Lily's Choice in The House of Mirth Essays

Lily starts to feel that she has developed a bond with the Boatwright sisters. Lily does not have a good relationship with her father. He makes her feel unwanted and abuses her verbally and physically. Lily’s father comes to the Boatwright’s residence and demands that Lily returns home with him but she refuses. The sisters inform the father that Lily can stay with them and they pledge to take good care of her, “ I still remember telling myself that when he drove away that day he wasn’t saying good riddance; he was saying, Oh, Lily, you’re better off in that house of coloured women. You never would have flowered with me like you will with them” (Kidd 299-300). Lily came to the realization that her father was not fit to provide her with the love and nurturing that she deserved. The sisters provided her with a loving environment where she feels protected. Also, the Boatwright sisters, especially August, are strong female role models. Lily will model her ideals, values and morals after the Boatwright

In “Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth,” author Wai-Chee Dimock argues that the society portrayed in the novel, which is a reflection of 19th century upper class New York, revolves around the idea that the business ethics of the economic “marketplace” determines all aspects of the culture. More specifically, this causes all forms of social interactions to be viewed as “currency,” with the precise value of a certain act or relationship determined by whoever possesses the most power. As Dimock herself puts it, “as a controlling logic, a mode of human conduct and human association, the marketplace is everywhere and nowhere, ubiquitous and invisible” (375). While some might wonder whether the marketplace really is the ultimate guiding structure for this particular fictionalized society, Dimock contends nevertheless that this interpretation is a viable one, due to the marketplace’s “ability to reproduce itself,” and thus “assimilate everything… into its domain” (375). I myself find Dimock’s argument both interesting and useful in interpreting The House of Mirth because of the clarity with which she presents the often complicated, critical lens of Marxism.

In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen introduces the major thematic concept of marriage and financial wealth. Throughout the novel, Austen depicts various relationships that exhibit the two recurring themes. Set during the regency period, the perception of marriage revolves around a universal truth. Austen claims that a single man “must be in want of a wife.” Hence, the social stature and wealth of men were of principal importance for women. Austen, however, hints that the opposite may prove more exact: a single woman, under the social limitations, is in want of a husband. Through this speculation, Austen acknowledges that the economic pressure of social acceptance serves as a foundation for a proper marriage.

First, in the novel money is the most important thing and social standing depends just on how much wealth one has. Therefore, it makes sense that Lily’s whole demeanor and emotional state is almost completely dependent on money. Lily has acquired lots of debt from gambling and when in this state she feels as if she owes something to the people who have lent her money. She absolutely hates that feeling, as she wants to solely be independent and have a man give her wealth. “She was realizing for the first time that ... the maintenance of a moral attribute should be dependent on dollars and cents”, this quote was describing

Lily has successfully evaded Trenor up until this point; however, Trenor has effectively tricked Lily into spending time alone with him in an empty house. Trenor corners her, saying “[you] thought you could turn me inside out, and chuck me in the gutter like an empty purse… that ain’t playing fair…Of course I know what you wanted…but I tell you Miss Lily, you’ve got to pay for making me think so—’” (118). Trenor believes that he has bought Lily with his loans; he believes that he has the right to her time, her social position, and her person. His monetary contributions far outweigh Lily’s social contributions to this society in which they trade stock; moreover, Trenor knows that he has the power to ruin Lily socially and financially. In this moment, Lily realizes that she has no intrinsic worth outside, and her dignity and self-respect

For example, only a few weeks after staying in the pink house, August asks Lily what she loves, Lily responds, “‘And since coming here, I’ve learned to love bee’s and honey.’ I wanted to add, And I love you, I love you, but I felt too awkward,” (Kidd, 140). Lily tells August about the many things that she loves, she even wants to communicate her deep admiration for August but is unable to. August is like a mother figure to Lily also because she cares a lot about her and provides Lily with a kind of support and love that no one has ever expressed to her. For example, when Lily finally tells August about how she killed her mother and expresses how she feels unlovable, August consoles her and ensures her that she is admirable. “‘That’s a terrible, terrible thing for you to live with. But you’re not unlovable. Even if you did accidentally kill her, you are still the most dear, most lovable girl I know,” (Kidd, 242). Throughout her entire life, T. Ray never cared enough to emotionally support Lily, and Rosaleen’s personality was too snarky for her to understand Lily’s position. Lily finally has someone to talk to and releases all her pent-up guilt, regret, and pain to August. August and the sisters of Mary also provide Lily with a sense of motherly instinct and protection. For example, when T. Ray tries to come and take Lily back to the peach farm, they all stand up for her and protect her from her

“By then I could feel the ground rumbling through my shoes. I saw the first water sluicing through the lowest part of the pasture, and I knew we didn't have time to make it to higher ground ourselves. In the middle of the field was an old cottonwood tree, broad-branched and gnarled, and we ran for that.” pg.12

Daisy is one of the main characters whose obsession with wealth influences her life decisions. “ Her voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 128). this quote shows that even people around Daisy can hear the longing for money in her voice. She is obsessed with money and thinks that if she has it she will achieve happiness. “ She wanted her life shaped now, immediately- and the decision must be made by some force-of love, of money, of unquestionable practicality-” (Fitzgerald 161). Daisy thought money and love would make her life more fulfilled and she believed it was the only way for it to be more adequate. She wanted her life to be perfect and she was willing to go with whoever could provide her more money and love. In Daisy’s marriage with Tom she felt a lack of love because of Tom’s mistress, which is why she was drawn to Gatsby once again. When Gatsby and Daisy first met he was lacking money but they were in love. Daisy was consumed by the idea that she must have both money and love in order to get happiness, that she ended

This is not a good sign for Lily because she does not have love, respect, or acceptance from anyone.

Throughout the novel, Lily is able to depend only on herself and her own strength to get through tough times. When she was only eight years old, her family was hit by a flash flood that threatened their home. Her father

Mullen describes Lily’s situation as “Lily Bart has been predominantly framed as a tragic victim caught within the irresistible market forces of capitalism and the fatal contradictions of gender and class politics” (45). The novel, “The House of Mirth” filled with nuances of gender and class politics. Mullen points out a weakness in Lily’s character, her position in the forces of the capitalist circle. The females in the novel face the pressures from the social circle as well. Lily is a product of her culture and upbringing. Success is measured by the capital worth and how one would survive in their social class. Unfortunately, Lily didn’t have to chance to remain in her former social class circle, after trying to pay off her debts. She died the night that she received her

No one around her really valued true love, it is believed that money would be the source of Daisy’s happiness. Everyone around her knew that she valued money. Money was what her world revolved around, she even spoke like she was full of money. “Her voice is full of money,’ he said suddenly… ‘It was full of money-that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it… High in a white palace where the king’s daughter, the golden girl” (120) Sadly, Daisy’s husband is having an affair with another woman, but Daisy knows that this affair is happening. All these years she stayed with her husband, because she wanted to keep her status. Now that her old love is back in town and he is also very wealthy, Daisy now feels she can leave her husband. Daisy truly believes that money is the key to keeping herself happy. Money is worth way too much to her and seems to be the only valuable object in Daisy’s life.

Her father is described as a neutral figure and her memory of him is hazy at best. This lack of a father figure led to Lily’s attitude towards men. Because of this Lily always denies herself suitable marriages because she always feels she can do better. Lily is conflicted between the man she loves and the man with money. She loves Seldon but she deems him too poor for her perfect marriage. After much thought, Lily decides to marry Peter Gryce who is exceedingly wealthy but is too late as he is already engaged at the time of her decision. Lily cannot decide between love and money both of which are important aspects of her life. She is unwilling to compromise between the two which eventually leads to her downfall. Lily needs to marry a man with wealth and a stable status in high New York society because she needs a source of income to supplement her own unstable wealth.

Lily claims, in the excerpt, that money ‘may be used either stupidly or intelligently according to the capacity of the user’, and the novel in its entirety is based around this idea. Lily, arguably, uses all of her money ‘stupidly’, which leads to her fall from an elite member of society to a mere streetwalker. Edith Wharton could be trying to show the tragic effects of an upper class New York society ‘upon a sensitive young woman’. After all, The House of Mirth is concerned with the desire and subsequent failure of Lily to access the leisure class. However, though Lily seems to be absorbed in, and at times a member of, the leisure class, she also appears to be ‘on the fence’: not quite a part of the society, and yet not detached from it like Selden.

House of Mirth is a novel that revolves on Lily Bart trying to find a husband in order to have a successful life and gives a glimpse to upper class society in the late 1800s and early 1900s. For the first passage, Selden ponders on Lily Bart. For the second passage, Lily talks to Gerty about her true intentions of marriage when Lily is distressed about her current state and the choices she has made.