My opinion of the work, good or bad

Personally I did not enjoy Wharton's The House of Mirth for a variety of reasons.  Wharton occasionally made the conversations and scenes difficult to follow as she would transition so quickly from one to another. It was also at times hard to keep track of all the characters, as some would be introduced for a chapter and not mentioned for another several chapters.  The character development was good, but at times it was frustrating to see Lily Bart continuing to go back to her same ways time and again.  The Selden and Lily romance was a fun portion of the story, but the reader often never knew where the two actually stood, and the highlight of their romance being a kiss in a garden and Lily's death.  "It had always seemed to Selden that experience offered a great deal besides the sentimental adventure, yet he could vividly conceive of a love which should broaden and deepen till it became the central fact of life," (Wharton, 124).  The romance was also frustrating as Lily constantly was looking for men with wealth when she should clearly be with Selden.  The reader also must watch as Selden idealizes a woman who will never live up to his expectations and never love him in the way he wants her to.  Many of the minor characters seemed opportunistic from beginning to end, never changing or growing with the main cast.  Certain characters like Gerty Farish brightened the mood by never trying to use Lily or someone else for money or status.

Interesting Ending

The closing chapters of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth find Lily Bart finally achieving happiness and satisfaction in her life.  She found by meeting someone she had helped a long time ago, that person opened Lily's eyes to the good things in the world.  Lily even regrets that "during her transient phase of luxury at the Emporium she had slipped back into habits of extravagance which still impaired her slender balance," (Wharton, 259).  At this point in the story Lily has moved away from wanting to be happy and toward realizing that her old way of life wasn't giving her any happiness and she regretted in.  Soon her only desire was to have a good night's sleep.  She unfortunately overdoses and dies in her sleep, and on the morning Selden was going to profess his love for her.  Before she dies she is finally able to repay the debts she owes after she receives her portion of Peniston's legacy.  This scene is extremely defeating, as these two have had several close encounters throughout the book.  However, some closure is gained when Selden says the word that made the couple work.  Although the ending was rather anticlimactic, it provided a good conclusion to a woman's journey through the social classes of the early twentieth century.

Lily Bart is Growing Up

Throughout Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily Bart has acted as a spoiled woman who never has and doesn't intend to work a day in her life.  Through her fall from social grace and her inheritance not being as large as expected, she finds herself relegated to the working class.  Her privileged life has not at all prepared her for such a task, and she struggles greatly with it.  Her work with hats wears on her nerves greatly, and her superior is constantly trying to get more productivity out of her.  She found herself immersed in "that mounting tide of dinginess against which her mother had so passionately warned her," (Wharton, 240).  She had trouble affording a respectable home, and she was again relegated to sharing a group home with many other working women.  Her worries eventually become too much, and she was forced to consume sleeping drugs to get a peaceful nights sleep.  This represents the first time in Lily's life that she actually been tired.  She spends most of her time in a trace like state that does not allow her to pick up on certain idiosyncrasies she use to be able to.  She even considered again committing herself to Rosedale just to escape the horrible life.  This current way of life is taking all the life out of Lily, and surely she will attempt to find some way out.

The Curious Case of Gerty Farish

Throughout The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, nearly every character has shown themselves to be opportunistic, selfish people who mainly concern themselves with keeping a elite social status.  The main character, Lily Bart, is definitely one of the worst offenders of this, as she commonly contemplates sacrificing her own happiness for money and recognition.  There has, however, been one minor character who as of yet has maintained a very selfless persona, Gerty Farish.  She is a member of the higher social class, but she does not write of anybody who is not.  She swallowed her feelings for Selden in order to allow Lily to have a chance, and she comforted Lily when she felt hatred for her.  After Bertha Dorset effectively destroyed her social standing, Gerty remained a strong friend with Lily.  She would even at times listen to Lily's selfish rants and plans about how she will regain her original standing.  "Left to herself, Gerty mused distressfully upon her friend's plight, and her own inability to relieve it," (Wharton, 217).  Gerty, though she often disagreed with the means of happiness, would fight to find a way to help her friend Lily achieve it.  From helping Lily look for a source of income to talking to Selden about Lily, whom she hadn't talked to for a very long time and she was still nervous about gaining closure, Gerty sacrificed a great deal of comfort and time to help Lily.  Gerty has proved to be easily the most likable and selfless person throughout the entire book, and the reader can't help but hope good things come to her.

Edith Wharton's Interesting Approach

In her work, The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton has an interesting approach of telling the story.  Keeping in mind this book was written in an entirely different time period, it is at times hard to understand.  The sentence structures are very often set up the same way, meriting a further explanation to an original thought.  This overflow of information is sometimes difficult to understand.  Wharton also occasionally uses pronouns to much, not allowing the reader to know which woman "she" is.  She also sometimes makes the implied meaning of a characters words or actions difficult to understand, as she may simply just suggest what they are doing.  This could possibly be attributed to the time gap, and the phrases better understood in the early twentieth century than today.  But the most confusing and frustrating thing about Wharton's writing style is the tendency to transfer between scenes without any explanation.  Whaton writes "... but Gerty's tenderness, disciplined by long years of contact with obscure and inarticulate suffering, could wait on its object with a silent forbearance which took no account of time.  She could not, however, deny herself the solace of taking anxious counsel with Lawrence Selden..." (Wharton, 218).  Wharton starts this passage with a scene in which Lily is venting and being emotional with Gerty.  After a sentence of thought by Gerty, the scene has now transferred to Gerty talking alone with Selden about helping Lily.  This can, and has, led to many misunderstandings of scenes in which the reader can be confused as to who is and isn't taking part in a conversation.

Everything Can Be Related to The Titanic

The main character in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth has been taught and shown that all her life luxury is the way to live and anything else is disgusting.  This is a similar upbringing of one of the main characters of James Cameron's Titanic, Rose Bukater.  She too is extremely conscious of social class, and everyone around her tells her to pursue the life of luxury, even if it means sacrificing happiness at times.  Rose, through interaction with a young man, finds that social class isn't the most important thing, and the people she had previously condemned and mocked were really the ones with whom she wanted to be associated.  She learns to let loose at a party with "trashy" people, where she finally has fun.  Lily comes to a similar realization when she loses her social footing and is forces to be with the Gormers, who have parties that feature loud people her other set of friends thought were horrible.  She comes to find these people enjoyable, and likes how they don't judge and condemn any action she may commit.  She finds they are also much more forgiving as "instead of shrinking from her as her own friends had done, they received her without question into the easy promiscuity of their lives," (Whaton, 189).  These new people are willing to accept someone as one of their own on a whim, as opposed to the social elite that carefully measure any and every person they may become close with.  Both women also struggle with still wanting to be socially elite, as Rose at one point declares she is done with the poor crowd, and Lily contemplates again marrying Rosedale for his money despite her hatred of him.  This similarity has been strong throughout the book, and hopefully Lily has an easier end than Rose did.

The Social Fall of Lily Bart

Edith Wharton's Lily Bart in The House of Mirth spends most of the story improving, securing, and worrying about her social status among her peers.  She has had to fight for her own standing as she didn't have a mother to do so.  Because of this great effort Lily has always had to use, she takes a tremendous amount of pride in being considered one of the social elite.  However, when she decides to come with the Dorsets to Southern Europe, she had little idea this would ultimately undo everything she has worked for her entire life.  After Mr. Dorset develops a small crush on Lily, who was instructed to distract him from his wife, Mrs. Dorset separated herself from Lily, excluded her from their yacht, and immediately told everyone her own version of the story upon arrival back in America.  This story, along with the true rumors of Lily's debts were heard by Lily's guardian, Mrs. Peniston, who was simply mortified by the talks.  As a result, Lily was excluded from the majority of her will, which left Lily embarrassed, socially destroyed, and unable to pay off her debt to Mr. Trenor.  Lily, now reduced to one real friend, shows that in her mind gaining social status is the only way out of anything when she thinks "she must set out to regain, little by little, the position she had lost," (Wharton, 184).  Lily will likely struggle to gain even a small amount of social recognition without friends with some, yet this is the only thing she can take any pride in.  Her actions throughout the book suggest she will either gain social status or kill herself trying.

The Mediterranean in the Early 1900's

In the opening of the second of book of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, we find nearly every major character has relocated to Southern Europe, specifically around the Mediterranean.  It is unclear if the entire group went together of if they happened to go to the same area of the world, but somehow they all came to be located in among the most romantic places in history.  This scene, coupled with this time period, makes perfect sense for the story to move toward.  Southern Europe at the turn of the century was immersed with the attraction of high society, as are the vast majority of characters in the story.  The local royalty fascinates the main cast, as Lily and a select few others spend time with the highest members on the social pyramid.  As they do in America, yet to a greater extend, everyone tries to separate themselves from the average tourist, avoiding certain activities at certain times and claiming that "the Americans who don't know anyone always rush for the best food," (Wharton, 148).  The romance associated with this area of the world at this time adds to the growing and confusing relationship between Lily and Selden, which could blossom or fail in the new setting.  This context does allow for a farther spread between the characters, which could lead toward an awkward separation between the two.  The ambiance of the scene will certainly play an important part in the development of the plot, and will likely force a confrontation of feelings by the characters.  This story seemed destined to go to the early twentieth century romantic Southern Europe, and has finally arrived.

How Complicated Love Can Be

At the conclusion of Book I of Wharton's The House of Mirth we find the characters intertwined in what seems to be a love pentagon.  Rosedale seems to be in love with Lily, who is kind of obligated to spend time with him through her debt to Trenor.  Lily loves Selden, and Gerty, who also loves Selden, knows that and knows that Selden love Lily.  But at the very conclusion, as Lily is eager to share her life with Selden, we learn he was left for Havana.  This series of events is the most developed Gerty was been throughout the entire work, and she assumed an amount of importance when she encouraged Lily about getting through the night.  Gerty betrays her initial reaction of hating the sight of Lily because she is a good person and was unable to allow another woman to suffer so much, especially her friend.  Lily also develops into a woman who, after being shaken up by the remarks and actions of Trenor, found "the thought of confiding in [Selden] became as seductive as the river's flow to the suicide," (Wharton, 141).  Rosedale also seems to be after Lily with a new found resolve, and it was almost too convenient for him to appear at her doorstep the hour she most wanted Selden.  He proves to be the same shallow man when he offers Lily nothing but an endless supply of wealth.  Frustration is mounted when, in the closing paragraphs, Lily appears to give into her desire for such wealth, yet she is unable to write a letter to the disgusting Rosedale.  Could this mean Lily is finally moving into a phase of her life that would include chasing a mate she genuinely loves, instead of continuing to pursue her goal of marrying rich?

Finally, but then what?

Since the beginning scene in Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily Bart seems to have an attraction to Lawrence Selden that is simply an uncalculated feeling.  She first suppressed these feelings when she was interested with attaining a husband with a large amount of wealth, specifically Mr. Gryce.  He seemed to not have anything in common with Lily, and furthermore was disgusted by some activities she enjoyed, such as smoking and gambling.  But following Gryce's engagement and a chance meeting between them at the Bry's party, Selden found himself refreshed on her beauty and pertaining to their initial meeting "he felt an overmastering longing to be with her again," (Wharton, 110).  Seeing him take her silently to a private place and finally kiss her was extremely satisfying after such a build up.  Yet immediately after a confusing event occurs when Lily tells Selden to not tell her he loves her and rushes away.  This could possibly mean Lily doesn't share his affection, she's again interested in  satisfying her needs financially, or she doesn't want anything to happen at the party.  Lily, who has just achieved a rebirth into popularity in high society, may want to protect her new reputation, but Selden is generally viewed as a respectable man.  Presently it stands a mystery as to why Lily was so easy to give into her impulse, but so quick to rush away from him.  This is bound to develop into something much bigger than a simple brief romantic encounter.

Trenor and Rosedale: Two Creeps

About two thirds of the way through Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Lily Bart becomes closely entangled with two men who seem to be disgusting.  These men, Mr. Trenor and Mr. Rosedale, seem to be the kind of men that would lead to the eventual fall from social grace of a person like Lily Bart.  Nearly her entire relationship with them throughout the story has been an unpleasant and sometimes unwanted one, and it seems the two men are looking to gain something from Miss Bart.  In order to make a little bit of money, Lily asks Mr. Trenor to help her invest, which he does and they find success in this venture.  But he soon finds he holds a slight amount of leverage over Miss Bart.  He abuses this leverage by attacking her verbally in their box at the opera about how she never sees him anymore.  He also forces an association with Mr. Rosedale, who seems to be a disgusting and bad guy.  Rosedale has a romantic interest in Lily, which proves to simply repulse her and drive her away.  His character really shows when he realizes while attempting to ask Lily out that he is "not above taking advantage of her nervousness," (Wharton, 93).  The immediate and ongoing impression the reader receives about Rosedale is that he is an opportunistic creep with whom Lily would like to have no association.

When Lily showed her human side

Thus far in The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton has portrayed Lily as a woman who is constantly scheming and calculating.  She seems to only care what people think of her because it could help her use them at some point in the future.  The glaring exception to this trend throughout the book has been Selden.  Lily took such pleasure in giving into an impulse and spending time in Selden's apartment, then lied about it immediately.  This exception was strongly noted at the end of chapter eight in the first book.  The narrator reveals Lily believes she will always look her worst when Selden is with her.  She also shows embarrassment for the first time when she had to talk to Rosedale in front of Selden.  As she walked away with Rosedale, "every nerve in her throbbed with the consciousness of what Selden must have thought of the scene," (Wharton, 78).  This scene, in which Lily showed the first real traces of strong human emotion, made me personally like Lily more.  She finally seemed like a normal woman who was simply trying to gain the approval of a man.  The brief emotional side quickly vanished when Lily tries to locate Gryce and make sure her investment is still available.  It was interesting to see Lily in such a way that she acted desperate and unknowing of what a person she was interacting with was thinking.  It will be much easier to view Lily in a favorable light in the future if she continues to act emotionally and follow what she feels is good, not what she thinks is good.

Then Fred posted about the narrator

The narrator in The House of Mirth takes the form of an objective third party observer.  This point of view is interesting because it allows the reader to hear and understand the thoughts and actions of many characters, as opposed to just the main character.  This leads to the reader sometimes knowing something before another character does, or knowing the true motives behind multiple people's actions.  Edith Wharton exemplifies this when she writes, "She looked so plaintively lovely as she proffered the request, so trustfully sure of his sympathy and understanding, that Trenor felt himself wishing that his wife could see how other women treated him- not battered wire-pullers like Mrs. Fisher, but a girl that most men would have given their boots to get such a look from," (Wharton, 66).  This passage shows the emotions and desires of Mr. Trenor, while the book commonly explains Lily's emotions.  The neutrality of the speaker in a situation gives the reader a better point of view.  If it were exclusively through the eyes of Lily Bart, the reader may become annoyed with her constant analyzing and planning to gain wealth and social status.  As her ventures in the beginning seemed to be shallow and mean, this may have discouraged the reader from liking Lily.  The fact that the narrator is omniscient also adds to the story.  It enables the reader to learn the motives and reasons behind an action or event in the story.  This well rounded narrator makes the book much easier to understand than any other point of view would, and it includes certain information that would be missed with another kind of narrator.

Gryce vs. Selden

Edith Wharton's House of Mirth features a woman named Lily Bart searching for a husband.  Thus far she has stumbled across two men that seem suitable, yet she seems to be only interested in one.  Percy Gryce is a painfully shy man who has trouble holding conversations with anyone unless they are about a few select topics, like Americana.  Miss Bart was able to completely control their conversation on a train ride and seems confident she could lure the wealthy man into marriage at any moment.  The other man of the story is Mr. Selden.  His relationship with Miss Bart seems a bit clouded at this point.  During his initial meeting with her on a train, she acted confident while the narrator hinted at a crush that Selden had on Miss Bart when he says "As a spectator, he had always enjoyed Lily Bart..." (Wharton, 2).  The reader is then made to believe through their conversation, which carries into his house, that they are simply friends, yet she lies to Mr. Rosedale about her whereabouts while she was in his apartment.  She goes onto fight against extending an invitation to him to a party and blushing every time his name is mentioned.  This leads the reader to believe Lily may have a crush on Selden too.  Both men she has interacted with are wealthy enough to take care of her, which she claims is her ultimate endgame.  Selden was the only one able to hold her interest, even luring her into his apartment, making her late.  Mr. Gryce had trouble speaking about almost everything, and Lily at one point that he was going to be boring her for life.  Personally, Selden seems like the obvious choice of with whom she should be involved, yet she's very against that and for a relationship with Mr. Gryce.  Possibly a currently unrevealed history between Selden and Lily is to blame for this strange detraction from him.

The Woman, The Womyth, The Wolegend: Lily Bart

Edith Wharton's House of Mirth is, at least in the first few chapters, centered around a young woman named Lily Bart.  This woman seems to be nice enough, although even at the beginning she meets a man known as Selden, whose worth she is constantly assessing.  It seems as if he is one of many gentlemen who have had a crush on Miss Lily Bart but have remained primarily spectators in her life.  She later meets with a man whom she clearing is trying to attach, Mr. Gryce.  Lily knows this man is painfully shy and likely has never spent a great amount of time with  woman, and she takes advantage of this.  It is revealed that she is chiefly concerned with his financial means without regard for his personality, hoping he "might ultimately decide to do her the honour of boring her for life," (Wharton,19).  This extreme need to have financial and social superiority came from a mother who put great pressure on her daughter's beauty to win a rich man's heart, or at least his estate as a spouse.  Mrs. Bart, Lily's mother, felt no romantic feeling toward her husband or likely the thought of live itself, which led to a belief in Lily that marriage is about escaping poverty, which was in fact the last sentiment of her dying mother, not an "I love you."  Though Lily originally didn't agree with her mother's stance, she eventually wore down into an opportunistic woman who sees her current goal in life as finding a husband that will provide her with a great amount of wealth.  Seeing as her reluctant guardian, Mrs. Peniston, is unwilling to find a man, Lily relies on her beauty and her social skills to eventually lure a man into an empty marriage.  She will likely (and hopefully) find this pursuit unsatisfying and possibly decide to develop a healthy personal relationship with no ulterior motives.  She seems to be heading down a dark and unfulfilled path.