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House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Journal Entry 1

“SELDEN PAUSED in surprise. In the afternoon rush of the Grand Central Station his eyes had been refreshed by the sight of Miss Lily Bart. It was a Monday in early September, and he was returning to his work from a hurried dip into the country; but what was Miss Bart doing in town at that season?… An impulse of curiosity made him turn out of his direct line to the door, and stroll past her. He knew that if she did not wish to be seen she would contrive to elude him; and it amused him to think of putting her skill to the test.” Chapter 1: House of Mirth

The novel opens in Grand central station where the main character Lily is waiting to catch a train. Lawrence Selden goes over to strike a conversation with Lily not as a matter of politeness but simply out of curiosity. This simple act signifies a lot about the book and the character portrayed by the book. The above scene provides an example on how members of the social class in this book are scrutinized and observed. This is in a bid to constantly check whether they are worthy or not of the social stature they interact with. This book focuses on the ins and out of the social class of the elite and the first chapter explains this in-depth.

The first chapter brings into perspective the theme of constant judgment in the society that Lily lives in. Each and every thing Lily does is closely monitored providing very little room for error. It is a typical depiction of the world we live in, where we are constantly judged on the way we dress, the way we associate with others and our social standing in society.

 

 

Journal Entry 2

What is the role of money in the House of Mirth

Lily’s love life seems to revolve around money and social standing. This mainly stems from the fact that she faced financial issues growing that came as a result of her dad’s problems with money. In the book the author seems to portray that Lily has fallen in love with Selden yet she does not allow herself to get married to him because he does not possess the social standing she is looking for and neither does he have all the money she requires.

When Lily the main protagonist of the book has money and is able to pay off her debts feels a sense of unparalleled freedom. When the money is not there and she is facing difficulties she likens her situation to that of slavery. Money bothers Lily a lot in the book to a point in the book she mentions that a woman is expected to be well-groomed and always pretty, “ if we can’t keep it up alone, we have to go into partnership.” The remark suggests that she is considering the idea of marrying for wealth and social stature.

The society depicted by Edit Wharton is one that highly value money and the social standing that comes with it. It depicts a society that would rather forego true love and happiness in the pursuit of material things. This in turn leads to the fact that a few of the characters become slaves to the whims of the society. The characters in this particular book make a lot of decisions based on the idea that money is everything and it will buy you the respect you need in the society, it doesn’t matter that a few of the characters marry for all the wrong reasons thus leading to failed marriages in the long run.

 

Journal Entry 3

Keeping up with Appearances in the House of Mirth

According to the author of this book the whole of Lil’s life is centered on keeping up with the appearances. She does not have enough money but she exerts herself into gambling the little money she has. Lily lives in debt and tries to pretend she has enough money; she constantly stays at the Belmont irrespective of the fact that she continues spending has a toll on her. At some point, Lily admits that even the life of the house keeper in Belmont is much better than hers because she is chained and is a slave to the society and what others will say about her.

This observation is a typical depiction of the reality we live in, where maintaining appearances is much more important than being true to ourselves. Forgetting that there is freedom in accepting who we are and our financial capacities, Lily continued being a slave to society, it became a form of illness for her that the only way she could be happy was to maintain the appearances to look as if she was doing well financially.

This is the reason why she gambles a lot, because it becomes more or less like a disease. The author in a sense is trying to give the reader the message that, we should not make money the center stage of our lives. There is a lot that can make us happy if given the chance, for instance, Lily had a chance at love if only she gave Selden a chance and failed to conform to the society’s needs and wants, she would have led a happy and contented life. However, she choose to go after all the wrong things and failed the greatest lesson in life, that happiness is not handed over to us, we have to go in search of it

 

Journal Entry 4

“Society is a revolving body which is apt to be judged according to its place in each man’s heaven; and at present it was turning its illuminated face to Lily.” Book one, chapter four

The author makes this statement when referring to Lily’s love life at the moment when she was almost getting married to Percy Gryce. In chapter four of this book, Lily’ love life was going extremely well, then right after Lily thought her deal was sealed with Gryce he later learns that he is courting someone else. Therefore the author makes this statement referring to the fact that at times we have little or no control on the happening of our life, and at times larger forces working within our midst are responsible for the outcomes of the situation at hand.

At the time the light of the society was illuminating and shining on Lily, she was envied because she had a high prospect of getting married to Percy Gryce. Then she gets shocked when she finds out that Gryce is courting someone else. The above quote brings about the perspective that society’s views and life in general changes from time to time and that we should seize the opportunities when they arise.

A character flaw that Lily exhibits is the fact that she gets easily distracted from her main goal. In this particular case that character flaw made her lose Gryce because she was busy walking with Selden, this gave rise and room for doubts in Gryce’s mind. Lily is unable to seize all the opportunities presented to her by life and she eventually ends up alone without the love and happiness she craved for.

Journal Entry 5

Opportunism in the House of Mirth

The House of Mirth depicts a society that values money and social standing in the sense that it affects certain values; people are seen as a means to an end or an outcome. The women of this society make use of their beauty to be able to get the attention of rich men and get married for money and wealth. An example of such a scenario is in the friendship between Lily and Gus Trenor, Lily suspects that Gus is interested in her in other ways but she uses her friendship in order to earn money through the stock market. At first Trenor does not mind it but later on in the book he gets frustrated and starts thinking that Lily is using him for trading in the stock market. In addition to this, Lily has not fallen in love with any of her suitors including Gryce, she openly states that she is only entertaining the idea of marriage because of the fact that it will remove her from her financial predicaments.

Lily notes at some point in the novel that, she does not like women who use the men that are courting them to pay off their debts. This particular statement proves that women in this particular book are highly opportunistic in nature and they do use the men they are involved with to assist them pay off their financial debts. The characters of this book depict a society that is governed by the love of money; this is a true reflection of the reality because there exists a caliber of people who are interested in how much and what exactly they can get from you. Lily is also no exception because she refuses to be in a relationship with Selden because of his social status and without knowing she chooses death instead of love and happiness ultimately.

Personal Reflection

The House of Mirth is an interesting read that artistically captures the realities of the 18^th century upper crust elite of New York city. The main protagonist of this book has two main goals: marriage and wealth, but due to her indecision she passes many chances at that. The book talks about several controversial issues that come into play, first is the purpose of marriage in society, the importance of wealth and social standing and the slavery that comes with an obsession with money. The life and the plot of this book bring about these issues in a skillful manner featuring various plot twists in the life of the main protagonist. The author of this book through the various events brings into perspective the importance of love and true happiness in living a fruitful life. The main protagonist, Lily misses this important lesson in life, and her indecision and obsession of keeping up with appearances depicted by the society slowly kills her dream of leading a married life. In the end she fails to achieve her dream of getting married but she manages to free herself from the bonds of slavery through death.

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