The Theme Of Tragedy In The House Of Mirth

Once Lily accepts what she has done and learns that her mother's death did not make her a bad person, her conflict can finally be resolved. As a result of resolving her conflict, she is able to mature because of the struggle, just like other people are able to grow and evolve from their own mistakes. This is evident when she admits "Before coming here, my whole life had been nothing but a hole where my mother should have been, and this hole had made me different, left me always aching for something, but never once did I think what he'd lost or how it might've changed him" (Kidd 293). Lily finally realizes that her mother's death has not only affected her, but also her father, T. Ray, and the calendar sisters. Through the course of Lily's struggle, Lily learns a lot about life and matures into a wiser

Lily starts off stuck living in an unloving, abusive household and decides to free herself from the negative atmosphere that she had been living in her whole life. Lily is perpetually abused by her father. He forces her to kneel on Martha White's, gets exasperated every time she speaks, and yells at her for no reason. Lily is not the only one noticing the terrible treatment, Rosaleen does too. Once after Lily had to kneel on the Martha White's Rosaleen said to her, “Look at you, child. Look what he’s done to you” (Kidd 25). Noticing the unloving treatment Lily gets, Rosaleen knew that their household was demoralizing place for Lily to be in, which is why she didn’t question when Lily when she later runs away. Lily one day realizes she needs to do something about her horrible life at home. While sitting in her room she hears a voice in her

Through out the book I have found numerous amount shocking events on why Lily left. Some Reasons why Lily left was because she wanted to know if her mom actually left her when Lily was just young girl. When Lily was little she had over heard her mom and T-Ray fighting one day in the hallway. Right when Lily looked in the hallway she saw a gun on the floor and she decided to pick it up; right when Lily picked it up she heard a loud bang

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

Since her mother died she has had to put up with her abusive father who doesn't really care about Lily. Having to not only deal with this but the fact that she doesn't have any friends in school doesn't really help. “People who think dying is the worst thing don’t know a thing about life.” Lily says this in the beginning of the novel. This is an important quote showing Lily’s bravery because Lily’s life has been profoundly affected by her mother’s death. This statement suggests that living with someone else’s death can be more painful than dying. She grew up without a mother and the taunting guiltiness that she killed her own mother. In some ways I share this quality with Lily. At times I can be a brave person but like everybody else I'm not always so brave. One time when I was brave was when I was first coming into the high school. I was always so nervous at just the thought of high school so when the big day came I was very anxious. I was brave enough to get through it all and now I'm more comfortable in the

She is expressed as dealing with “teenage problems” if I do say so myself a lot of issues that most teenagers have: identity, popularity, self-consciousness, and parental issues. The 14-year-old throughout her story feels a deep sense of longing for her mother as she did not know her, because she died when Lily was only 4 years old. In Chapter 1, Lily talks about how she misses her mother, and how she feels completely responsible for the fact that she doesn't have her. This quote, "This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away," is significant to the whole plot, because it helps us understand one of Lily's main concerns and desires. I myself have lost a parent at a very young age, and struggled to comprehend what happened, and how it would effect me through the course of my life. Lily Owens notices that she does not fit and is held back from that fact that her father does not care about Lily's life nor her needs. In Chapter 1, Lily indicates that she is “..worried so much about how I [she] looked and whether I [she] was doing things right, I [she] felt half the time I [she] was impersonating a girl instead of really being

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

Lily Bart has to die because she is completely incapable of adapting to this world of direct transactions, and in the end the only two paths she sees both lie firmly in that realm.

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.

Her first and recurring risk is with Lawrence Selden, a bachelor who tries to distances himself from Old New York. Lily’s first decision in the book was to go on walk alone and away from Grand Central Station with Selden, she gets caught coming from Selden’s apartment by Mr. Rosedale and risks again by lying about why she was in that building. Lily goes on another walk with Selden, but this time at Bellomont, as a result of this walk Mr. Percy Gryce decided to leave Bellomont without giving Lily a marriage proposal, which left her still in debt and financial ruin. Lily will “pay the ultimate price for throwing her lot in with Selden” since her risks with him always leave her in a worse off state than she was before she decided to interact with him (Shinbrot 41). Another person that Lily takes a serious risk with is Gus Trenor; he gives Lily financial advice and loans her some money and in return he wants sex from her (Wharton 116). This is a scary scene for Lily because it is a near rape situation and also because it starts rumors about Lily and Gus Trenor having relations which does not help her social standing, marriage prospects, or financial situation. Another big risk that Lily takes is going to Monte Carlo with the Dorsets, Lily accepts their invitation after the previously mentioned Gus rape scene happens, and she just decided to run away from her

have been many fallen heroes who have been key subjects to be known in essence as

Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth chronicles the tale of Lily Bart, a young socialite stuck at the crossroads of rejection her society to pursue her ambitions or relenting to societal expectations placed on her. In literature, naturalism, a philosophy that frequently overlaps with the theory of Social Darwinism, applies “scientific principles of objective observation to the study of human behavior and characters within the context of their surroundings” (“American Literary Naturalism” Twentieth-Century). In short, naturalistic novels explore the interactions between humans and their environment as the human tries to navigate it. House of Mirth is a naturalistic novel in that it explores Lily’s attempt to survive in her own cruel environment.