Ch 13&14: Wait...that's it?

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
I would like to preface this blog by saying The House of Mirth is the first book I've read cover to cover during my highschool career.
 thank you Dwight (and thank you Chris Brown)


Lily knows her sleeping medication is dangerous, so she attempts to avoid it by sleeping away from home in a park. A woman by the name of Nettie Struther sees her and the park and wants to help her. She takes Lily back to her inviting home. This is the last glimmer of light for Lily, because the generosity of Mrs Struther was a delighted surprise for Miss Bart. She went home and received the inheritance from Mrs Peniston, she then began repaying her debt to Trenor. With her money all gone, all she wants now is sleep, but she needs the medication to obtain it. She wants to exceed the normal dosage, but even she questions herself, thinking could she "bear it--yes, she could bear it; but what strength would be left her the next day?" (Wharton 262). Miss Lily Bart had fallen from her graces, and overdosed on the medication and died in her sleep. Selden meant to go and visit Lily, but was greeted by Gerty who told him of the grave news. The book ends in two different senses. First of, Selden is confused by the unfinished check to Trenor, deepening the mystery surround Lily Bart. But, the book also ends with the two together, the way they always were meant to be. Money is a powerful drug, a drug that led Lily to overdose on a completely different drug.

Ch 11&12: The Storm

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


I was right, last section really was the calm before the storm. Allow me to elaborate: her sleeping medication has made most aspects of her life suffer. She got fired from her hat job, she meets people like Rosedale and Selden and is a total emotional wreck, and she is in a mental daze nearly all her waking hours. She goes to Selden in hope of something, anything really, hoping that he can help her through her emotions. The most shocking and saddening events occur near the end of this section. Lily empties all of her emotions onto Selden, including her romantic interests in him. They proclaim that they love eachother, but the "new Lily" can't be with Selden, so she wants "old Lily" to be with him. This suggests that Lily will leave and never come back, that she is running away from her life. I'm depressed knowing that Selden and Lily aren't together, but happy that they were always meant to be, like a forbidden love of sorts. Before the section ends, Lily "went up to him and laid her hands on his shoulders. 'Goodbye,' she said, amd as he bent over she touched his forehead with her lips" (Wharton 252). Lily Bart may be gone for good...

Ch 9&10: Everybody's workin' for the weekend

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily is now a working-class girl, which is nearly the opposite of what she always intended to be. To her, her current situation is practically poverty, but she deals with it as to be independent, fearing another situation to the Gus Trenor fiasco. Selden realizes that Lily will never be happy in her current working conditions, but Lily is dependent on the money and wants to stay working for Mrs Hatch. Selden's visit does re-spark their feelings somewhat, which gives me hope of their relationship. As of now they're just friends, but Lily truly thinks over Selden's advice and eventually leaves Mrs Hatch and goes back to Gerty's. Lily then picks up an even shabbier job, a hat maker. The conditions are poor and the other workers gossip about her, saying that Lily had fallen from the upper class and now is a regular street urchin. Her life kept her up at night, having nightmares of what she had become. She purchased sleep medication, so that she could easily escape reality and drift into slumber. The medication is clearly dangerous since the book references the medicine as being dangerous in large doses. However, Lily believed that "the only hoe of renewal lay in the little bottle at her bed-side" (Wharton 241). I truly fear that this is the calm before the storm, good luck Miss Lily Bart.

Ch 7&8: Don't bring me doooooown.

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo0RpBGHjwA for those of you who don't understand the title

So Lily has decided on this Rosedale marriage thing, oh boy. But wait, what's this? Rosedale said no? Wait what?! Why yes, chubby old Rosedale refuses to marry Lily based on her recent downfall on the social ladder. But don't worry, Rosedale is still creepy as ever when he admits he still wants to get it on (bow chicka ew, EW, NO...NO!) with Lily. Lily has officially hit rock bottom, and Bertha Dorset keeps pushing her down. Bertha's wealth and social prowess is more than enough to squander any of Lily's attempt at recapturing her former glory. Lily begins to worry incessantly, but luckily Gerty is there by her side to work through her stress. While together, gerty noticed that, when they spoke, Lily's "voice had a dangerous edge, and gerty noticed that her hand shook as she held it out to receive the second cup" (Wharton 215). Lily Bart's worries were centered around poverty, and the worrying led to stress and wrinkles, which led to more worrying, which led to sleepless nights, which produced more impairments to her looks. The cycle was vicious and Lily's few friends were trying to save her. Lily ends up getting a secretary job under a single woman by the name of Mrs Hatch. This is the first job Lily has had throughout the entire book, and I sense this is the beginning of the end.

Ch 5&6: Rumor has it...

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


The rumors started by Bertha Dorset had successful ruined Lily's reputation on the cruise, but the slander had also spread across the pond into America. her usual acquaintances, the Trenors, Rosedale, Fisher, all treat her with somewhat of a cold shoulder. Lily is slowly losing everyone she once manipulated for power, oh how the tables have turned. She thinks to herself if it was possible "that she was living alone like this because there was no one else for her to go to..." (Wharton 200). In an attempt to recollect herself, Lily attends a party at the Gormers' which leads to some social stability. Time passes and Lily Bart's Life is similar to that at the beginning of the book thanks to the popularity of the Gormers. George Dorset comes by to announce his love for Lily, but she refuses because she, and here's the worst part, has decided to marry Rosedale. She isn't totally confident in her decision, but the fact that the fat blob Rosedale may marry Lily angers me. I'm still hoping for Selden to return to Lily's side, by that seems like a hopeless dream.

Ch 3&4: I feel like I'm in the twilight zone

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


And no, there aren't any vampires, werewolves, or horrible actresses, just impossible cases of misfortune. Lily begins this section as the last one ended, on a cruise ship with elegant nobility and is enjoyed by most everyone. Bertha Dorset, however, has it out to get rid of Lily. Surprisingly, Bertha takes care of her Lily Bart situation quite easily by publicly announcing that Miss Bart won't be staying on the cruise any longer and will be getting off at the next stop, and Lily just takes it! Personally, I think Lily could have easily fought to keep herself on that cruise, but maybe she just didn't want any commotion. Lily quickly realizes she has no where to go and very little money for anything. Selden swoops in to rescue her, but her does a mediocre job at helping her. he negotiates for her to stay at Jack Stepney's place for the night, and she must leave in the morning. The sense of loneliness hits Lily that night when "he (Selden) left her outside, in the darkness of the raised hood..." (Wharton 178). Lily is feels further exiled when she receives a mere $10,000 (in order to repay her debts) from her aunt Mrs. Peniston when she died abruptly. Grace Stepney gets most of the estate under Mrs Peniston's name, and Lily is basically left stranded once again. She realizes that all she ha left is her friend Gerty Farish.

Book 2 Ch 1&2: Everybody look at her cuz she's sailin' on a boat

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

Lily Bart goes International! She begins Book 2 on vacation, more specifically on a European cruise. Lily does her general social habits, flirting with boys, getting on the good side of the wealthy, and impressing the powerful members in the room. Those members include Lady Skiddaw, the Princess of Macedonia, and Lord Hubert. Slowly, a whole lot of drama unfolds on the cruise. Bertha Dorset, a now friend of Lily's, brought Lily on the cruise so that Lily would flirt with and distract Mr George Dorset. Bertha wanted her husband distracted so that she could have an affair with Ned Silverton. This plan starts to turn sour because George genuinely is liking Lily and Bertha is getting jealous of Lily's prominence on the ship. So Bertha does what any logical person would, she tries to ruin her own marriage by starting rumors of Lily having an affair with Mr Dorset. The rumors spread quickly, but rumors of Ned and Bertha also get out, which happen to be solid facts. The Dorset's marriage is practically over, but Bertha is still angry at Lily. She goes to Lily and threatens her, saying she has gone too far and all this is Lily's fault. It was after the exchange that "a chill of fear passed over Miss Bart: a sense of remembered treachery that was like a gleam of a knife" (Wharton 168).

Ch 14&15: From bad to worse.

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily and Gerty are somewhat friends at this point, which benefits the both of them. However, they both want the same man, Selden. Gerty wants Selden and Selden wants Lily, but Lily refused Selden from marrying her (if Lily would only want Gerty we would have a love triangle, bow chicka bow wow). Problem one: Selden and Lily aren't together. Problem two: Gus Trenor still exists. The main problem with Trenor is that he is getting to Selden too. He tries to creepily meet with Selden but Selden ignores his request, noticing "the dark flush on Trenor's face, the unpleasant moisture of his intensely white forehead, the way his jeweled rings were wedged in the creases of his fat red fingers" (Wharton, 125). How can anyone like Trenor at this point, he sounds like a fat gremlin! Lily also has a giant problem number three: her debts. Moreover, telling Mrs Penniston of her debts. She had been warned of Lily's money problems earlier, but ignored them. When she found out the rumors to be true, she was furious at Lily and refused to help her with her situation. It's definitely an uphill climb from here for Ms Lily Bart.

Ch 12&13: You can't always get what you want.

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily has taken a liking to Mr George Dorset, however her enemy Bertha Dorset is near him most times. This coupled with Gus Trenor usually being near to Dorset allows Lily little time with George in fear of encountering her foes. Lily still tries to befriend the Dorsets for her own reasons, and also wants to get in good with the Bry Family. They want to establish themselves in the community, and therefore decide to throw a large ball in which Lily will be one of the key atendees. Lily dawns her finest draws and catches everyone's eyes at the party, including Selden's. They retreat to the garden where they kiss for the first time (ooh la la), but Lily pushes away saying that they could never marry (what a bummer). They love each other, evident when Lily tells Selden to "Ah, love me, love me--but don't tell me so!" (Wharton 112). The scene is perfectly tragic, but hopefully their future changes for the better. The following morning both Selden and Judy Trenor wanted to meet with Lily, and she decides to meet with Judy first. But here's the twist: Judy wasn't home at all, it was a trick by creepy old guy Gus Trenor just to talk with Lily! He attacks her with slander, rumors and flirtation. It bewilders Lily, she is confused and distraught, and she runs away to seek comfort from Gerty Farish.

Ch 10&11: I don't like Rosedale.

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Good Lord Rosedale! You are not supposed to stalk young women, that is incredibly creepy and you should be arrested. On with the story: Lily meets up with Rosedale and he questions her recent success in the stock market. She tells him how Trenor helped her, Rosedale hits on her, and they go their separate ways. She then goes to Trenor angry at him for telling people of her investments, but forgives him nonetheless. But lo and behold, Trenor is a creepy old man too and begins flirting with Lily! He is somewhat angry for her not spending more time with him, which frightens Lily. She tries her past to leave the situation while being as polite as possible. Lily shows her disgust of both Trenor and Rosedale when she thought "it was distasteful enough to hear her name coupled with Trenor's, and on Rosedale's lips the allusion was peculiarly unpleasant" (Wharton, 92). I began to feel bad for Lily, as she has to juggle her money problems along with several men, some of which she wants to marry and others she wants to rot in a ditch somewhere. Even worse for Lily is that a rumor goes around that her and Gus Trenor could be having an affair and her aunt, Mrs Penniston, catches wind of that. She also hears of her gambling debts, but staunchly refuses to believe. She trusts Lily and believes she is a proper young lady, but it doesn't stop her from being angry at the situation.

Ch 8&9: All about the benjamins (good ol' P diddy)

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily and Gus Trenor team up to make some cash. Well, mostly Trenor does all the work, but Lily keeps the money. Lily takes advice from Trenor in what stocks to invest in, and starts making a good sum of money off of it. She begins paying off her debts and life is good. She hits a speed bump when she learns Gryce has pretty much been snatched up by Evie Van Osburgh, this because Bertha Dorset set them up together. Insult is added to injury when Mrs Van Osburgh tells Lily that "the engagement is not to be announced until next week--but...they both wished you to be the first to know of their happiness" (Wharton 79). Lily now despises Bertha, so we shall see were that one goes. Lily then goes to live with her aunt, Mrs Penniston for awhile in order to avoid wasting cash like she did while in Bellomont. While there Lily receives a visitor who has some letters Selden had written to various people. At first, Lily has no want for them, but upon further inspection she learns that the letters could be used for blackmail purposes. Lily buys the letters from the woman in order to protect Selden from defamation.

Ch 6&7: Who's it gonna be?!

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily was on cloud 9 as she walked and talked with Selden, As if she was the only man she ever liked. We learn that she had to blow off Gryce just to have this chat with Selden, and she feels as though she made the right choice. Lily's time with Selden was magical, intimate, and made her feel safe. They seemed like the perfect couple as "they stood silent for awhile...smiling at each other like adventurous children who have climbed to a forbidden height..." (Wharton, 59). Since he could not talk with Lily, Gryce tooks his time to Bertha Dorset, who warned Gryce of Lily's desire for money and her debt at the moment. This scared him off, or at least prompted him to leave the city for the time being. Lily then meets up with Gus Trenor to pick him up from the train station. They have a conversation of Lily's current situation, and Trenor seems to be on Lily's side. He sympathizes with her, and wants to help, revealing that Gus may have a strong role in Lily Bart's future. Gus Trenor doesn't seem as creepy as Rosedale, so hopefully he is a nice and caring man and can Help Lily.

Ch 4&5: Secrets, secrets are no fun

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily is staying with the Trenors while in Bellomont, and she wants to be a good house guest while there. So, like most women, her and Judy Trenor spend most of this section gossiping. The spicy girl talk is mostly about the party that went down the previous night, and how the women at the event experienced it. We learn that Bertha Dorset is interested in Mr Selden, and that Lily Bart apparently is interested in that Percy Gryce fellow. It seems like she is keeping her interests with Gryce and Selden, but nothing is perfectly clear at this point. I think she wants to marry Gryce out of her fear of being poor, when Wharton writes "if she did not marry Percy Gryce, the day might come when she would have to be civil to such men as Rosedale" (Wharton, 45), suggests that. Later Lily notices Bertha Dorset and Selden talking in the library, and is genuinely worried that Selden is entirely invested in Ms Dorset. Lily Bart really does want every man in New York! Luckily for her, Lily gets to spend some one on one time with Selden and begins to want to be like Selden. As a woman, Lily spends most of her time strengthening her social connections while Selden is aloof and still successful. The section closes with them walking together and talking.

Ch 3: Money don't grow on trees

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton


Lily arrives in Bellomont (all the while i was thinking of the Fresh Prince showing up in Bel Air) and is staying at her friends', the Trenors, household. Apparently everyone that lives there loves to gamble, especially with cards. And, of course, Lily Bart is horrible at bridge at loses a large sum of money. People often lose a lot of money when they gamble, I get it, but the loss started to make Lily go crazy. She stressed over "two little lines near her mouth, faint flaws in the smooth curve of her cheek" (Wharton, 21) and other nonsense before the reader learns of the source of her worries" being poor. The reader then experiences a flashback of Lily's to her childhood, living with her mother and father. Her father is a hardworking, frail aging man who gives money to the wife and is rarely seen with Lily or the family. As life went on, Lily's father loses more money, and her mother seemingly want nothing to do with him, but tries her hardest to make Lily feel safe and happy. Her father dies and Lily's mother dedicates her life to making Lily perfect so that she can have a perfect life in the future. The reader learns that this is why Lily needs money, and is so worried when she loses it. Without money, Lily will die just as her father did. This will most likely be the driving dilemma throughout the story, hopefully Lily Bart makes it out unscathed.

Ch 1&2: Lily Bart brings all the boys to the yard.

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

The book starts focused on Lily Bart, a traveling single woman readying herself for a train ride to Bellomont. As she waits, she encounters Mr. Selden, who seems as a friend and not a romantic interest. Nevertheless, Lily Bart, who clearly uses her look and appeal to get ahead in life, flirts with Selden carelessly. She bids farwell to Selden in order to catch her train, and runs into Mr. Rosedale. Almost immediately i disliked Rosedale. Wharton described him as a "plump rosy man if the blond Jewish type," with "screwed-up lids" (Wharton, 10). The depiction of Rosedale conjures up the image a hefty, creepy man who enjoys talking with young pretty women, which just gives me the heebie jeebies. Lily is also uncomfortable with the encounter, but feels inclined to seem delighted as to keep Rosedale pleased. She makes up a lie as to why she was in the building with Selden, saying she visited her dressmaker, and artfully gets out of the conversation with Rosedale. Lily then meets another man, Percy Gryce. Gryce seems alright, he is wealthy, somewhat shy, and somewhat of an enigma. Because of his timidness, the reader doesn't know his true intentions as of yet, but he seems interested in Lily. Both her and Gryce will be going to a party in Bellomont, so we shall see what happens there.