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.
No comments:
Post a Comment