The House of Mirth, Book One, Sections IX and X

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Returning to her boring existence under her Aunt Peniston's supervision, Lily finds herself utterly depressed due to the monotony and lack of independence in her life as well as the unfortunate turn of events set in motion by Bertha Dorset to dissuade Percy Gryce from paying any attention to Lily.  Feeling unwanted, pathetic, and incapable of achieving the luxury she desires, Lily encounters a minor character from earlier in the novel: the charwoman, identified now to be Mrs. Haffen, that Lily passed as she left Selden's apartment.     Purely a flat character, the charwoman serves only to further the plot as she presents Lily with letters that Bertha sent to Selden pleading for his company.  In conversation with Lily, Mrs. Haffen says, "I brought 'em [letters] to you to sell, because I ain't got no other way of raising money . . ." and reveals herself to be of a lower social class than Lily with the vernacular she employs (Wharton 85).   If in possession of these letters, Lily would be able to extract revenge against Bertha for ruining her chances with Gryce.  As such, Lily negotiates with Mrs. Haffen to obtain the letters and Wharton leaves her audience wondering how the letters will be utilized against Mrs. Dorset. As section IX ends, Lily, empowered with a means to revenge, resists her sense of morality and keeps the letters instead of burning them.



Lily learns the rewarding sense of giving.

Section X moves away from Lily's encounter with the charwoman to focus on how Lily has been managing her income from the stock market and what personal obligations that income entails. Lily goes out shopping for dresses when she sees Carry Farish departing from a charity meeting supporting young, struggling women. The cause hit home with Lily, motivating her to gift a generous amount of money to Miss Farish in favor of the charity. In doing so, Lily, being a dynamic character, makes an important change and comes to realize that philanthropy could be the perfect outlet through which she could sublimate her need for wealth and luxury. Later, under invitation from Mr. Rosedale, Lily attends an opera with Rosedale, the Trenors, and George Dorset. At the opera, Trenor makes a significant accusation toward Lily, inveighing, ". . . now you've got what you wanted out of me, you'd rather have any other fellow about," which is really the only other time, barring Selden's conversation, that anyone has confronted Lily about her manipulative ways (Wharton 95). Nevertheless, Lily maintains her usual tact and placates Trenor with promises of a day in the park and a gondola ride. The ease with which she manipulates Trenor reminds me of how a parent may calm down a child throwing a tantrum. After Trenor calms himself, Mr. Dorset, championing for his wife, invites Lily to his house the following Sunday. This invitation marks the end of section X, but opens up a world of possibilities. Bertha may know about the letters and wish to negotiate with Lily, or she may be ignorant of Lily's new possessions and simply wish to further embarrass her. Regardless, Lily suspects no malice in the invitation and accepts it openly, knowing she has an ace in the hole against Bertha Dorset.