Recap: Lily Bart is a beautiful girl, waiting for a train at Grand Central Station when she runs into her friend, Selden. They unexpectedly spend much of the afternoon together before she visits a friend’s country home. So sets up the on-and-off, back-and-forth relationship between Lily and Selden and the impulsivity of Lily Bart. Lily is 29 and has been available and looking for marriage for years now. She is decidedly undecided in her desire to marry for love versus marrying for wealth and status.
Much of her time revolves around wealth and status. She has gambled away much of her money, and she didn’t have much to start. On her trip to see friends in Bellomont, she fails to become engaged to the person her friends are trying to set her up with and she loses even more of her money via games of bridge. That’s when Gus, her friend’s husband, offers her financial help. He makes some investments on her behalf, offering her checks. Suddenly Lily is able to afford the flashier clothing and appear remarkably rich. But Gus also begins to expect a romantic relationship in return. Knowing she cannot betray her friend – and God forbid, what will society think of her? – Lily makes it a point to pay back Gus every cent he’s given her.
But the journey proves difficult, as her reputation continues to crumble, money is not flowing and her prospects for a husband remain limited.
Analysis: The House of Mirth is an example of what Edith Wharton does best, combining the themes of class, gender roles, reputation and wealth. In early 1900s New York where appearances are everything, Lily Bart is flailing. She is trying so hard that it’s too hard, and though beautiful and smart, she just can’t seem to get herself out of the hole. She is a true damsel in distress. The entire concept of the book – and of LIFE!!- I believe is summarized in this single exchange between Lily and Selden.
Selden pushed his hat back and took a side-glance at her. “Success — what is success? I shall be interested to have your definition.”
“Success?” She hesitated. “Why, to get as much as one can out of life, I suppose. It’s a relative quality, after all. Isn’t that your idea of it?”
“My idea of it? God forbid!” He sat up with sudden energy, resting his elbows on his knees and staring out upon the mellow fields. “My idea of success,” he said, “is personal freedom.”
“Freedom? Freedom from worries?”
“From everything — from money, from poverty, from ease and anxiety, from all the material accidents. To keep a kind of republic of the spirit — that’s what I call success.”
To Lily, success is excess, holding onto everything. To Selden, success is letting go of it all. Lily’s grasping for more is her downfall, and just as she learns to live with less, the world has other plans.
MVP: Lily. She is not always the most likeable, but she keeps trying. And though she could not escape tragedy, she at least kept trying. She grows and evolves, despite the way things play out around her.
Lara's Book Club 