Myth And Feminism In Edith Wharton's The House Of Mirth
Zoe Spanswick
Mrs. Smith
English III
13 November 2015
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth In the span of Edith Wharton's life, she has created sixty-seven astonishing works. She captivates the reader's mind through her words and ideas. The House of Mirth is one of her most commonly known novels. In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, three themes are society and class, wealth, and feminism. Edith Wharton was born of January 24, 1862 into a society of aristocrats. She was the daughter of Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelender Jones. Wharton's family was a prime example of "old" New York: moneyed, cultivated , and rigidly conventional ("Edith Wharton Biography"). She began writing when she was six, though her parents criticized her …show more content…
Lily Bart must marry a man with wealth in order to keep her position in the higher part of society. Women back in Wharton's society usually had to marry into wealth. Lily Bart was told by her mother that she would either have to marry into wealth or get a large inheritance. Lily's main conflict is either marry for money, or marry for love. In the late 1800s women lived off of what their husbands made, therefore; marrying for money seemed ideal. Edith Wharton said herself, "I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it …show more content…
Money is the center theme of this novel. Lily Bart is unsure if she should marry for love or money. The display of money is shocking in this book by Edith Wharton. She most often depicted the society of "old" New York in conflict with nouveau riche capitalists of the Gilded Age, who respected only money ("Edith Wharton Biography"). Having a few servants, rather than many, is considered poverty in the eyes of the higher class. Lily has a battle with herself over whether she should live happily and in poverty with Seldon, her true love, or continue playing the game of manipulation with the other socialites in order to keep her wealth. Money controls everything in this novel. Bertha Dorset's version of George and Lily's untrue relationship is believed over Lily's only because Bertha is wealthier than Lily. Money controls Lily's fall from being in the higher society to a working-class spinster. In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, three main themes are society and class, wealth, and
Mrs. Smith
English III
13 November 2015
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth In the span of Edith Wharton's life, she has created sixty-seven astonishing works. She captivates the reader's mind through her words and ideas. The House of Mirth is one of her most commonly known novels. In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, three themes are society and class, wealth, and feminism. Edith Wharton was born of January 24, 1862 into a society of aristocrats. She was the daughter of Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelender Jones. Wharton's family was a prime example of "old" New York: moneyed, cultivated , and rigidly conventional ("Edith Wharton Biography"). She began writing when she was six, though her parents criticized her …show more content…
Lily Bart must marry a man with wealth in order to keep her position in the higher part of society. Women back in Wharton's society usually had to marry into wealth. Lily Bart was told by her mother that she would either have to marry into wealth or get a large inheritance. Lily's main conflict is either marry for money, or marry for love. In the late 1800s women lived off of what their husbands made, therefore; marrying for money seemed ideal. Edith Wharton said herself, "I don't know if I should care for a man who made life easy; I should want someone who made it …show more content…
Money is the center theme of this novel. Lily Bart is unsure if she should marry for love or money. The display of money is shocking in this book by Edith Wharton. She most often depicted the society of "old" New York in conflict with nouveau riche capitalists of the Gilded Age, who respected only money ("Edith Wharton Biography"). Having a few servants, rather than many, is considered poverty in the eyes of the higher class. Lily has a battle with herself over whether she should live happily and in poverty with Seldon, her true love, or continue playing the game of manipulation with the other socialites in order to keep her wealth. Money controls everything in this novel. Bertha Dorset's version of George and Lily's untrue relationship is believed over Lily's only because Bertha is wealthier than Lily. Money controls Lily's fall from being in the higher society to a working-class spinster. In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, three main themes are society and class, wealth, and