The House Of Mirth

9 Pages 2258 Words

The novel, The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton, is centered around the young Lilly Barton as she tries to rise in society and marry rich. Lilly Bart is an attractive woman but she is still not married at age 29. Ever since her mother died Lily began to live with her aunt, Mrs. Peniston. Although she is living at Mrs. Peniston’s house, Lily spends much of her time staying at the Bellomont, the large estate of Gus and Judy Trenor. Judy regularly throws huge, extravagant parties for New York’s upper-echelon in society. At these parties, most of the women play Bridge, which ends up costing Lilly a great deal of money, since she is unlucky and terrible at the game. Even though she always ends up losing money and has no constant stream of income, Lilly always manages to play.
Throughout The House of Mirth, there are two constant underlying themes: wealth and marriage. Sadly, Lilly seems to miss out on many things because of her fanaticism with both. When it comes to marriage, it seems as though Lilly cares less about the kind of person he is and only cares about a man’s money and place in society. In Book One, Lilly decides that she wants to marry Percy Gryce, even though she clearly states that she thinks he is incredibly boring. Unfortunately, the one man Lilly actually loves, Lawerence Selden, does not have enough money for her to marry him.
While at the Bellmont, Lilly learns about the stock market and decides that she would like to get involved in an investment. She asks Gus Trenor to invest a very small amount, different from what he is used to dealing with, for her. Gus agrees enthusiastically because he has, for lack of a better word, a “crush” on Lilly and is willing to do anything to spend time with her. The stock market pays off for Lilly and she now has a steady income. The money does not last long, though, as she spends it lavishly on clothing and other items. Later, Lilly learns that Trenor has not been ...