Edith Whartons The House Of Mi
Lily Bart, the central character in Edith Wharton’s novel, The House of Mirth , was born into the fringes of high society in late nineteenth century New York. She developed a, “lively taste for splendour”(page 30) and a fear of, ”dinginess”.(page 35). Everything within this social circle is measured in monetary value, people and things alike are treated as commodities. This is the only way of life Lily knows, and without the financial means to sustain herself, Lily is destined to be a victim of this commodification of people and objects. Victim is defined in the Oxford Concise Dictionary , as a, “person or thing harmed or destroyed in the pursuit of an ...
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Mrs Bart died, she died, “ ......of a deep disgust. She had hated dinginess, and it was her fate to be dingy”(page 35). But Lily’s mother alone is not solely to blame for this want, Lily says of her need for luxury,
..I suppose (it was) -in the way I was brought
up, and the things I was taught to care for. Or-no I won’t blame
anybody for my faults: I’ll say it was in my blood (page 226)
Although Lily felt that she should not blame anyone else for her high tastes she does not blame herself. She uses the excuse that it was in her blood that her fate to live for splendour was predetermined. Lily therefore sees herself as victim, a victim because it was her fate. Mrs Barts parental guidance did help to shape Lily’s value for the extravagant. It was Mrs Bart who taught Lily to value her beauty. Lily was told by her mother, “after they had lost all their money” (page 28) that Lily’s asset was her beauty. Mrs Bart saw the ...
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lines near
her mouth, faint flaws in the smooth curve of her check.
.....................and it seemed an added
injustice that petty cares should leave a trace on the beauty
which was her only defence against them (page 28)
Ironically when Mr Van Alstyne, discusses Lily posing for a portrait, he talks of how, “..the picture’d appreciate a hundred per cent in ten years”. An item such as a portraiture of beauty, would only ever gain value with time unlike her physical beauty. The name, “Lily” would have been seen by the reader, (at the time the novel was first published) as a reference to the “art nouveau” panting style witch often ...
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"Edith Whartons The House Of Mi." Essayworld.com. September 12, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edith-Whartons-The-House-Of-Mi/71085.
"Edith Whartons The House Of Mi." Essayworld.com. September 12, 2007. Accessed April 19, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Edith-Whartons-The-House-Of-Mi/71085.
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