The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
The opening line of section V reassured me, by signifying an important shift in Lily, of the protagonist's potential for change: "It seemed to Lily, as Mrs. Peniston's door closed on her, that she was taking a final leave of her old life." However, I don't believe Lily completely "took leave of her old life" (Wharton 187). Sure, she began to associate with the Gormers, a couple of genuinely friendly, accepting, kind-hearted people that diametrically opposed Lily's old conceited associates, but Lily criticized these characteristics as weaknesses and threats to her pride and sense of superiority. Furthermore, she began to entertain the idea once more of taking Rosedale as her husband. This time, however, Lily proved her thinking more devious as she intended to marry Rosedale under the pretense of true love in order to augment the popular perception of her all the while enjoying Rosedale's riches. Only Selden's love is true, Lily; don't call any relationship with that scum, Rosedale, true love! Nevertheless, Lily does show some improvement from her past ways in section VI when she clearly states to George Dorset that must not associate any longer. Clearly, while Lily can be conniving and manipulative at times, she will not be made a home wrecker. Regretfully, Lily made void the merit she earned with Dorset when she opted to occupy a hotel room priced "considerably in excess of her means" in order to "keep up a show of prosperity" (Wharton 200). Lily would have been perfectly fine renting out a reasonably priced room for the sake of saving money. That being said, Selden needs to reenter the novel, if only for the purpose of instructing Miss Bart on frugality. I miss the refreshing break from Lily's meaningless struggle for extravagant wealth that Selden's sensible, down-to-earth personality brought.
No comments:
Post a Comment