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The House of Mirth

by Edith Wharton, Elizabeth Hardwick (Introduction)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 33,073 ratings · 1,993 reviews

In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton depicts the glittering salons of Gilded Age New York with precision and wit, even as she movingly portrays the obstacles that impeded women's choices at the turn of the century.

The beautiful, much-desired Lily Bart has been raised to be one of the perfect wives of the wealthy upper class, but her spark of character and independent drive...more

Paperback, 324 pages

Published August 10th 1999 by Modern Library (first published January 1st 1905)

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Feb 16, 2010 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Lily Bart, the protagonist of Edith Wharton's stunning first novel, is introduced to the reader as a young woman traveling within high society. While her blood and wealth may place her on the fringe of that society, her "pale" beauty (as it is continuously characterized throughout the novel) elevates her within its ranks. Lily is marriage material. And within Manhattan's high society at the turn of the century, women are meant to marry; and in order to marry women are meant to maintain a reputat...more Lily Bart, the protagonist of Edith Wharton's stunning first novel, is introduced to the reader as a young woman traveling within high society. While her blood and wealth may place her on the fringe of that society, her "pale" beauty (as it is continuously characterized throughout the novel) elevates her within its ranks. Lily is marriage material. And within Manhattan's high society at the turn of the century, women are meant to marry; and in order to marry women are meant to maintain a reputation of "pale" innocence (indeed, they must).

Lily hesitates to question these two fundamental rules that bind her, save on rare occasion in conversation with Lawrence Selden, the man it seems she would marry if the choice were hers, and who stands far enough outside Lily's circle to critique that circle from an apparent distance. Selden, however, presents Lily with several problems. First, Selden himself is hardly able to separate himself from the rules of Manhattan society, even if he so desired to or so imagined the independence of his perspective. Second, Selden serves as preacher, counselor, and sounding post to Lily with respect to the pitfalls of high society, but while Selden's efforts to take high society off its pedestal strike a chord with Lily, and indeed echo many of her own thoughts, Selden never presents Lily with a viable alternative to the only circle (and the only set of rules) she knows.

The final problem that first emerges from the relationship between Lily Bart and Lawrence Selden is the crux of the novel and the launching point for several shrewd insights Wharton compellingly places within the American cultural dialog, as extant within the novel. Lily couldn't marry Selden if the choice were hers. (And, perhaps ironically, she likely would not, in any case, as Selden lacks the most essential thing men in high society bring to a marriage -- money.)

Like any fully painted character in a great work of fiction, Lily Bart is a woman of substantial intellectual and emotional force. Indeed, given the degree the reader is aware of the goings on inside Lily Bart's head, it can be surprising to step back and remember the novel's narrated in the third person.

Lily, viewed in isolation, is more than situated to grab control of her life if that control were hers to grab. But because she does not live in isolation, control is not hers. Her will is usurped at almost every turn by the societal forces around her; which among other things make her will all but moot. While an argument could be made that Lily has a knack for making choices that reflect upon her poorly, she is defined nonetheless, and far more, by the perceptions of those around her than by any sense of self she seeks to, or by happenstance does, affirmatively present to the world. And in light of the rules that constrain her, her reputation -- never in her hands -- spirals downward as the novel progresses, most often, again, via external rather than internal forces. Absent her reputation intact, that Lily is meant to marry becomes meaningless. Her purpose and place within Manhattan's high society slip from her hands as, trying at least to retain her dignity, she chooses not to act on her own behalf when the opportunities are before her and otherwise, and perhaps always, lacks the choice to act on her own behalf as a byproduct of her social milieu.

The House of Mirth is remarkably tragic. At times, it feels as though too much is going wrong for Lily Bart a little too often. But the totality of the narrative, and Wharton's prose, combat what may be the novel's single shortcoming. Wharton's novel surfaces from many contexts. Two are telling, or at least were to me upon reading The House of Mirth. First, Lily Bart retains her outer beauty throughout the greater part of the novel, despite her internal struggle to maintain a grip in the face of near free fall. Her inner world, as she feels it, and as others perceive it, becomes dark as her "pale" beauty persists. Sadly, her inner life is all but wholly divorced from her outer reality. Thus, in Lily Bart's unfortunate transformation within the novel the saliency of maintaining superficial appearances is brought to the thematic forefront. A theme present in both The House of Mirth and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray -- cast differently, but not without similarities. Second, The House of Mirth shines a bright light of reality upon Transcendentalism. At minimum, Wharton illustrates that self-determination and self-reliance are one thing when you're living in a cabin in the woods, growing beans, and contemplating existence during solitary sojourns around Walden Pond, but quite another in the company of others -- particularly a circle of others fixated upon a set of mores or, more strictly, rules. Reaching further, perhaps, Wharton exposes a stark line between the wherewithal of men and women in American society to "go Thoreau". In other words, The House of Mirth may temper Transcendentalism by portraying the profound influence of the company one keeps on reaching into oneself and, beneath that, the harsh reality of being a woman within that company.

The House of Mirth is one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century.(less)

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Dec 05, 2012 Alasse rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novel-of-manners, feminists-and-friends

This book reminded me of when I used to tutor a particular 15-year-old boy. I'd arrive and he'd be snacking and watching this dreadful MTV reality show called “My Super Sweet Sixteen”. I used to spend a lot of time over there, so I caught enough bits and pieces of it to feel thoroughly revolted.

Those of you in the USA have probably seen it – it follows over-privileged kids as they organize and throw their lavish 16th birthday parties. But what I find scary about it aren't the 6-figure cars these...more This book reminded me of when I used to tutor a particular 15-year-old boy. I'd arrive and he'd be snacking and watching this dreadful MTV reality show called “My Super Sweet Sixteen”. I used to spend a lot of time over there, so I caught enough bits and pieces of it to feel thoroughly revolted.

Those of you in the USA have probably seen it – it follows over-privileged kids as they organize and throw their lavish 16th birthday parties. But what I find scary about it aren't the 6-figure cars these kids get, but the sense of entitlement floating in the air. These children think that if they want something they will automatically get it – what's more, they think if they want something bad enough, that means they deserve it.

I remember standing there one day, waiting for my pupil to rinse his glass, and being overcome by a crushing feeling of pity. Because I really wanted to slap the kid on the TV, but at the same time I knew, with an overwhelming certainty, that this girl was never going to be truly happy, ever. Even if their parents could keep this up, this sort of entitled, shallow upbringing can only lead to frustration, one way or the other. What a waste of a perfectly good life.

I thought a lot about this moment while reading The House of Mirth. I felt sorry for Lily Bart, while hating her at the same time. I wanted to slap her, while knowing it wasn't her fault that she was the way she was. I wanted her to make up her mind, and at the same time dreaded every one of the options she had.

For make no mistakes – she does have options. A few of us at Bookish were discussing whether this was feminist literature or not. If feminist literature aims to portray women's lack of possibilities as constraining the female character, then this is not your average feminist book (I know, I know, but bear with me for a minute). Lily Bart does in fact have a few options to choose from, even though they would all entail some measure of dependence from other people. But none of these ever crystallize into anything tangible, because she won't make up her mind.

Wharton tries to imply that she's secretly an idealist, and she may be subconsciously sabotaging her own attempts at marrying money. But in fact, for most of the book she doesn't openly defy the system – mostly, she's just angry that she can't find a rich man to support her (she wants one, so she should have one, right?). Her moral scruples only show up when she's already put herself in a compromising position and she needs to save what little self-respect she has left. She is not an idealist, not in practice – she wants to work within the system.

Yet the very system of which she is a result has no place for her. She's a highly specialized product, an ornamental object, the Gilded Age in its most extreme expression - and as such, she's so profoundly dysfunctional she can't bring herself to make a choice for her future, because none of her options are even remotely acceptable. This world is so messed up, its own product can't function within it.

Watching Lily (view spoiler) can get annoying after a while (“will you make up your mind already? I have stuff to do, you know?!”). But it also brings me back to my thoughts that day, watching “My Super Sweet Sixteen”. I vaguely thought that this world was f'd up if it was capable of creating such a monstrous thing as that over-entitled 16-year-old. This kid was the product of an environment that was condemning her, by effect of her upbringing, to be chronically dissatisfied for the rest of her life.

The world that Ms. Wharton portrays in her book is just as monstrous. And if it did this to people, and those people were mostly women, then by the FSM, this book serves its purpose, and it definitely is a feminist book.
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Aug 12, 2012 Jennifer (aka EM) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Jennifer (aka EM) by: Elizabeth

This will end up being a review of The House of Mirth, sort of.

“Wasn’t she too beautiful, Lawrence? Don’t you like her best in that simple dress? It makes her look like the real Lily – the Lily I know.” p.142

Let’s begin with rich, beautiful people. I am neither, and I come from a long line of neithers. I come from hardy, working-class stock – Scots-English, mostly. Lots of ‘em orphaned or abandoned and left to fend for themselves as a result of various kinds of neglect, addictions or just plain...more

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Dec 29, 2007 Shannon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-books-ever

This book has inspired my next tattoo. That is some fine literature. (And I am sure that if Edith Wharton were alive today, she would appreciate the tribute.)

I have this theory that the mark of great literature is that no matter how many times you read it, you can always plausibly hope, as a reader, that things might turn out differently in the end. Not that the actual ending is wrong; it's just that the character of Lily Bart is so alive for me, I seriously believe she might make a different ch...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Juanita Rice rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton; a Review.
By Juanita Rice

Edith Wharton: the name seemed familiar. I was browsing in a bargain book bin at a used book store. Edith Wharton. As I dredged up some fragments from the memory-stew, out came Ethan Frome. We read it in high school English class. And then I snatched at another floating wisp: an image of Julie Harris in the movie. That's all I really knew about Wharton, and it's probably more than many people do. So I picked this up, on a whim, to know...more

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Aug 22, 2007 Ashley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I started this book earlier in the year, but couldn't really get into it. As it turns out, the book gets really interesting at about the exact same place I stopped reading before. I'd recommend this book for all of the "Jane Austen Haters" out there (and I keep stumbling onto them for some reason), because the ending would probably please you. It's not as pretty as it would be if Austen wrote this. I've heard this book described as a brilliant commentary on upper class society, but because of th...more I started this book earlier in the year, but couldn't really get into it. As it turns out, the book gets really interesting at about the exact same place I stopped reading before. I'd recommend this book for all of the "Jane Austen Haters" out there (and I keep stumbling onto them for some reason), because the ending would probably please you. It's not as pretty as it would be if Austen wrote this. I've heard this book described as a brilliant commentary on upper class society, but because of the negative press that many upper class or just wealthy socialites receive (and quite deservedly so) today, that wasn't really what struck me about this novel. Yes, that commentary was certainly present, but for me, this novel was more about struggling to find what you truly want amidst the pressures of life and society. And I think we can all relate to that feeling of being pulled from many directions. In that sense, this book has impacted me more deeply than many I've read lately.

Lily Bart is a young socialite whose future hangs in the balance: at 29, many of her younger acquaintances are already married and established. Her financial well-being is dependent upon an aunt with whom she has a distant relationship. Her beauty and her charm appear to be enough to secure her a wealthy marriage, but every time Lily sets her sights upon a gentleman, she does something to hinder the proposal from happening. This is the physical manifestation of Lily's dilemma. Part of her wants to marry for wealth and comfort, and another part of her realizes that she will never be satisfied with such a marriage and lifestyle.

Maybe I'm a little dense (or I'm the product of too much Austen), but I would've expected this dilemma to continue and for Lily to maintain her social position, while ultimately deciding which of the two lifestyles (material wealth or intellectual stimulation) is best for her. But that's not what happens. We watch Lily plunge down the social ranks until she finally ends up as a working-class woman. This occurs because of some of her own actions, but also because of a lack of action on her part: when rumors are spread about her, she does nothing to defend herself. Complicating the matter is the fact that defending herself would require her to stoop to the level of those who slandered her. But every time she considers this path of action, her relationship with Selden, an attorney who has chosen intellect over wealth, keeps her in check.

I think I'll stop there, because I don't want to ruin the ending of this book for anyone. But it's definitely worth the read, even if some of the descriptions are a little tedious. Wharton creates a character that the audience can connect to, which I especially appreciate after reading a couple of novels that lacked this.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Paula rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1001

Dear Ms. Wharton,

I recently finished your book, The House of Mirth and am once again left disappointed. I so very much want to love your books. Your style of writing is beautiful and real, but the characters, oh the characters! I feel like I get to know them so well, and feel such hope for them, only to be crushed down at the end!

Let us not start with Lily Bart as that would be jumping in rather hastily. First, let's discuss the handsome Lawrence Selden, that book-loving, philosophical lawyer wh...more Dear Ms. Wharton,

I recently finished your book, The House of Mirth and am once again left disappointed. I so very much want to love your books. Your style of writing is beautiful and real, but the characters, oh the characters! I feel like I get to know them so well, and feel such hope for them, only to be crushed down at the end!

Let us not start with Lily Bart as that would be jumping in rather hastily. First, let's discuss the handsome Lawrence Selden, that book-loving, philosophical lawyer who sees Lily for the woman she is, not the creature society created. From the early stages, I had hopes that LS would be the slightly impoverished hero, who saves Lily from herself and damns society in the process. But, no! How quickly he is turned away, and falls out of love (or so he thinks) just because he sees something and jumps to a rash conclusion. If ol' Larry were half the man I thought he was, he would have believed more in Lily, and denied the rumors thrown at him. When she needed him most, he turned away. At the end, he still doesn't come through in time, and I think it's appropriate that he will live with this regret in his future.

"Society" - how dull, gossipy, boring, and spiteful they all seem! Is that the point you are trying to make? I can't help but wonder if you were once shunned by society in a similar fashion and have determined to exact your revenge through your writing. If that is the case, then can you have just one woman who doesn't care about whether or not she is society's darling, and one gentleman who is actually looking for a monogamous, committed relationship instead of all those spineless dolts who want a mistress and who don't have the hutzpah to stand up their own wives?

Now, Lily. Poor, expensive toy named Lily. Was she just a symbol for the potential in all woman to deny marriages of convenience and hope for actual love. Was she meant to come across as so indecisive and shallow? It seemed that every time things got rough, she went off on a luxury vacation that her friends, whom she often disliked, paid for. She seemed like a bit of a high-priced, if virginal, prostitute, unfortunately. I had such hopes for her but they were ultimately dashed.

There was one remarkable character, however; Gerty Farrish. She was smart, charitable, independent, strong, caring, and good. Of course, since she had neither money nor looks, she was relegated to the role of unmarryable old maid, subject to have her "friend" cry out her miseries while she actually tried to do good in the world.

Now, I know this may all seem a bit harsh, and I may be missing the point, but this is my third book by you, and I have yet to come to a full appreciation of your novels that a writer of your stature deserves. That is not to say I am giving up, merely that I'm watching, very carefully, for that hidden gem, that little bit that makes a reader think of an author with a heightened sense of awe. I think you may have it, and I shall continue looking.

Til then, requiat in pace, Ms. Wharton, until we meet again.

Your devoted, yet skeptical reader,
Paula

P.S. Where was the mirth?(less)

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Jan 24, 2008 Eric rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: peteredout

I completely soured on this by the end of Book I and start of Book II. I really don't want to finish it, but I might when in a better mood. The melodrama of Gus Trenor's attempt on Lily's virtue and of Lily's flight to Gerty really disgusted me; that's not the Wharton I like, the lofty and relentless social anatomist of The Age of Innocence. It was horrible to see Wharton's cool, classic prose break down into the exclamation marks and fervid dashes of a Gothic romance. In addition to the mawkish...more

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Mar 29, 2008 Maggie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I need to clarify here. Did I love it? No. Would I read it again. Probably. Would I recommend it to others? Probably. Did I recognize that it was beautifully written? Of course. The nuances of every thought, every move were so beautifully told. Do I realize the important part the book played in advancing the lives of women. Well yes. I guess I just wasn't fully engaged in the book. It didn't take me away. I just kept thinking "Oh you stupid woman." I also just may have identified with the positi...more

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Jun 25, 2008 Martine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: people who like good, insightful parlour drama

Shelves: film, modern-fiction, north-american, psychological-drama, early-twentieth-century

I love books about people who perish for staying true to their principles, regardless of what these principles are. I also love books which make me wonder what I would have done in the hero/heroine's situation -- whether I would have given in to temptation or let my better self prevail. So I love Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, which delivers on both counts, and then some.

The House of Mirth chronicles the rise and fall of Lily Bart, a stunningly beautiful late-nineteenth-century socialite wh...more I love books about people who perish for staying true to their principles, regardless of what these principles are. I also love books which make me wonder what I would have done in the hero/heroine's situation -- whether I would have given in to temptation or let my better self prevail. So I love Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, which delivers on both counts, and then some.

The House of Mirth chronicles the rise and fall of Lily Bart, a stunningly beautiful late-nineteenth-century socialite whose fortune sadly doesn't match her looks. Raised to believe beauty and fun are all that matters in life, Lily has trouble reconciling herself to her reduced circumstances. She realises she has to marry a rich man to keep up her current lifestyle, and doesn't lack for wealthy admirers, but each time she comes close to making a good match, she sabotages her prospects. Partly this is because she is unconsciously in love with a man who sadly has no great fortune to put at her disposal; and partly it's because despite her increasingly urgent need of money, she is too snobbish and refined to bring herself to marry a man who offends her aesthetic and social sensibilities. So far, so Jane Austen, but Wharton wouldn't be Wharton if she didn't add some venom to the story, and some tragedy, too. Rather a lot of tragedy, actually.

The House of Mirth can be read on several levels. First of all, it's a parlour drama in the grand style of Jane Austen and Henry James (but more modern than either). Secondly, it's a love story -- a very tragic one indeed. Mostly, though, it's a critique of a society that creates women like Lily -- a society in which well-bred women are not taught to be independent, but rather to be just charming and beautiful enough to ensnare a wealthy man whose fortune they can then squander without any moral compunction. It's a critique of a hypocritical society in which married women (and men) can do as they please, but unmarried girls like Lily Bart have to be very careful indeed. Lily's Gilded-Age New York is a society in transition -- a society in which old manners and morals are increasingly being replaced by money and conspicuous consumption. On the outset, Lily seems to be part of a fast, shallow and profligate modern crowd, but as the story unfolds, the reader discovers she is not quite so corrupted as she seems. She still has some Old New York values left in her: naïveté, loyalty, chastity, discretion, and most of all, dignity. Needless to say, modern society being what it is, these old-fashioned values prove to be her undoing. Even when she is dealt a card with which she could turn a distinctly disadvantageous situation to her favour, Lily refuses to use it, choosing instead to suffer in silence and penury. Whether this is because using her trump card would place her on a par with the morally bankrupt people who make up her set or because she is too weak and exhausted to put up a fight is anyone's guess, but it makes for interesting speculation. And for introspection, for one inevitably ends up wondering how one would have behaved in Lily's position. Provided one would ever have found oneself in such a position in the first place, for unless I'm very much mistaken, most sensible women would have married Selden a few chapters into the book and dispensed with the rest of Lily's adventures. But that wouldn't have left Wharton with much of a story, would it?

Wharton's first novel suffers from a minor overdose of melodrama and may be a bit too heavy on descriptions of parties and social events for those of us who don't particularly care about such things, but in all other regards it's a triumph. As a depiction of an era and of changing upper-class society, it's as powerful as anything Wharton ever wrote, although the social satire isn't as scathing as it is in The Custom of the Country. As a portrayal of a tragic heroine, it is quite simply superb. For all her blindness and ineffectiveness, Lily is an excellent protagonist -- witty, socially astute, an asset to any assembly. If she has a spectacular talent for making bad decisions, it only serves to make her more likeable. For that is the amazing thing about The House of Mirth -- the reader never quite loses his sympathy for Lily, despite her obvious flaws. Wharton may satirise the society that has produced Lily, but she never goes so far as to satirise Lily herself, which makes her fate all the more tragic.

The House of Mirth may not be Wharton’s best novel (I think I prefer both The Age of Innocence and The Custom of the Country), but like all her work, it's eminently readable -- beautifully written and full of acute social and psychological insights (particularly into Lily's position). If it's only for people who like flawed heroines and tragic endings, so be it.
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Apr 22, 2008 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, american-lit

So depressing I had to read two Nancy Drew mysteries afterward to cheer up. This is Edith Wharton’s other masterpiece, a Gilded Age tragedy of the beautiful and charming Lily Bart, who is trained only to be an ornamental wife — a big problem if you care who you marry and you’re dependent on relatives for money. Although essentially honorable, Lily does have her share of weaknesses and more than her share of bad luck. Assisting her inevitable downward trajectory is a society full of opportunistic...more

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Oct 02, 2007 michael spencer harmon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those appreciative of reality; history; the independent, maturing, or American female mind.

9/26: An introduction and a few pages in, and already one should knows whether they will love it or hate it; I am of the former. What wit!

9/27: Indeed, sarcasm begins with Edith. Hilarious! It makes one wonder how many people actually read her work thinking she was somehow in favor of this lifestyle - which just supposes to make the reader's laughter more frequent.

10/1: Wharton obviously spent a lot of time paying attention to symbolism, character development and how to use perfectly fitting ana...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Anittah added it · review of another edition

Free via GR and iBooks which is fantastic given that upwards of seven hours a day I only have one arm available. Just finished chapter one and am really liking it. Wish I'd read it before I took the GREs as it would've been a fun vocabulary refresher!

(Book club, April 2013)

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Feb 05, 2009 Jenn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I absolutely loved this book. I remember really enjoying Ethan Frome in High School, and, while I haven't read The Age of Innocence, I love the film, which gives such wonderful life to Wharton's words. When I started reading The House of Mirth, I kept hearing the narration in the voice of the Narrator from the Age of Innocence film. Then I began to realize how different this novel was. While the Age of Innocence shows how stifling the social aspects of upper crust New York society can be, this n...more

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Feb 16, 2010 SarahC rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: early 20th century, strong tales of women

Shelves: american-20th-c, wharton

I often like stories where the characters are patchwork colors rather than black and white. Lily Bart is like that for me. The exquisitely beautiful Lily is in a defined situation-- raised to be a leading competitor in the marriage market, setting her sights on the upper crust of early 20th century New York society. Her parents have both died after a decline in the family fortune and she is living under the charge of a less-than-caring aunt. From that starting point, we watch Lily, a strong, sma...more I often like stories where the characters are patchwork colors rather than black and white. Lily Bart is like that for me. The exquisitely beautiful Lily is in a defined situation-- raised to be a leading competitor in the marriage market, setting her sights on the upper crust of early 20th century New York society. Her parents have both died after a decline in the family fortune and she is living under the charge of a less-than-caring aunt. From that starting point, we watch Lily, a strong, smart and capable girl but one blinded by the direction in which she was aimed by a social-climbing mother.

She has reached her 30s only to learn the tiring competition among this society set and to continually see how tentative life among them is with their underhanded rules and constantly shifting loyalties. She sees the only refuge from her role of eternal society girl -- marrying wealth and keeping the wealthy happy. Making no immediate impact on her path are two friends from her set, well-connected but actually living middle class lives, a young attorney and a single woman devoted to social causes. Have they opted for the middle class life or did they have no choice? Lily is not even interested in asking that question -- she can only imagine that someone in her place should always be climbing the ladder. She looks for no other choices. Lily continues to involve herself in plans and liaisons with wealthy friends, trusting them while knowing they are untrustworthy.

In only a few scenes I saw glimpses life's most tangible and lasting elements within Lily. Her most honest moments and her most loyal acts are saved for her two closest friends, one of whom is possibly her real love and her true destiny. She ultimately has the ability to face the truth in her life and her choices and makes an honest admission to the man for whom she could never even muster small respect but was willing to marry for money.

Is Lily really the society girl weighing out the best marriage prospects, or is she many people in many parts of society chasing the dream of wealth and success and not settling for anything less that the top of ladder? Edith Wharton may have seen need even this early in the last century to pose this character so that we might look at our motivations or wonder how keen our vision is as we plan our future.(less)

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Mar 20, 2011 Dana Stabenow rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

Okay, I didn't finish it, I'm on page 41, I'm just not sure I can or want to continue reading. Wharton feels such contempt for all of her characters. A sort-of friend describes Lily as

...a captured dryad subdued to the conventions of the drawing-room; and Selden reflected that it was the same streak of sylvan freedom in her nature that lent such savour to her artificiality.

Ouch. Of one potential victim slash husband:

She had been bored all the afternoon by Percy Gryce...and all on the bare chance...more

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Dec 12, 2012 Giovanna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lingua-inglese, sfido-me, stati-uniti

Che soddisfazione quando abbiamo la possibilità di leggere un libro così bello! Coinvolgente dalla prima all'ultima riga,delicato e profondo,e terribilmente commovente.
La sua "età" ,inoltre,non lo rende meno moderno in quanto i moti profondi dell'animo umano,la lotta tra ambizione e sentimento,la scelta tra una vita di agi e ricchezze e una d'amore,non cambiano mai.Ho aspettato per tutto il libro che l'amore trionfasse e alli fine l'ha fatto...ma nella morte.Pero, a ben vedere ,ha invece trionfa...more

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Oct 16, 2008 Tyler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: All; Literature Fans

Recommended to Tyler by: Top 100 reading list

Superbly written naturalism. The words fit together in sentences like gemstones in a jewelry setting.

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Feb 10, 2013 Helena rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: la-vie-c-est-si-dur

I read the House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence almost at the same time, and while The Age of Innocence is the better book -the title is less euphonic, mind- House of Mirth has meant something to me. I've declared in another review my undying love for fools, whatever their size or shape. Lily is one of gigantic proportions. That, given the title, is hardly a surprise, 'cause:

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth"
7:4 Ecclesiastius

My...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Jennifer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My 2012 literary journey can be highlighted with the discovery of two authors. Dabbling into sci-fi (I haven't been much of a fan) by way of HG Wells via Margaret Atwood and this ongoing love affair with Edith Wharton. I picked up a copy of Age of Innocence years ago - it survived my move to Singapore 9 years ago but has stayed forgotten in my bookshelf until late last year. I was blown away by that book and once again, Wharton doesn't disappoint in The House of Mirth. I daresay this is my favor...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

After reading a series of wild, page-turning books that were just impossible to put down, it was time for me to read a book that I could put down. It was time for me to exercise my brain cells and read an intellectual book that required deep thinking to read and understand. In other words, it was time for me to read some classical literature.

That being said, I could not have read this book without www.shmoop.com. I relied on that site to help interpret what I was reading since my literature ski...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Kate Z rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: challenges

"Sometimes....I think it's flightiness - and sometimes I think it's because, at heart, she despises the things she's trying for."
~ description of Lily Bart's troubles, Book 2, Ch. 1

"And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
And thereby hangs a tale."
~ From As You Like It, Shakespeare

I admire Shakespeare's poetry always but what I admire most about his work(s) is his great insight into human nature. More than once I've found myself sitting in a dark...more "Sometimes....I think it's flightiness - and sometimes I think it's because, at heart, she despises the things she's trying for."
~ description of Lily Bart's troubles, Book 2, Ch. 1

"And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
And thereby hangs a tale."
~ From As You Like It, Shakespeare

I admire Shakespeare's poetry always but what I admire most about his work(s) is his great insight into human nature. More than once I've found myself sitting in a dark theater and having a "lightbulb moment," wondering to myself how on earth he knew that when he was writing 400(ish) years ago! I find problems and feelings that I ascribe to modern life in his passages from long ago.

So it was with Wharton's The House of Mirth. My interest in the (?) heroine Lily Bart waxed and waned multiple times over the course of the novel but I found Wharton's insights into the society she wrote about to so accurate that it felt almost like a contemporary author using a historical context and pretext to write social criticism. At times I felt like Wharton could be writing about Carmel Valley. For example, she writes, "They belonged to the vast group of human automata (love this phrase!) who go through life without neglecting to perform a single one of the gestures executed by the surrounding puppets."

The perfectly described to me the soccer moms in their dark wash jeans tucked into riding boots, toting their Luis Vuitton over the shoulder bag, driving their Lexus hybrids or Priuses (sorry, don't know how to pluralize that) that I see at school drop off and pick up almost every day. I am not immune. I often rush to sign my kids up for one activity or another because everyone else seems to be doing it (soccer, t-ball, dance ....) and, like Wharton's "automata" I want to make sure my kids don't miss out on the activities of "the surrounding puppets".

I was less interested in the tragedy of Lily and her limited options as a woman - but there were times when I genuinely felt the rock and a hard place that she found herself between and her tragedy for me wasn't so much her downfall but rather that she found herself born into a part of society where she did have to try and achieve something that, in her heart, didn't really want.

It's hard for me to give this one a rating - for timelessness and spot on social commentary that rang true for me so many times this was a 4. For the tale of a hero(ine) gone astray ... more of a 3. I do think it's worth a read and it's status as an American classic.(less)

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Oct 16, 2011 Jen3n rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature

I read this ages ago and recently picked it up again on a whim. I remembered vaguely not enjoying it, but couldn't remember why. Well, now I remember.

Lilly Bart, the protagonist on the novel, if that's what you want to call her, is so shockingly stupid as to make one wonder who she continued remembering to breathe long enough to get into trouble with Gus or become "dingey." Christ on a bike: this book should have been subtitled "Or How An Apparently Unbelievably Pretty Almost-middle-aged Young W...more

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Aug 11, 2009 Sherien rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century

Edith Wharton is such an amazing author! Her works up until this minute haven’t disappointed me. Everything about her idea/theme, how she portrays her characters, how she describes the scenes in such detailed-beautiful language, how she pours out her character's mood and expression, and how she gives a twist and ironic edge in the actions and conflict is all so...so...amazingly crafted!

Again, Wharton tells a story about the society she comes from: the New York High society with all its drama. Sh...more Edith Wharton is such an amazing author! Her works up until this minute haven’t disappointed me. Everything about her idea/theme, how she portrays her characters, how she describes the scenes in such detailed-beautiful language, how she pours out her character's mood and expression, and how she gives a twist and ironic edge in the actions and conflict is all so...so...amazingly crafted!

Again, Wharton tells a story about the society she comes from: the New York High society with all its drama. She shows us a dark view from what seems on the surface as glamorous, fortunate and splendid. Behind all those, we see scandal, rumors, backstabbing friends, deceitful people, gambling, unfaithful marriages, etc. We see how beauty is an important factor but ironically, it can be that one thing that can destroy you.

The story centers on Lily Bart and her unfortunate fate living in the midst of that society. This is a devastating story of a woman who can be seen as a product of that society and who is a victim in the same time. This story tells the most unimaginable burden of an unmarried woman must carry in that society. In a world where working is an unthinkable thing for a woman, they become dependent financially to wealthy relatives and husbands. In Lily’s case, she tries to seek marriage as her alley to maintain her social status and her glamorous way of living. She rejects the one person she actually truly loves because the guy isn’t wealthy enough. So is Lily a bad character then? This is where Wharton’s ability in creating a complex character becomes clear. I found myself not certain of what to think about Lily’s character. At some certain moments I find Lily interesting, at other times I hate, and pity her eventually. I was immersed in Lily dark world and I cannot help being grateful that I don’t live in the same type of society where Lily lives in. The way these people think, act, live is utterly depressing. At least that is how Wharton pictures it. Of all her stories I have read so far, The House of Mirth has the most tragic ending in my opinion. So be prepared.
(less)

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Jan 15, 2009 James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, lincoln-park-group, u-of-chicago, great-books-group

The House of Mirth is usually viewed as a novel of New York society manners, which it is. The heroine is Lily Bart, an impoverished socialite, who lives off a small inheritance and her Aunt Julia’s generosity. She travels with the elite of New York society by being charming and beautiful; something she finds increasingly more difficult the older she gets. But the novel is also an example of a modern, secular vision of alienation in which Lily Bart faces an inability to reconcile her nature with...more

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Oct 03, 2008 Amelia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There were elements of this book I enjoyed, but I really couldn't force myself to get into it. For all that Lily Bart was a somewhat interesting character, I couldn't force myself to care overly much about her-- until maybe the last 3 chapters (and those last three chapters are probably why I'm not rating this as two stars). Also, the plot seemed to just go in a circle through the entire novel-- Things are about to go well for Lily. Lily finds a way to sabotage things for herself. UST with Seldo...more

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Oct 24, 2008 Kim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Leslie, Brittany

This book stunned me. I had no idea that Edith Wharton was so brilliant. I remember reading Ethan Frome in high school and thinking it was just way too depressing. I love reading authors as an adult and finding their prose luminous and wise...it makes you realize how little you knew as a teenager. Maybe we shouldn't even read classics in high school...I digress.
The thing that struck me about Wharton is her ability to dissect the female mind with a cold and objective accuracy. She has an almost m...more This book stunned me. I had no idea that Edith Wharton was so brilliant. I remember reading Ethan Frome in high school and thinking it was just way too depressing. I love reading authors as an adult and finding their prose luminous and wise...it makes you realize how little you knew as a teenager. Maybe we shouldn't even read classics in high school...I digress.
The thing that struck me about Wharton is her ability to dissect the female mind with a cold and objective accuracy. She has an almost masculine ability to separate herself from feminine motivations and to point out the cruelty and self-absorption of the character of Lily Bart. She seems to put Lily in a petri dish and pick her apart; Lily's ambition for wealth, her instinct for self-preservation, her inability to see the needs of the people around her, all are magnified for the reader. However, Wharton is also able to temper this examination with a compassion for Lily's vulnerable parts; we are able to hurt with her, to know her painful struggle to express love, we know all too well this inability ourselves, and so we must forgive her this weakness.
***Spoiler Alert***
The second thing I took from this book was a sense of something lovely and tragic that takes place between a man and woman. There seems to be a timeless lesson at work: no man and woman in relationship can ever surmount the ultimate barriers that keep them from true understanding. Lily and Selden seem poised to unite repeatedly in this novel, but they always fail, they never love each other at the same moment, they never understand the other's motivations fully.
The editor of my edition suggests that there is an indictment of Selden's unwillingness to save Lily as she is poised over the chasm of ruin. Wharton had her own dissappointments with the men in her life and seemed to have written this frustration into the character of Selden. I beg to differ on this point, because Lily seems to take her fair share of the responsibility for the failure of their relationship. In the end, she chooses not to press herself on Selden again, because she knows the moment is past, he can never surmount his pride again after all the pain and rejection she has dealt him.
This is the one spot where I feel Wharton fails: the last couple of pages show an overweening need for resolution. But this resolution is not to be had. Wharton tries to force on us a sense that love triumphs through death, and that Selden is at peace, that he can finally speak the word of love he was seeking. But there is no such thing as love after death; Lily is gone, and there is no satisfaction, no peace... and so in my opinion, there is no union, which is part of what defines love.

(less)

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Aug 20, 2008 Misfit rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 19c-lit

"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" Ecclesiastes 7:4 KJV. Hence begins the story of Lily Bart, raised from birth with no other purpose in life than to be a beautiful ornament to society. Lily is left with little money of her own and must rely on family and friends until she can make an advantageous marriage. Unfortunately, she makes some poor choices in life which diminish her social status, which eventually leads her to attempts t...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Jee Koh rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Undecided

It's hard to feel any sympathy for, or identification with, Lily Bart. Moving among the nouveau riches of New York City, she aspires to marry someone wealthy. In her better moments, she wishes to transmute the money into something finer in life, to create beauty. But, more often, she wants the money in order to lead a life of ease, to escape from her horror of shabbiness. Unfortunately, Lily seems to own the knack of sabotaging her own well-laid marital schemes. Her eventual friend Mrs....more Undecided

It's hard to feel any sympathy for, or identification with, Lily Bart. Moving among the nouveau riches of New York City, she aspires to marry someone wealthy. In her better moments, she wishes to transmute the money into something finer in life, to create beauty. But, more often, she wants the money in order to lead a life of ease, to escape from her horror of shabbiness. Unfortunately, Lily seems to own the knack of sabotaging her own well-laid marital schemes. Her eventual friend Mrs. Fisher describes her well, in terms which explain Wharton's project in this novel. "Sometimes," Mrs. Fisher says, "I think it's just flightiness--and sometimes I think it's because, at heart, she despises the things she's trying for. And it's the difficulty of deciding that makes her such an interesting study."

Lily's difficulty in deciding should give rich tragic material, but the novel seems undecided whether to be a tragedy or a satire, and so its view of Lily is wavering, and its judgment uncertain. It's never clear to Lily, and to the reader, what the alternative to the vanities of society is, besides some abstract ideals of beauty and taste. Her limitation appears to be not only her society's, but also, damagingly, the novel's own.

The novel tries to embody the alternative in the person of Selden. However, this romantic hero, despite his learning and taste, is a limited creation. For someone praised for his ironic detachment from materialistic and frivolous society, he spends a lot of time, in the novel, in that society. We don't see him in any other contexts, not in his legal profession, not in some like-minded company, with the exception of genuine but dull Gerty Farish. His attitude towards the social circle of the Van Osburghs, the Trenors, and the Dorsets is, at best, ambivalent.

"I don't underrate the decorative side of life. It seems to me the sense of splendour has justified itself by what it has produced. The worst of it is that so much human nature is used up in the process. If we're all the raw stuff of the cosmic effects, one would rather be the fire that tempers a sword than the fish that dyes a purple cloak. And a society like ours wastes such good material in producing its little patch of purple! Look at a boy like Ned Silverton--he's really too good to be used to refurbish anybody's social shabbiness. There's a lad just setting out to discover the universe. Isn't it a pity he should end by finding it in Mrs. Fisher's drawing room?"

As a critique of that society, surely Selden's judgment is overly forgiving and near-sighted. Despite its use of manufacturing and economic terms (produced, used up, process, raw stuff, wastes, good material), it does not see the actual workers who temper the sword or dye the cloak. Its sympathy lies, instead, with a silly, sentimental upper-class boy like Ned Silverton, whose worst possible fate is ending up in a well-appointed drawing room. And despite its talk of fire and sword, the man himself is not particularly energetic nor active in pursing his goals in life; what those goals may be we are not told, but we are told who his favorite author is.

His limitation shows up again in his view of Lily. A marvelous scene in the novel is the tableau vivants put up as part of a lavish entertainment. Lily appears in the last tableau, as Reynolds's "Mrs Lloyd," a choice which shows off her natural beauty, and her natural taste.

The noble buouyancy of her attitude, its suggestion of soaring grace, revealed the touch of poetry in her beauty that Selden always felt in her presence, yet lost the sense of when he was not with her. Its expression was now so vivid that for the first time he seemed to see before him the real Lily Bart, divested of the trivialities of her little world, and catching for a moment a note of that eternal harmony of which her beauty was a part.

The passage is not intended to be satirical, but serious. But how can we take seriously Selden's judgment that the artistically arranged Lily is the real Lily Bart, that, enmeshed in the expenditure of the tableau vivants, she is "divested of the trivialities of her little world"? More subtly, how can Selden, the perceptive man, not suspect that beauty has its evil aspect as well as its good?

The limitation of the romantic hero, and thus of the alternative offered to Lily Bart, marks one limit of the novel's moral vision. Another marker is the depiction of the Jewish social climber, Rosedale. Much of his unflattering depiction may be laid at the door of the society to which he is so eager to gain entrance to. But some of it shades too easily, too indistinguishably, into the narrative voice, and leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth. (less)

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Jun 27, 2008 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

I had the great delight of hosting a friend over the weekend. We knew each other throughout college, lived down the hall from one another, and constantly figured in the other's socializing--but somehow, the two of us never grew close. That's what happens when you move within a circle of mutual friends for years.

Well, by Sunday, we agreed that our friendship had grown startlingly stronger. And I'll wager that this happiness is, in part, due to Edith Wharton.

I've had a copy of The House of Mirth o...more I had the great delight of hosting a friend over the weekend. We knew each other throughout college, lived down the hall from one another, and constantly figured in the other's socializing--but somehow, the two of us never grew close. That's what happens when you move within a circle of mutual friends for years.

Well, by Sunday, we agreed that our friendship had grown startlingly stronger. And I'll wager that this happiness is, in part, due to Edith Wharton.

I've had a copy of The House of Mirth on my shelves for years. I had picked it up on the cheap, certain I wanted to read it eventually, but 'eventually' never came to be now. So there it sat.

On Saturday afternoon, as Friend and I lazed around, he took it from my shelf and began reading. I was reading something else, and so we lazed--vocally. Friend piped up with thoughts on the life of Miss Lily Bart, or asking about a word that neither of us knew, that demanded look-up. And it didn't take long before us two twenty-somethings laid out our Saturday night plans in the city: Go to a bookstore, find another copy of The House of Mirth, and read it together til closing at 11 p.m.

I tell you, it was fraught; this is a great book that I viscerally responded to. So engrossing is the tale of Lily Bart and New York society at turn of the twentieth century, we ended up bringing that second copy home and continuing to read til 3 a.m (there was a short spaghetti break). And beyond pausing to puzzle about word definitions, we exchanged passionate analyses about Lily's plight--and drew personal connections. It was Wharton's novel that provided the triggers for Friend and I to share our own stories; Lily's life suffocated by social rituals, the rule of money, the business side of love, appearances and family led us to start talking about how our own lives are affected by the same. So, while the reading went on for a startling eightish hours, the conversation went well into dawn.

And so, not only am I grateful for a novel that's captured my attention (thoughts on the opinionated narrator, scene pacing, and how the reader is instructed to position herself another time), but I'm grateful that spending my Saturday evening reading opened out a deeper friendship.

Oh, Edith, will your gifts never cease?(less)

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About Edith Wharton

Edith Newbold Jones was born into such wealth and privilege that her family inspired the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses." The youngest of three children, Edith spent her early years touring Europe with her parents and, upon the family's return to the United States, enjoyed a privileged childhood in New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Edith's creativity and talent soon became obvious: By the a...more Edith Newbold Jones was born into such wealth and privilege that her family inspired the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses." The youngest of three children, Edith spent her early years touring Europe with her parents and, upon the family's return to the United States, enjoyed a privileged childhood in New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Edith's creativity and talent soon became obvious: By the age of eighteen she had written a novella, (as well as witty reviews of it) and published poetry in the Atlantic Monthly.

After a failed engagement, Edith married a wealthy sportsman, Edward Wharton. Despite similar backgrounds and a shared taste for travel, the marriage was not a success. Many of Wharton's novels chronicle unhappy marriages, in which the demands of love and vocation often conflict with the expectations of society. Wharton's first major novel, The House of Mirth, published in 1905, enjoyed considerable literary success. Ethan Frome appeared six years later, solidifying Wharton's reputation as an important novelist. Often in the company of her close friend, Henry James, Wharton mingled with some of the most famous writers and artists of the day, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, André Gide, Sinclair Lewis, Jean Cocteau, and Jack London.

In 1913 Edith divorced Edward. She lived mostly in France for the remainder of her life. When World War I broke out, she organized hostels for refugees, worked as a fund-raiser, and wrote for American publications from battlefield frontlines. She was awarded the French Legion of Honor for her courage and distinguished work.

The Age of Innocence, a novel about New York in the 1870s, earned Wharton the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921 -- the first time the award had been bestowed upon a woman. Wharton traveled throughout Europe to encourage young authors. She also continued to write, lying in her bed every morning, as she had always done, dropping each newly penned page on the floor to be collected and arranged when she was finished. Wharton suffered a stroke and died on August 11, 1937. She is buried in the American Cemetery in Versailles, France.
- Barnesandnoble.com(less)

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Quotes from The House of Mirth

“She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making.” — 84 people liked it

“Do you remember what you said to me once? That you could help me only by loving me? Well-you did love me for a moment; and it helped me. It has always helped me.” — 83 people liked it

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