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.
