Grammar Stage: What is the most important event (when the main character changes)?
When I began The House of Mirth I was disappointed by Lily’s bad choices, especially when she was not truthful. She presented herself to certain people as someone she was not in order to gain acceptance. Most of the time her deception got her into trouble.
However, by the second book, I saw another side to Lily. No matter how many times she is shunned or insulted, used or knocked down, often not her fault, Lily Bart is like a leaf floating atop a stream. She just keeps on going.
No matter how many times she gets herself into an uncompromising situation, she maintains her civility and graciousness. Even in her weakest moment, she acted honorably: she paid her debt when she could have kept her small inheritance, and she could have blackmailed that evil Bertha Dorset, but instead destroyed the letters that would have exposed Bertha’s hypocrisy or gained financial reward. (Well, maybe.) Many times she could have protested the lies told about her to clear her name or got even by playing the same game, but she didn’t. Whatever the case, Lily was not one to hurt, target, or use others intentionally as had been done to her. She always acted admirably, and this gives the reader cause to like Lily.
Now this brings me to the most important event - when Lily changes. I think right after she loses her second job, we see her succumb to her failing health and her sadness of being alone. She believes, and with good reason, that she has no other options. She has hit bottom; she doesn’t seem herself anymore. She is out of choices and is very aware of it. That’s when she formulates a “plan,” although the author does not tell us what it is.
When she runs into Nettie, the poor, unhealthy woman whom Lily helped some years back, Nettie is doing well, married with a baby, though still poor; but she is happy, healthy, and hopeful. Sitting with Lily, one may think that the two women have since traded places.
The reader may see that Lily still has options. Look at Nettie! There is still hope! But we will never know if Lily thought the same.
Logic Stage: What does the main character want? What is standing in her way? What strategy does she pursue in order to overcome this block?
Lily has been raised to believe that she must avoid a poor, dingy life, and that the only way she can avoid that kind of life is to marry a wealthy man within high society so that she may be part of high society, too. Apparently, Lily thinks that is her calling in life.
The reader certainly hears this enough to believe that it must be true, but Lily’s behavior or actions demonstrate the opposite: Lily is repulsed by the actions of the people in high society. Even more so, she is not like them, and she does not play their games.
It would not be strange to say that Lily does not want that life at all; even Lawrence told her that she really hates the very things that she claims to desire. She knows it is true, and that is why she turned down opportunities that would have given her exactly what we thought she wanted.
Instead, what she really wants is her will to make her own free choices; but she continues to find that, given her gender, time period she is living in, and lack of finances - all of which are obstacles - she cannot have that freedom and independence without depending on a man, who by the way has a lot more choices, freedom, and fewer limitations than women of her time.
Certainly, Lily may choose to work “like a pig” for a living, but she would probably never reach the luxury of high society on her own. That’s where a husband would come in - a wealthy one; but he would be a total bore, probably. She cannot win.
And that brings us to the final question: what does she do to overcome her block? Well, she never does overcome her obstacles because she cannot change society, at least on her own, and she is not about to make any sacrifices. Wharton is so good at presenting this tragic condition that for a moment I actually thought, “There is nothing more for her to do. She has no recourse. Everything is working against her. Her next option is to check into a homeless shelter and be dependent on others to care for her daily needs because she cannot help herself.” But I know it is not true. There was hope, but she did not take my advice; and so ends her dilemma.
Rhetoric Stage: What does the author want me to believe or experience? Do you agree?
There are several arguments that Edith Wharton presents in The House of Mirth. One of them is gender related. Wharton makes the case quite successfully that women do not have the same choices or opportunities as men do, even men in similar financial or social situations. Women either get married to save themselves from utter poverty, dire straits, or absolute hopelessness, or they can take a labor job and live “dingy lives” like “pigs.” If they play their cards right, they can catch a wealthy husband and secure themselves a place in high society. Men do not have to worry about living dingy lives; no one will judge them. They can labor all they want, and it won’t destroy them. And they don’t have to marry high up or at all to reap the pleasure of high society, like Lawrence did.
Money also is an issue. Money is power, and the more you have the more it will protect you. You can buy friends and social connections, and no one cares how horrible you are. Everyone wants to be your ally. For example, everyone knew how Bertha spread rumors and lies about Lily, but no one was willing to confront her or reject her because her association carried much weight. Lily understood that even if she used the love letters to manipulate Bertha, she would still lose because of Bertha’s power and support system, which guarded her.
Another issue is high society itself. Why be genuine and honorable and truthful? They all live by this hypocritical set of rules: who can borrow money from whom, who can be seen with this one or left alone with that one. Does anyone in high society value the marriage covenant? It is fashionable and expected to divorce at some point and remarry someone else’s husband. Marriage is not for love but rather a business connection. It has to personally benefit the individual. Love is saved for affairs. It just works that way in high society.
There are a host of other issues being showcased in The House of Mirth. And, like I said in the first paragraph, Wharton was successful in making these cases and many more. I enjoyed The House of Mirth so much, though I struggled through vocabulary and context at times, that I look forward to reading her other titles.
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