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.
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