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.
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