs with either Mr. Trenor or Mr. Dorset, Lily's record is clean. However, her choices and actions ultimately led to the rumors; therefore, Lily is truly at blame.  She does not make a fuss about Bertha spreading these fabrications because it was Lily's job on the yacht to distract Mr. Dorset in the first place, so that no questions would be asked.  Lily knows that her situation is dire.  She desires to reclaim her social status (only she would think of such things in her circumstance) and looks to Mrs. Trenor, her former friend for assistance.  Unexpectedly, Mrs. Trenor is not friendly with Lily at all and Lily realizes that this must be due to her debt to Mr. Trenor, her $9,000 dollar debt (i'm sure the rumored affair between the two didn't help either).  Lily decides that she must pay Mr. Trenor back a.s.a.p., "She must be quits with the Trenors first; after that she would take thought for the future" (Wharton 186).  There is a slight flaw in Lily's resolution.  It is nothing shy of brilliant for Lily to finally pay back her debt (I'm scared of what other scenarios Edith Wharton could dream up if Lily prolonged the inevitable any further); however, Lily has hardly any money to her name, let alone the amount needed to pay back the Trenors.  She won't receive the money from her aunt's will for about a year as the lawyers sort through and finalize everything. I'm not sure if it is obvious yet my obsession with Harry Potter, but if not, here's another reference.  The length of time scrutiny of the will reminds me of in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the last book) when the Ministry of Magic examines Dumbledore's will for an unreasonable amount of time before giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione the gifts he left them in the will. I'm assuming the lawyers take so long to examine the will of Lily's aunt because of how wealthy she was and possibly the pure magnitude of things that she owned, unlike the Ministry of Magic who searched Dumbledore's will for possible hidden devices, codes,or tokens that could be used to take down Voldemort (I really hope that you have seen the movies and/or read the books because that probably sounded like complete gibberish if not).  Regardless, Lily cannot yet pay back the Trenors, and while she waits for her inheritance, she can only afford to live the life of a commoner.  How Lily will deal with her desperate situation is the question.

The House of Mirth: Sweet Escape

In the beginning of Book 2 of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Miss Lily Bart has left most of her problems back in New York, as she escapes on the Dorset's yacht to Europe, "She had been plunged into new scenes, and had found in them a renewal of old hopes and ambitions" (Wharton 209).  Lily is pleased by how much everyone in Europe seems to like her, especially the Duchess who very much likes her (a lot more than Mrs. Dorset, which will actually prove badly for Lily).  It is odd how many of the people were all in New York last chapter and all came to Europe in such a short amount of time. I'm not sure if this is a coincidence or if they socialites of New York are like the Roncalli families who yearly congregate in Fort Myers during spring break.  It's like there's an unspoken contract between Roncalli and its students that they must go to Fort Myers for spring break if they wish to attend the school (not really, that was a slight over exaggeration, but oh well).  Anyways, the Dorsets and their guests Lily and Ned Silverton; the Stepneys, the Brys and their guest Carry Fisher are all in Europe.  It turns out that Selden is here too! I feel bad for him having to see Lily again after he obviously went to great lengths to get away from her (all the way to Europe? That seems a little overkill, Lawrence).  The poor guy has good reason though.  He thought he was in love with Lilly, which was probably difficult enough for himself to deal with considering the fact that the thousands of dollars he doesn't have are the key to her heart.  Now she shows up on his vacation while he is still trying to grasp that he witnesses someone he thought very highly of leaving a married man's house very late in the night.  I would hardly be able to stand the sight of Lily either if I were him.  Not to mention, Lily's role on board the Dorset's yacht is to distract the Mr. so that Mrs. Dorset can go about her very sketchy pursuit of an affair with Ned Silverton.  I really want to slap some sense into Lily. It was a good idea to leave New York when she did, I wold have done the same thing in order to clear my head and think things over regarding Gus Trenor and the marriage proposal to Simon Rosedale.  Helping a woman cheat on her husband is defiantly not going to earn any good karma.  Oh yes, and then Lily is spotted alone with Mr. Dorset late at night because Mrs. Dorset and Silverton are both AWOL (however, anyone can probably guess the gist of what is going on, including Mr. Dorset). Mr. and Mrs. Dorset no join the pity party: Mr. Dorset knows of his wife's actions and plans to divorce her, and Mrs. Dorset earns mine and Lily's pity because without her husband, her lavish lifestyle will also suffer.  Despite her flirtatiousness, I began to like Mrs. Dorset a lot more than in the beginning of the novel when she personally began to create the mess that is now Lily's life.  In Lily's mind she thinks that since then she has been very kind to her, like taking her on this trip.  It is so obvious though that the horrible person that is Bertha Dorset is only looks for personal gain.  To use the "generous" vacation example once again: Bertha brought Lily to distract her husband without any other reason necessary.  She then places herself right back to where she had been in chapter one with her blaming Lily for being alone with her husband late the previous night.  Lily and I both are astonished... what?! Are you seriously kidding me... I'm sorry, but this is the most mad I have been at a character in the book so far.  What a horrible woman to blame Lily for such a thing while she was in fact the source of the problem.  Hopefully this doesn't end up further harming Lily and her reputation.

The House of Mirth: Too bad, So Sad

I have a haunch that Gus Trenor and Simon Rosedale have been cohorts against Lily from the time she first asked Trenor for help and invested her money in the stock market.  It just seems curious that Trenor would give Lily a large sum of money pretending it was her own success in the stock, then reveal that he has actually been simply giving her his own funds and that she is in his debt just in time for Rosedale to swoop in and offer her a speedy resolution to her financial woes if she marries him.  Despite the fact that Trenor also shares feeling, or maybe just lusts, for Lily, the fact that this situation was planned is very possible.  Marriage to a beautiful, wealthy, and sociable woman like Miss Lily Bart would greatly aid Rosedale becoming part of the top social community as well, another facet to the possible plan.  Lily's need for Rosedale's money is made evident by her aunt's decision not to help her pay off her debts.  I agree with her aunt's decision here.  Lily created this problem on her own and then made it even worse by hiding it and attempting to fix it throws Gus Trenor, in the process of which rumors and misunderstandings have flourished.  Her aunt is disgusted with Lily's gambling as well, which is the cause of the debt in the first place. Lily very much deserved to be punished for not only her foolishness, but her poor judgment and hesitance to truly fix the root of the problem.  

Lily's aunt's not paying for her debts for some reason reminded me of when kids are put in timeout as their punishment.  This is what i found when I tried to search for a picture of "timeout"... Hopefully Lily's reaction to her aunt's decision is a little more constructive to her situation.

She now realizes how much she really needs Selden's help and fixes to meet him at 4:00 as they had planned. The time passes, at which point the irksome Rosedale arrives (I really don'y like him).  Lily informs Rosedale that she needs to contemplate his offer before she makes a diesicion.  I would bet Rosedale is fairly confident at this point in the story, especially because, as Lily later finds out, Selden has left for the West Indies. The consistent theme of Lily's unfortunate life is becoming almost predictable.  Not in a bad way, but in a way that I am constantly wondering what awful thing will happen next.  In a slight turn of events, Lily receives a letter from Mrs. Dorset asking if she would like to accompany her and her husband on a cruise to the Mediterranean.  This is very curious and is sure to bring on an entirely new share of drama. Edith Wharton has not allowed me to get bored throughout the entire The House of Mirth, so I hope she doesn't let me down. 

The House of Mirth: Caught in the Web

The society in The House of Mirth loves to gossip and spread rumors, like those that surround Lily and Gus Trenor.

Poor Gerty. Poor Selden.  Poor Lily. Everyone is caught up in the giant web of misunderstanding thats is intricately weaving its way into the plot of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.  Selden has embraced his love for Lily and admitted it to her, only to be bashed with her money concerns. Gerty finds herself in love with Selden (who is her cousin, ew), and therefore hates her friend Lily for being the focus of Selden's affections, "But on her bed sleep would not come, and she lay face to face with the fact that she hated Lily Bart (Wharton, 132)." And Lily adds to the confusion when she visits "Mrs. Trenor" who turns out to be out of town and is ambushed by Mr. Trenor and his advances.  Distraguht and terrifies Lily flees the house, as witnessed by Selden and another man. At this point, I am hating Mr. Trenor with a  passion.  He is an older man with a wife and fortune, yet he has trapped Lily in a horrible situation after pretending to simply off his help.  Lily again has stuck to her morals and intends to pay Mr. Trenor back everything that she owes him so that he will leave her alone.  If she doesn't pay him back and stop accepting his money, the rumors and constant harassment will never cease. Gerty really grows in my mind as one of my favorite characters in this part of the book as well because despite her resentment of the fact that Selden loves Lily instead of her, she accepts Lily into her home and allows her to spend the night, no questions asked.  She converses with Lily a little and realizes that Selden has come to love Lily of his own accord, not because of her flirtatiousness or mere beauty.  That would be really difficult, to overcome that intense hatred in order to understand more fully the situation.  That is something that does not often happen, especially in high school where teenagers, particularly girls, hold grudges and spread rumors about each other because of trivial things like boyfriends or whatever.  It can just be really hard to conquer your feelings toward a person, especially in a situation like Gerty's where Lily is favored by Gerty's love.  Her jealousy is intensified by the fact that she believes Lily is leading Selden on and will never actually marry him because of his money situation. I know that it would take a lot of self control for me to look past all of that in order to understand that she is deserving of a love that I wished could be mine.  Gerty is definitely next to Selden now on my list of favorite characters.  Then there is Selden: Selden who has finally accepted in his own mind that he loves Lily, told her, kissed her, and is expecting that she will agree to marry him (or at least hoping).  Now he has witnessed her leave the house of a married man, about whom rumors have already whispered scandalous associations with the lovely Lily.  The assumptions that no doubt immediately came to his mind are well reasoned.  They are incorrect, but sadly Selden doesn't know this.  This is even more tragic because he had been disguised by the gossiping about Trenor and Lily that he had overhead that night, and had wished that he could put an end to it to protect Lily. Now the rumors are being revealed before hie own eyes and this makes me pity both him and Lily.  I feel for Selden and his crushed hopes and I pity Lily for her deteriorated position in Selden's eyes.  Lily is unaware that Selden saw her leaving the Trenor household, but I am feeling bad for her anyways.  That feeling that comes when someone thinks something about you that isn't at all true, yet you cannot prove that it is false is horrible.  This is made even more true when the circumstance involves your reputation or perception in that person's mind, as in this case with Selden and Lily.  If the situation was as it appeared, Selden would have every right to disrespect Lily. This entry is extremely lengthy, but I'm honestly explaining and digesting this whole situation as much for my own benefit as well as for the blog.  The tragedy of the situation is even further emphasized when Lily expresses to Gerty the night after she fled from Mr. Trenor that Selden had long ago warned her of the dangers of society.  She wonders aloud if Gerty thinks that Selden would help her or would he condemn her, as all these other men have done.  Gerty, bless her heart, admits that she thinks he would help her, highlighting Selden's moral standings.

The House of Mirth: I Vote Seldon

Lawrence Selden

Gus Trenor

Percy Gryce

At this point in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth there are three main men in Miss Lily Bart's life, all contending for her attention.  There is the extremely wealthy Simon Rosedale whom Lily doesn't much care for but is kind to because he knows of her situation with Gus Trenor and has other dirt on hear as well, like the day he saw her exiting Selden's apartment.  Then there is Gus Trenor himself, the married man who is obviously very attracted to Lily and yearns to control her.  Trenor is nothing short of creepy as he tries more and more fervently to spend more time, preferably alone, with Lily.  He even lies to her about his wife being out of town and invites he to his house very late in the night, something entirely inappropriate for a single women to do whether or not the man in question was married.  I feel so bad for Lily, she is already in a huge mess and it seems to me that all the characters are similarly making her situation worse and worse in any way they can.  The only other character besides Lily that i particularly like is Lawrence Selden.  I have a suspicion that Edith Wharton was a humble women in society like Gerty or similar to Selden's class because the writing seems to favor him and his free lifestyle and she points out many of the bad aspects of wealthy socialite life.  Anyways, Selden loves Lily and I really think that Lily shares his feelings.  She always is happy to see him and he seems the only man with which she can freely converse. Selden admits to her, "The only way I can help you is by loving you" (Wharton, 113).  Awwww!! I know that Selden's love would convince me that he is the best choice as far as a husband is concerned, but Lily must consider the negatives of the situation that would accompany her marrying Seldon. Her wealth and status would take a huge hit, and as I have gotten to know her superficial need for extravagance, is a horrible tragedy in the mind of Lily Bart.  The real tragedy is that unless Lily can look past the unnecessary aspects of her life, the perks that come with being born into wealth, she will lose something far more valuable than the riches: a life full of love and happiness.  I think that one theme of Edith Wharton's novel might be this, that a person must look beyond superficialities in order to find happiness.  This is a reoccurring theme in various stories i have read or seen in movies.  Although it's the middle of July, the example of Scrooge in the classic Christmas story comes to mind.  I am sure you're familiar with the story, how Scrooge earns his living off practically robbing the poor with his stinginess and extreme lack of guilt. He is an extremely unhappy man, getting mere satisfaction from sitting in his office and counting his piles of money. As he is visited by three ghosts on the night of Christmas Eve, the ghosts reveal to him that he was far happier as a younger, poorer man than he is now, alone because he chased all his friends away in his efforts to become wealthy.  Well, I have really gotten off the topic that I intended to write this blog about, so anyways, I wish Lily would choose Selden. He has put himself out there and admitted his love, and still takes this for granted (possibly another theme: Lily's overconfidence and the consequences that arise because of her disdain for the feelings of others). Hopefully Lily can realize her mistake before it is too late.

The House of Mirth: Forshadowing

So Lily now suspects that her recent "luck" in the stock market is not really lucky at all.  She has received numerous hits from the very wealthy and aspiring social-cliber, Simon Rosedale, who is close friends with Gus Trenor.  Mr. Trenor is also giving off a for boding sense of the fact that Lily is indebted to him.  I feel really bad for her in the sense that she doesn't wish to spend time with either Gus Trenor or Simon Rosedale, but in her current circumstance, she is forced to.  Lilly thinks, "it was distasteful enough to hear her name coupled with Trenor's, and on Rosedale's lips the allusion was peculiarly unpleasant" (Wharton, 92).  Lily certainly isn't making any friends with her snobbish attitude.  In my opinion, she is also far too confident for her own good.  She thinks that she is above everyone else because of her extravagant looks and him social status; however, she doesn't realize the enemies that she's making along the way.  One particularly dangerous enemy Lily creates with her snobbish attitude is her cousin Grace Stepney, whom Lily had uninvited from a party at their aunt Mrs. Peniston's house.  Grace in turn tells Mrs. Peniston of the rumors flying around about Lily's recent actions.  She informs Lily's aunt of Lily's recent affiliations with Gus Trenor and of her mountain of gambling debts.  I immediately don't like Grace Stepney at all and I think she could potential be even more dangerous further into the novel.  She seems one of those characters who is simply out to get everyone else and for no apparent reason.  She already doesn't like Lily because she was not invited to the party, and I think she'll now take every opportunity to get back at her.  Lily better watch out because she now has much more than one enemy and a lot to lose. Again, she's walking on thin ice.

The House of Mirth: Blackmail

BLACKMAIL

Congrats Edith Wharton, you've done it again.  It seems that Wharton's style can be summed up very nicely into a single phrase: roller coaster.  At every calm moment of The House of Mirth, Wharton spikes up the action with another drastic turn of events.  One minute Lily is having a nice conversation with her aunt, and then a fees pages later, she is being blackmailed.  I also thought it was very creative how Wharton introduced the reader to the charwomen, Mrs. Haffen, several times before revealing her role in the novel.  In hindsight, I probably should have suspected that the women might play a larger role in the plot because of the odd way she seemed to act and just the fact that Wharton put any emphasis on what appeared to be a very static character.  Lily's situation can really go nowhere but up at this point.  Her top marriage candidate is now engaged, leaving her again the beautiful but lonely twenty-nine-year-old single woman; she is still amidst improving, yet still problematic, financial difficulty; and now she is being blackmailed with letters that she did not write.  I admire her decision to buy the letters to protect her friend Seldon despite the fact that "She felt herself in the presence of something vile, as yet but dimly conjectured," (Wharton, 84).   It is impressive that though she seems very shallow, she is able to hold on to her sense of morals in the midst of her dire circumstance. I wonder what she will end up doing with the letters.  I know that she originally had no harmful intentions in mind when she bought the letters, and intended to destroy them in fact.  However, her aunt unintentionally reminded her of the horrid Mrs. Dorset and fueled her anger.  I honestly don't know what I would do if i were in her situation.  It seems a fairly good idea to follow Mrs. Haffen's example and blackmail Mrs. Dorset with the letters, although there is not much personal gain, outside possible financial assets, that Lily could gain from this.  Unfortunately, the damage has been done. Mrs. Dorset's role in the engagement of Gryse and Evie is irreversible.  I don't understand how Mrs. Dorset holds such a high place in society either when it is almost common knowledge of her affections for Seldon.  Doesn't her husband know? Why doesn't he do something about it? Regardless, hopefully Lily doesn't do anything foolish with the letters.

The House of Mirth: Uh Ohh..

Edith Wharton has begun to add suspense and additional conflict into The House of Mirth.  The story is really heating up, as Lily's position as one of the most wealthy, beautiful, and desired women in society begins to falter.  Lily realizes that her plan to marry Percy Gryce is in grave danger of becoming  failure after Mrs. Dorset, the clear antagonist in the novel, informs Gryce of all Lily's downfalls, her smoking, gambling, and not going to church, out of jealousy after seeing Lily and Seldon, Mrs. Dorset's rumored ex-lover, on a walk together (wow, that was a mouthful).  Gryce leaves town, emphasizing the extreme situation.  Honestly, I am feeling more and more sympathy for Lily as this story develops.  She has plenty of downfalls, like her shallowness, extreme emphasis upon riches, and indecision; however, Lily seems like a normal person, just trying to succeed in life.  It seems she just can't catch a break. Finally, her luck seems to be looking up in the form of Mr. Trenor investing some of her money in the stock market so that Lily was able to pay back old debts. Lilly thinks, “The world was not so stupid and blundering after all: now and then a stroke of luck came to the unluckiest” (Wharton, 74).  It is almost comical that just as she believes her situation is improving, it becomes drastically worse.  Of course, I also admire this style of Edith Wharton because it makes the novel all the more interesting. Lily devises a plan to win Gryce back at the wedding of Jack Stepney and Gwen Van Osburgh, at which she is very confident that he will be no match for her charm and beauty.  However, she is disgruntled by Seldon's presence at the wedding (and his date, the poor and annoying Miss Gerty Ferish) as well as Mr. Trenor's new assumption that he and Lily are on far greater terms than Lily seems to believe.  And then, the icing on the cake, Mrs. Van Osburgh informs Lily that her daughter Evie and Gryce have just gotten engaged.  Now, Lily is truly in way over her head.  I can truly relate to that sensation when you realize the horrible situation you have gotten yourself into, and the further realization that the whole mess is your own fault only make matters worse.  For example, I, the Queen of Procrastination, have waited until almost the last possible second to do all of my blogs (thank goodness I at least have the book finished).  However, the fact that I have all these blogs due tonight is slightly problematic, and I feel Lily's stress as she realizes that her actions have landed her in this sticky situation, and hopefully she will be able to concoct some magnificent solution to get herself out.  My grade and Lily's pristinely polished  lifestyle waver on a very thin line. 

The House of Mirth: Poor Lily

I am beginning to feel very bad for Lily.  It seems that she is realizing how much use desires freedom and much she dislikes the stereotypes and pressures she feels from society.  While conversing with Seldon, she also realizes how much she likes him, although she's not quite sure why.  Both Seldon and Lily vaguely address the prospect of marrying one another and when Lily claims that he has nothing to offer her, Seldon admits that,  "If I had, it should be yours, you know," (Wharton, 57).  I feel quite bad for both of them because theres not a lot to be done about the situation unless Lily snapped out of her perfect world and decided to live a simpler life with Seldon.  This whole situation reminds me a lot of the Disney movie Aladdin in which the Princess Jasmine is being forced by her father, the Sultan, to marry a snobby rich prince simply because it is custom for the princess to marry a prince.  She admires Aladdin when she meets him because , although he is impersonating a prince as well, she can tell that he is different than the other men.  He is genuine.  However, when Aladdin's true identity is revealed, a dilemma arises  because his genuine character and love for the princess don't matter, like Seldon's affection for Lily and the fact that they get along so well do not matter much to her in her situation, because he is not rich and not a prince, and Seldon is not rich and not truly among the top of the socialites. Because Aladdin is a Disney movie, all is well in the end and the Princess and Aladdin override what had been custom for probably centuries with their overpowering love.  Sadly, Edith Wharton's the House of Mirth is not an animated fictional love story, so I am interested to see what direction Seldon and Lily will take. 

The House of Mirth: Gryce vs. Seldon

Lily's dilemma in deciding a suitable husband has become even more complicated with the additional problem of her conflicted feelings between the two men Percy Gryce and Lawrence Seldon (for the record, Percy Gryce shares a name with Percy Weasley so I really already don't like him; he's probably a snob). Anyways, I feel bad for Lily in her predicament, deciding between a secure future or marrying for affection.  She has previously states that Gryce bores her, but she loves to spend time with Seldon. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Lily starts to weigh her desire for wealth over her affections for Seldon. She resents this though and resents her gender and the female obligation to marry for wealth and social status. Then she shallowly consoles herself with the thought of all the money she'll share when she marries Percy. Lily is very confident that she can marry Percy, as made clear with Edith Wharton's words, "The certainty that she could marry Percy Gryce when she pleased had lifted a heavy load from her mind, . . . " (Wharton 39).  This reveals something of Lily's confidence because she is very sure that  she will secure Gryce as a husband even after witnessing Bertha Dorset flirting with not only him, but Seldon as well.  Clearly, Mrs. Dorset is not favored by many characters in The House of Mirth as she has supposedly had an affair with Seldon and constantly seeks the company of other men than her husband, putting their marriage in obvious danger.  It seems very odd that Lily and Mrs. Trenor speak somewhat calmly of this situation because even in contemporary times, this situation would be a huge scandal.  It just seems bizarre that this women can maintain any sort of social status and acceptance among the higher-class society when she is consistently suspected of affairs and blatantly flirts with other men desire her married status. I'm interested to see what other roles Bertha will play as well as which man Lily will choose in the end.

The House of Mirth: Obsessed with Wealth

As I continue through Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, I am growing to both like and dislike the character of Lily Bart.  I like her because she seems more complicated than first expected in the beginning of the book.  Although she was brought up to value wealth and social status above all other human attributes, she appreciates other pieces of people's personalities as well. She reflects upon her childhood and contemplates her mother's obsession with wealth and social status, and how her mother seemed to care less for her father because of the fact that he went broke.  Lily expresses that she “would not indeed have cared to marry a man who was merely rich: she was secretly ashamed of her mother’s crude passion for money” (Wharton, 27).  I also dislike Lily though because despite the fact that she is not nearly as obsessed with money as her mother had been, she ignores her instincts because she convinces herself that she is dependent upon wealth.  She hates the idea of getting married to Percy Gryce because she finds him incredibly boring; however, she continues to try to impress him and win him over simply because of his wealth and high social status.  This just really annoys me, but I understand that this is the way that society functioned at the time.  While on the subject of irksome topics in the novel, I also find the characters' constant concern for what their peers think of them very annoying.  It seems that all of the characters, no matter what age are similar to myself and my friends, except they are similar to the way we were in middle school. They all act very immature with gossip and constant regard for what others might think of their words and actions, like I did in about 6th grade.  The extreme superficiality of the society in The House of Mirth is quite obvious and obnoxious.

The House of Mirth: Meet Miss Lily Bart

Right away, Edith Wharton introduces the reader to to Miss Lily Bart who will clearly be the focal point of the The House of Mirth. She is a young women, age 29, who, according to another character we meet, Lawrence Seldon, is incredibly beautiful.  Its amazing to me how much society has changed since the era about which Wharton writes.  Today, it is perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged, for a women to wait until her late twenties or early thirties to marry. In contemporary times many young women are focusing on their education and/or career in order to secure their future.  In contrast, Lily Bart is considered especially old for being a single women and is apparently still single because she is holding out for a very wealthy  man to marry.  Miss Lily remarks to her friend Seldon while she is scandolously visiting his apartment, "What a miserable thing it is to be a woman," referring to the marriage expectations that society places upon women (Wharton, 4). It's odd to think that it was no uncommon circumstance for women of this time to be married at my age of eighteen. If I were to get married this year it would be a scandal, rather than the opposite being true in Miss Lily's time.  It is also difficult to place myself in Lily's mindset regarding marrying a rich man so that she would be well-off.  I know that this was common at the time, and for good reason because women did not receive the education that men did and therefore could not have the same opportunities.  However, it has been drilled into my mind over and over to study and do well in school so that i can go to college and succeed in my future.  The differences between our two societies make them seem like separate worlds altogether.