The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton Essay -- lily, society

Edith Wharton’s novel of manners The House of Mirth is a satirical representation of upper society. The personification of this satire is the character Lily Bart. The leader is led to believe that Lily is trapped by her upbringing in higher society, which is seen in Wharton’s use of characterization, imagery, and motifs throughout the novel. Wharton’s characterization of Lily Bart focuses on her beauty as the reason for her acceptance into high society. During the tableaux vivants at the Welly Brys’, Lily’s simple costume was the main focus of the men at the party: â€Å"This was the world [Lily] lived in, these were the standards by which she was fated to be measured! Does one go to Caliban for a judgement on Miranda?† (130). Wharton notes through Selden’s thoughts that Lily’s only place in high society is as a result from her beauty. The allusion to The Tempest by Shakespeare only furthers this fact, as Wharton then implies that without her beauty, Lily would not have a place in high society. Wharton’s concept of fate associated with Lily furthers the idea that Lily is trapped because of the predetermination of life and Lily’s upbringing culminate into Wharton’s trapped character of Lily Bart. The next time that Selden sees Lily again, it is on the train t o Nice when he comments on her beauty: â€Å"[At the Brys’, Lily’s beauty] had had a transparency through which the fluctuations of the spirit were sometimes visible; now its impenetrable surface suggested a process of crystallization which had fused her whole being into one hard brilliant surface†¦ to Selden it seemed like that moment of pause and arrest when the warm fluidity of youth is chilled into its final shape† (182). Wharton’s indirect characterization of Lily through Selden s... ...it to love because she still desires money and power. Wharton creates Lily with her character flaw of indecisiveness to lead her down her fated path; she is trapped by her desire of association in society and longs for the freedom that love would bring. Edith Wharton created The House of Mirth to mock the society that she lived in and gave Lily the negative traits associated with it. With these negative traits and Lily’s upbringing, Wharton creates a character that is trapped by her upbringing desire to have a permanent place in society but also yearns for love, expressed through Wharton’s characterization of Lily Bart, imagery associated with Lily, and the motif of Lily’s fatal flaw. The end result is Wharton’s fated demise of her heroine with neither love nor a position in society. Works Cited Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. Toronto: Bantam, 1986. Print.