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.