Unfortunately, Lily Bart was doomed to lose this race from the beginning. There are in her “two beings”. This dual nature is her undoing: while part of Lily is hunting for a prosperous husband, another part of her is seeking complete independence, deliberately sabotaging her every effort to get married, causing “similar situations, as skilfully led up to, but through some malice of misfortune, or her own unsteadiness of purpose, always failing of the intended result.” A step away from acquiring Percy Gryce as a husband, Lily chooses to take an afternoon walk with Selden instead of going to church with her potential spouse. In the process, she makes an enemy of Bertha, who has eyes for Selden.
Lily Bart knows and understands perfectly the rules and intricacies of her prestigious lifestyle, but she subconsciously refuses to conform to them. She therefore can never be a full member of the society that gave rise to her. This is apparent in her activities: Lily assists Judy Trenor in the redecoration of her house and the reorganization of her furniture before a party; she sends invitations for her. This position of servitude enables Lily’s entourage to dismiss her or use her whenever it is useful to them.
Lily’s acquaintances are cruel to her and deceitful: “they hold their tongues for years, and you think you’re safe, but when their opportunity comes they remember everything.” Without hesitation, Bertha Dorset unleashes destructive rumours about Lily in order to save the reputation of her marriage with George, sacrificing Lily “to her own convenience”. Also with the aid of false rumours, Grace Stepney encourages Mrs Peniston to disinherit Lily. In a sadistic gesture, Grace even reveals to Lily what lies were presented to her aunt. Lily, because of her rigid sense of decorum, is forced to remain calm and polite.
This unemotional approach to life and its challenges, which springs from her upbringing, is often the source of Lily’s grief: “The situation between them [Lily and Selden] is one which could have been cleared up only by a sudden explosion of feeling; and their whole training and habit of mind were against the chances of such an explosion.” As much as she needs it, Lily cannot completely overcome the values infused in her since childhood: “She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate.”
However, another type of values exists within Lily: moral values. Unlike the other members of her circle, Lily possesses a dignity that goes beyond mere appearances. This side of her also keeps her from achieving social prestige. Though she has the means (in the form of compromising letters), she is incapable of blackmailing Bertha Dorset in order to clear her name. On the other hand, this same moral compass keeps her from prostituting herself to Gus Trenor after he lends her money. No matter how difficult the situation, Lily remains true to her convictions. She even manages to settle her debt with Mr Trenor before dying. Lily Bart is always in perfect control of her actions, and, in spite of its turbulence, she also remains in control of her life. After all, each step of her slow descent into poverty is a direct result of her decisions, which constitute a rejection of the sexist and corrupt value system of the early twentieth century upper-class.
The tragedy of The House of Mirth lies in the fact that her defiant claim for independence ultimately costs Lily Bart her life. Though she may have achieved some level of independence (if not financially, then spiritually), Lily does not escape the conventions of her milieu intact. Until the very end of the novel, she clings to material comforts such as the drug she takes to help her sleep. Her mind is haunted by thoughts of what she has lost and what she could have had: “She had not imagined that such a multiplication of wakefulness was possible: her whole past was re-enacting itself at a hundred different points of consciousness.”
Because of her upbringing, Lily is incapable of surviving outside of the materialistic society in which she was bred. Because of her moral conviction, she cannot carry on within it either. Lily Bart is doomed by her own humanity. By introducing a sympathetic and human character hopelessly fated to die at the hands of an unfair system, Edith Wharton denounces the society she depicts.
The House of Mirth uses the paradigm of a tragedy to protest against the value system of the early twentieth century upper-class, a highly competitive society in which marriage is regarded as a business transaction and code of conduct is uniquely focused on appearances. Lily Bart is the central character, a woman torn between the values she was taught and her own moral judgment. Through Lily’s inevitable death and the slow process of her downfall, Edith Wharton demonstrates “what a miserable thing it is to be a woman”.
Recent Comments