House of Mirth: III

The following short paragraphs are completely unrelated ideas and feelings that I am going to expand on in my paper.

The House of Mirth can be summed up in one sentence: Girl with everything gradually loses it all, overdoses, and dies. Wharton’s novel is the quintessential tragedy. The stagnant speed of the heroine Lily Bart’s demise makes it all the more painful to read.

There are good reasons for reading tragic literature, though. For one, this novel is alarmingly realistic. Sometimes the fairy tale endings from Pride and Prejudice don’t always convey the misery that persists in the real world.

This novel also reminds its readers that usually we only want what we can’t have. That is every one’s tragic flaw. Once we have something, we realize the grass isn’t always greener.

The House of Mirth is obviously a social commentary on a world that was not unfamiliar to the author herself. Lily’s story is not much different from Edith Wharton’s. The only difference in the two women’s lives is really just that Edith settled and married where as Lily searched for more and for better.

Lily Bart is the kind of character that is constantly sabotaging herself. There is no concrete villain. Her inner demons are what impede her happiness.

This novel is one that makes the reader want to scream into its pages. Lily’s happiness is right within her grasp in the form of Lawrence Selden throughout the entire novel. She is painfully unaware but the reader is conscious of it from the beginning. Her downward spiraling life is like a slow motion train wreck that you can’t help but watch.

House of Mirth II

I am considering using the following sources:

Joan Lidoff's "Another Sleeping Beauty: Narcissism in The House of Mirth"

Wai-Chee Dimock's "Debasing Exchange: Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth"

Jennie A. Kassanoff's "Extinction, Taxidermy, Tableaux Vivants: Staging Race and Class in The House of Mirth"

Deborah G. Lambert's "The House of Mirth: Readers Respond"

Roslyn Dixon's "Reflecting Vision in The House of Mirth"

James W. Gargano's "The House of Mirth: Social Futility and Faith"

House of Mirth: I

I have read the first eight chapters of House of Mirth and already so much has happened. The book is interesting and hard to put down. Edith Wharton ends each chapter by revealing a new bit of shocking information, leaving the reader dying to know more.

Miss Lily Bart is the protagonist and in my opinion, a tragic hero—her flaw being her insatiable need for acceptance and luxury. Miss Bart starts off in the novel with no prospects for marriage, very little money, and an intensely strong desire for the lavish and the exquisite. Miss Bart's age is her worst enemy because currently her only possessions are her beauty and her charm.

As she heads to Bellomont--an annual retreat for the super wealthy--she sets her eyes on a dull, but very rich, Mr. Gryce. She plays her cards perfectly and adheres to his standards. That is, until she has a run in with a suddenly more appealing Mr. Selden. Lawrence Selden represents the antithesis of everything that Lily Bart has been working for. They share an afternoon walk together that causes Lily to question her life choices. Mrs. Dorset is another important character in the life of Miss Lily. She was linked to Mr. Selden in the past and is incredibly angry to hear that he arrived to Bellomont with Lily in mind. Mrs. Dorset then conspires to tarnish Lily's reputation in the eyes of Mr. Gryce, thereby eliminating Lily's chance of winning him over and achieving her idea of success. In another plot twist, Lily approaches her best friend's husband, Mr. Trenor, with the hope that he will help her turn her small pile of bills into a large treasure. All we know about Mr. Trenor so far is that he makes his money by taking tips from a sketchy Mr. Rosedale who is regarded with ill repute by the rest of the community. With her first few investments in the risky stock market, Miss Bart has won thousands of dollars, which helps restore her confidence and the belief that she still may have a chance to win over Mr. Gryce.

Since all of these hectic scenes have passed and I am only ninety pages into the book, I can only think that there is so much more in store for these characters. Miss Lily Bart's tendency to sabotage herself may lead her into some very perilous situations especially with her recent entry into the risky stock business. As a reader, I identify and sympathize with Lily. I hope for her that she sees the error of her ways and lets love and freedom into her heart in the form of Mr. Selden. I look forward to reading the rest. I couldn’t be happier with my book of choice.

WBY's When You Are Old

There are many ways to interpret the words of a poet. But for me, one resounding message emanates from William Butler Yeats’ poem “When You Are Old.” In my opinion, the story that this poem tells is one of unrequited love. The speaker’s words seem to be a final address to the woman he loved deeply and truly with no reciprocation on her part. This poem unveils his true feelings for her and leaves her with a piece of advice, a warning of sorts, to chew on.

I get the impression that the speaker is not significant at all in the mind of the woman being addressed but that this confrontation is meant to leave a big impression on her. I also got the sensation that the speaker is criticizing the woman’s disregard for meaningful relationships in favor of a shallow existence in which she effortlessly captivates men with her beauty. The way that the speaker uses the past tense of the word love in the second stanza reinforces my theory. The way that he says “but one man loved” implies that the speaker has decided to stop waiting for her. The way that he says he, unlike other men, loves her changing i.e. aging face is a warning to her that if she does not change her ways, she will end up old and lonely with a photo album of her beautiful youth as her only comfort.

In the second stanza, the speaker talks about other men loving her beauty with “false” love as opposed to his true love of “the pilgrim soul in [her]” and “the sorrows of her changing face.”
The first and the last stanzas of this poem describe the speaker’s prediction of the woman’s life as an elderly woman. The words in the first stanza convey the image of an old woman sitting in solitude, looking at old photos of herself and reminiscing about her fleeting youth and the simple lifestyle that came with it. Then, in the last stanza the speaker evokes the feeling of sadness that the woman will be faced with when her beauty and the attention she receives because of it all vanish. I interpreted the last stanza as a metaphorical way of saying that because of the woman’s attitude, both her false and true admirers will eventually leave her (“love fled and paced upon the mountains overhead”). Their love will then be out of reach to her and her only hope is to wish upon the stars for its return (“[love] hid his face amid a crowd of stars”).

“When You Are Old” is written into three stanzas. The first and third stanzas talk about the woman’s life when she is old. The second stanza talks about her youth. The way in which it was written reminds me of the photo album in the woman’s hands. The first and third stanzas are like the covers of the album, old and dusty and aging along with the woman. However, in between those two covers lies a woman eternally frozen in time as young and beautiful as ever—the second stanza.

The poem is written with very delicate words that sound pretty when spoken—dream, soft, glad grace, love, beauty, soul, glowing, stars. There is no easy way to describe it but these words just sound pretty and young. They are so sweet that at first glance the poem sounds like a love letter from a loving devoted husband to his wife of fifty years. However, with a closer look, the smooth, flowing words cannot disguise what I truly believe is a fed up man’s final speech to a woman who may never realize the extent of what she is losing.

[617]