¶ … House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton. Specifically, it will look at the theme of success in the novel, and how a success-oriented society can destroy the weak and untrained.
THE HOUSE OF MIRTH"
Lily Bart begins her tumble into poverty from the very beginning of the book, because she does not conform to society, and she cannot become a success in the world of business, because she does not even understand what success is. From the very start of the novel, success is a strong and prevalent theme, and it is clear Lily is not going to be a success, when she does not even understand the concept. "Later he [Selden] inquires: 'Is there any final test of genius but success?' Lily replies: '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?'" (Underwood 365).
The only success Lily understands is the success society puts on a well-dressed woman. "The clothes are the background, the frame, if you like: they don't make success, but they are a part of it. Who wants a dingy woman? We are expected to be pretty and well-dressed till we drop -- and if we can't keep it up alone; we have to go into partnership" (Wharton 14). Lily is beautiful, but poor, which means she cannot even be well-dressed, so what chance does she have to "go into partnership." Ultimately, Lily's pathetic idea of success is what society says it is for a young girl, marriage to the right man. She fights against it throughout the entire novel, and in the end, she dies because she cannot conform to this societal idea of success.
From the onset, Lily is painted as a tragic figure, even when she is laughing and "gay." It is clear she is unhappy and even bored with her life, and cannot see any way out except to marry, and who can she marry, when she has "nothing" to offer a husband. She has no dowry, and at best can only hope to marry someone else who is poor, when she longs for the finer things, such as travel. The...
She says she envies Seldon's work, even though he is not of the highest orders of society, but she cannot emulate his masculine example: "Ah, there's the difference -- a girl must, a man may if he chooses." She surveyed him critically. "Your coat's a little shabby -- but who cares? It doesn't keep people from asking you to dine. If I were shabby no one would have me: a
In her book Edith Wharton's Women author Susan Goodman writes that Lily suspects "…not much separates the business of marriage from the business of prostitution" (Goodman, 49-50); still, Lily is aware that a prostitute sells "her time, not her soul" -- which Lily has been asked to do. Goodman claims that Lily has a certain "moral appeal" which springs from her "persistent refusal to define herself as a commodity…" (p.
House of Mirth The film revolves around the early years of the 20th Century and the changing faces of the economy hence the social response to such changes. It is predominantly a depiction of the lifestyle that most ladies opted for with the increase in urbanization and amassing of wealth by a few individuals. Lily Bart, the chief character in the movie, is depicted as one who is highly influenced by the
Denied marriage, the only other societal option is suicide. Society is the agent of her demise, not Lilly: "her life is not unpleasant until a chain of events destroys her with the thoroughness and indifference of a meat grinder." Goetz, Thomas H. "Flaubert, Gustave." World Book Online Reference Center. 2006. [1 Oct 2006] http://www.aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/wb/Article?id=ar200180. Biographical overview, provides insight into Flaubert's role as a uniquely realistic writer, thus stressing Emma's economic and moral
Contact in Canadian Literature: The Use of Gothic Elements in the Negotiation of Cultural Differences between Settlers and Indigenous Nations Introduction Common elements of gothic literature include mystery, fear, omens, curses, preternatural settings, gloomy atmospheres with a hint of being haunted, some dimension of the supernatural, romance, an arch-villain, nightmare situations, anti-heroes and ladies in distress (Mulvey-Roberts; Smith). Popular examples on both sides of the Atlantic include works by the Bronte sisters,
When Edith Wharton tells us that "it was the background that she [Lily] required," we understand that both Emma Bovary and Lily have a very important thing in common. They are first of all women in the nineteenth century society, fettered by social conventions to fulfill any kind of aspirations or ideals. A woman, as it is clearly stated in both novels, had no other means of being having
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