In the final chapters of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily pays off all her debts. She then takes an overdose of her sleeping medicine. Wharton does not let on whether she knew she was overdosing or not. Seldon realizes the gravity of his love for her when he goes to her apartment and she is dead.
"It was this moment of love, this fleeting victory over themselves, which had kept them from atrophy and extinction; which, in her, had reached out to him in every struggle against the influence of her surroundings, and in him, had kept alive the faith that now drew him penitent and reconciled to her side," (Wharton, 268).
Wharton only ended the book because she got tired of writing. She should have stopped after chapter 12 that way the reader may have had a little hope that Lily would grow up and marry Seldon. There was absolutely no point to the novel. The only point was to try to get society to think about true happiness and be thankful of our freedoms. But Wharton didn't even mean it for the latter because women didn't have that many freedoms. Wharton told a sad tale about a woman who couldn't realize how in love she was and how great her life could be if she stopped being so pety. ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!! kerjgtertgigjrhherewrkigtuqwkjhwtr8325ewrgfhdbpoirthi094thererh iuergtuonbv erkueruherkjghlki3i2893595u6lhtgiouvu kifghkjrghoiuey0p893tyhsngkl!!!!!!!!! That's how I feel!!! And that's all I have to say about that. Boom! Reference to Forest Gump! Power Verb!
In the next chapters of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Lily is fired from her millinery job. She now has no idea what to do with herself or her life. She threw the blackmail letters in Seldon's fire while he watched. She then said goodbye to him and said that they would not see each other for a long time. Lily and Seldon contrast greatly. Lily believes in money as a way of happiness and believes that personal freedom comes through money. Seldon believes that the key to true happiness is personal freedom from everything.
" 'Once--twice--you gave me the chance to escape from my life, and I refused it because I was a coward,' " (Wharton, 250).
Lily finally admits that she was a coward and should have taken Seldon's offer. What she doesn't realize is that Seldon is still offering an escape from her life. He wants to help her so badly and she is still a coward. Seldon doesn't care about the gossip and Lily is engrossed in it.
In the next chapters of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily begins her job as Mrs. Hatch's secretary. She has had to demote herself to finally getting a job. At this point she is at the worst point in her life. She is now having to support herself and no suitors are in sight. Except for Seldon who is so in love with her that he doesn't know how to deal with his feelings. Since Lily's life has flipped completely upside down, there is a lot of symbolism from when she still had money.
"The environment in which Lily found herself was as strange to her as its inhabitants."
When she still had money she was unhappy. The money symbolizes unhappiness. The unhappiness with her current financial situation foreshadowed a dramatic change in her lifestyle. She was always unhappy no matter her situation and procrastinated marrying a rich man which led her to having to support herself.
In these next chapters of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Gerty, Mrs. Fisher, and Seldon are still intent on helping Lily through her struggles. Again Seldon is showing his love for her but she won't accept his love.
"Every step took seemed in fact to carry her farther from the region where, once or twice, he and she had met for an illumined moment," (Wharton, 220)
Lily is straying from her social circle and isolating herself from everyone. Although she is becoming a little closer with the Gormer's. Mrs. Fisher is similar to Ms. Fisher at Roncalli. Both strive to help people when they are in need. But Ms. fisher can only help people if they want to be helped. At this point Lily seems to be running from all help. This will not help her current financial situation or her social one. Lily has to want to be helped.
Through these next sections of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Lily is slowly escaping her troubles. This occurs when Carry Fisher invites Lily to the Gormers' party. The party was successful for Lily because the Gormers invited her to go to Alaska with them. Carry suggests that Lily marry as quickly as possible to secure her financial situation. Finally, Lily decides to marry Rosedale but when she sees him she still has moments where she isn't fond of the idea. I am frustrated why Edith Wharton would portray Lily bart in such a way that would make the reader resent Lily and have pity for her. In the following passage Edith Wharton evokes pity from the reader for Lily.
"She too needed friends--she had tasted the pang of lonliness; and her resentment of Berth Dorset's cruelty softened her heart to the poor wretch who was after all the chief of Bertha's victims," (Wharton, 196).
Wharton evokes pity and resent from this scene with Dorset, Lily, and Mrs. Gormer. Pity because Lily was struggling and no one wanted to be her friend, except the one who caused the final blow in the first place, and resentment because Lily caused her troubles by herself.
In these sections of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily finds herself with virtually nowhere to go after Bertha kicks her off the yacht. Lily spends sometime in England at Seldon's request. This just shows more of his love for her by trying to protect her. When she gets back to New York, she finds that she has virtually no friends and with her aunt's passing she was blamed for the family death. Although the her aunt left Lily some money in her will the money will be delayed for a year. She finds that her only friend is Seldon's cousin Gertrude. The blame of her aunt's death has practically completely ruined her.
"In her stuffy hotel room at the hotel to which she had gone on landing, Lily Bart that evening reviewed her situation."
This passage further affirms Lily's horrible financial situation and how she has no friends that are able to take her in. I still believe that Lily should marry Seldon. That would help fix her problems.
Throughout this section of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. Lily is on a mediterranean cruise with the Dorsets.Bertha invited her on the cruise to keep her husband occupied while she had an affair with Ned. Lily, the main character, thrives in a setting where she can find the necessary components to live her expensive style of life. While on the cruise and in Europe she forgets her money woes because she live her upscale lifestyle. She can flirt with rich men without worrying too much about her financial situation in the states.
" 'Lily has been a tremendous success here,' Mrs. Fisher continued..." (Wharton, 150).
This statement from Mrs. Fisher only backs up what I said previously about Lily. She is most successful in situations where she believes there is ample money and entertainment with rich men. I wish she would realize that Seldon is what would make her truly happy.
In the last section of Book 1 of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth Lily tries to make amends with her aunt and finds her self stood up by Seldon and receives a marriage proposal from Rosedale. Lily is like the main character in the play Oedipus. She admits to her aunt about her debts. She also tells her aunt of her gambling with cards, even on Sundays. Her aunt only agrees to pay off her clothing debts and is still furious with her. Like Oedipus, she admits her faults and finds herself in more trouble. Oedipus' trouble was his own fate, suicide.
"Mrs. Peniston raised her hand warningly. 'You needn't make any promises: it's unnecessary. When I offered you a home I didn't undertake to pay your gambling debts,' " (Wharton, 140).
This relates to Oedipus because she continues to get herself into trouble even when she admitted her wrongs. Hopefully Lily will be able to right her wrongs and not upset her aunt anymore. Avoiding Oedipus' fate would be in her best interest.
In the following section of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily's carelessness is causing many scandals. This effects the plot deeply. She becomes more and more careless and does not care about the scandals she is causing. People think she is having affairs with just about everyone she talks to. She also does not care very much that she is starting scandals because they mainly effect her friends. What she does not know is that it will very soon effect her because Seldon is now starting to believe the affairs.
"Gerty's first movement was one of revulsion. She shrank back as though Lily's presence flashed a too sudden light upon her misery. Then she heard her name in a cry, had a glimpse of her friend's face, and felt herself caught and clung to," (Wharton, 132).
This passage shows how much Lily's carelessness affected others. Gertrude Farish felt revulsion because she was under the impression that Seldon and Lily were having an affair. But then Gertrude realized that she needed to help Lily, because it would make Seldon happy. Maybe Lily can reconcile with her friends.
This next sectionin Edith Wharton's novel The House of Mirth Lily is confronted with continuing problems with Mr. Trenor because he is missing Lily. She is also having troubles with her aunt and her cousin Grace, along with Mr. Dorset, Rosedale, and Seldon. The setting in the novel is what causes all of Lily's problems along with he indecisiveness but mainly the time period. In the late 1800s being rich was very important for women, and marrying rich was even more important. Social status was all women had, considering they could not vote, and it was very rare for them to independent. If they did live alone they were considered unmarriageable, which no woman wanted to be.
"...the idea that any scandal could attach to a young girl's name, above all that it could be lightly coupled with that of a married man, was so new to her that she was so much aghast as if she had been accused of leaving her carpets down all summer, or of violationg any of the other cardinal laws of housekeeping," (Wharton, 100).
This passage expresses Mrs. Peniston's views of Lily talking to a married man so intently. She couples something that is so scandalous to the society with domestic duties. This proves how much emphasis was put on women to be very domestic and if they did anything wrong in their housekeeping duties it was just as bad as having an affair. The late 1800s society was not accepting of woman in any other aspect except for domestic affairs.
In these next two sections of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily buys love letters from Seldon's maid writtenbetween Seldon and Berth. She initially does this to protect Seldon, but then realizes that after the disaster with Gryce, because of Bertha, she could blackmail Bertha with these scandalous letters. I think this will just get her in more trouble later in the novel and that she is putting herself at risk to lose Seldon. The narrator throughout the novel is Edith Wharton, and she is writing with a third person omniscient point of view. This can be seen here,
"All her life Lily had seen money go out as quickly as it came in, and whatever theories she cultivated as to the prudence of setting aside a part of her gains, she had unhappily no saving vision of the risks of the opposite course," (Wharton, 90).
The benefit of Wharton having a third person omniscient point of view allows the reader to know how everyone one feels even though the main character Lily does not. Because of this the reader becomes more engaged in the novel and has more emotional attachments in wanting Lily to chose what actually will make and makes her happy. I realized that I was partially wrong about the theme of the novel. The actual them of the novel is finding the key to true happiness and defining personal success. I was right in the way that society and restrictions of women in the early 1900s is a factor effecting the theme.
Lily Bart's skill of manipulating others for her own gain is clearly shown in this next section of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. Lily Bart also understands people very well and this helps her to manipulate others. She not only uses her knowledge of people but also her good looks to attain what she wants most. In this section she convinces Mr. Trenor to invest in stocks for her. Towards the end of their conversation he realizes how much she needs his help and agrees to help her need. Here Mr. Trenor has a change of heart in his opinion of how Lily should get her money,
"... but with the subject of discussion at his side, turning to him for sympathy, making him feel that he understood her better than her dearest friends, and confirming the assurance by the appeal of her exquisite nearness, he was ready to swear that such a marriage was a desecration, and that, as a man of honour, he was bound to do all he could to protect her from the results of her disinterestedness," (Wharton, 68).
I wish Lily would make up her mind and whether she wants to marry for happiness or money. I also wonder whether she'll actually ever make up her mind. Seldon and Gryce are both very nice gentlemen and they would both be good for her. But if she isn't careful she may lose both men.
This next section of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth has Lily rethinking her possible marriage to Percy Gryce. Seldon has Lily thinking about a good life without extreme amounts of money and that true happiness is personal freedom from everything. Wharton uses imagery throughout these sections to convey the emotions of the characters. Seldon and Lily go on a walk together and Wharton uses the imagery to describe the intensity of the feelings the two are having for each other. Specifically Wharton does this at the beginning of section six, when describing the Sunday afternoon between Lily and Seldon. Wharton describes the afternoon and then paints the picture of it here,
"The afternoon was perfect. A deeper stillness possessed the air, and theglitter of the American autumn was tempered by a haze which diffused the brightness without dulling it," (Wharton, 50).
Wharton continues the use of imagery here,
"She had risen, and he stood facing her with his eyes on hers. The soft isolation of the falling day enveloped them: they seemed lifted into a finer air. All the exquisite influences of the hour trembled in their veins, and drew them to each other as the loosened leaves were drawn to the earth," (Wharton, 58).
Carefully crafting her writing, Wharton uses imagery also to express Lily's desires and what she believes she has to do to have a happy or a good life. Lily believes that to be happy she needs large amounts of money and a very wealthy husband, which she sees in Percy Gryce. But, what Lily really wants is to have be entertained and be free to do whatever she wants. I believe that through the rest of the novel we will see this constant inner conflict in Lily.
In this next section of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, Mrs. Trenor plays a significant part in encouraging Lily to try to marry Mr. Gryce and to symbolize the "perfect" woman in the early 1900s society. Mrs. Trenor is described by Lily as "to exist only as a hostess," (Wharton, 32). Mrs. Trenor prides herself in giving parties and makes herself the best hostess out of everyone and has become the envy of many other women for this reason. Along with hosting as a trait for the "perfect" woman, Mrs. Trenor also knows everything about everyone and enjoys gossiping about what she can. She also finds excitement in putting matches of men and women together to help the course of "true love." Mrs. Trenor exemplifies the 1900s image of the "perfect" woman. The party at the Bellomont reminds me of the parties in the PBS show Downton Abbey. The mere drama and arrangement of all of the people and who to invite to certain events reminds me of how Cora arranges all of the parties and makes certain that each will be a success. Also on Downton Abbey Cora and Robert have some trouble with their daughter Lady Sybil. She would like to marry someone who is not of noble birth and Robert struggles with this deeply. Eventually though Cora and Robert support Lady Sybil completely.
In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, the reader begins in the middle of a scene with Seldon. Later Wharton introduces Miss Lily Bart and the reader quickly learns that Lily is very pretty and all of the men in New York think so. Very quickly what may be the theme of the novel is introduced. When Lily goes to Seldon's flat for tea, the theme is first introduced. Lily says to Seldon, " 'How delicious to have a place like this all to one's self! What a miserable thing it is to be a woman!' " (Wharton, 4). Lily expresses how upset she is that because she is a woman she is not able to do the things she pleases. She would like to live by herself, own her own flat, and do the things she wants to do when she wants to do them without being judged. She continues throughout this scene with Seldon to talk about how awful it is to be a woman. Later Seldon makes a comment on how women are meant to get married, this is why they are born, essentially. This afirms the societal structure on how restricted women are on the early 1900s.
