Wharton depicts Lily, having lost her job, feeling alone, and forever shut out from her past life, at an all time low in sections XI and XII. Consistent with the usual pattern, Rosedale visits Lily and attempts to raise her from her depression by material means, but Lily has developed too large a self-respect and moral sense to accept his offer and return to wealth. Eventually though, Miss Bart does remember Mrs. Dorset's letters and, driven to extremes by her current situation, decides to blackmail her arch nemesis. Inadvertently passing by Selden's home, however, Lily disregards her original intention of revenge to speak with her old friend. Wharton paints Lily's trip to Selden's under a dark, storm-threatening sky that ultimately rains down on Lily to emphasize her utter despondency. Nevertheless, Lily, looking at Selden's apartment, sees "a light in his window" which reinforces the idea that Selden serves as Lily's "light in the darkness" to get her through troubling times (Wharton 247, 250).
 |
| Selden's "light" guided Lily and helped her immolate the worst of her character flaws. |
In Selden's apartment, Lily pours out every emotion she has ever had for Selden, even apologizing at some junctures. This catharsis in Lily is definitive proof that she has finally changed and renounced her previous ways. Lily corroborates this change when she says, "Afterward I saw my mistake - I saw I could never be happy with what had contented me before" (Wharton 250). Thus, Selden prevented Lily from exacting revenge and fostered a genuine love for him within her. He drove Lily away from her darkness and showed her the light. Lastly, at the end of section XII, Selden says he saw Lily "draw something from her dress and drop it into the fire" (Wharton 252). Everyone would agree that Lily threw the letters from Dorset into the flames, but she also burned her superficiality, ostentation, self-engrossment, and condescension so that she could leave Selden a new, genuine person.
No comments:
Post a Comment