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There’s actually little mirth in this story. I read this after enjoying the author’s Ethan Frome and realizing again what a good writer Edith Wharton is. Lily Bart belong to the ‘jet set’ of the early 1900’s. She hangs out in New York mansions, Newport and the Riviera. (As did the author.) Lily was from a wealthy family that spent down its fortune and then her parents died. Now she’s looking for a husband with money. She had some opportunities to marry earlier but she finds she’s waited a bit lo...
Poor, lovely Lily BartHer tragic storywill break your heartShe runs in the best circles Wears the right clothesAnd flirts with rich menBut everyone knowsThat she needs to marrySomeone – and fast!At 29 her looks won’t lastShe’s ringing up debtsBorrowing from menAnd displeasing their wivesNot to mention her friend Lawrence Selden, a lawyer (but not very rich)It’s Gilded Age New York And life’s a bitch If you’re not old moneyLike the Trenors, DorsetsAnd that odd Percy GryceThe most you can do is pl...
On occasions like this, I rue the absence of a 'tragedy' shelf or some variation of the same because mere 'melancholia' seems too modest, too equivocal a word to convey the kind of heartbreak Lily Bart's story inflicted on me.It is, perhaps, apposite that I came to this with my mind still fresh from Anita Desai's stirring homage to a resolutely single, unsung fictional heroine who holds together a disintegrating family, unacknowledged, misunderstood, left behind and forgotten (Clear Light of Day...
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...
What a piece of artIs our Lily BartSurrounded by men who don’t need much urgin’Yet Lily is a 29 year old virginShe’s a part of a truly disgusting society – the filthy rich of New York, 1905 - all they do is party till five in the morning and have discreet affairs and play bridge for money and get waited on hand and foot (snap your fingers once for a Faberge egg on toast, twice for a new hat made of ptarmigan feathers) and rush off to Monaco and gamble and party and have affairs and snap their fi...
“The House of Mirth” just might be to “The Age of Innocence” what “Tom Sawyer” is to “Huck Finn”: that is, only but a stepping-stone towards a more profound greatness (although why I used that Twain analogy is a mystery even to me—I find that brand of American Literature a bit overrated). “Age of Innocence” is stupendous—utterly amazing. On the other hand, “The House of Mirth” describes the downward spiral of one, Miss Lily Bart, misunderstood by her social “set,” her particular New York niche.
Reading Edith Wharton's second novel The House of Mirth was like being kidnapped by Barbary pirates and held for ransom for ten fortnights; not a comfort, but an adventure. Published in 1905, this tale of Miss Lily Bart -- a young woman held prisoner by New York high society for her grace and beauty until her dependence on wealthy patrons makes her vulnerable to their whims -- carried me off against my will and held me with jeweled prose, breathless detail to character and droll wit. Wharton's m...
She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate. I was not fully prepared for The House of Mirth.There I was, reading along pleasantly, mentally comparing this book to Jane Austen, finding it quite charming, amusing, satirical, even, when the really dark depressing side of this novel hit me full force. I suppose, in hindsight, I should have known. I have read Wharton's The Age of Innocence
"What is truth? Where a woman is concerned, it's the story that's easiest to believe." What is truth? Truth is that Lily Bart is Madame Bovary dying without even having engaged in the love affairs - dying a virgin in reality, a promiscuous siren in the world of evil gossip. If you want to suffer the pain of sexual injustice and social brutality, read this book and die with Lily, step by step. There were moments when I wanted to step into the story and shake the disgusting predators - that is ho...
“She had no tolerance for scenes which were not of her own making.” Edith Wharton had a particular way of writing which was a bit difficult to tune into at first but once I got the hang of it, it was real beautiful. Which was why I am saddened to give this such low rating. Just saddened.From the very start I really liked Lily Bart... until the second half of the book, then, I couldn't stop myself getting annoyed with her everytime: her indecision, her actions and mostly just.... HER. Rating:
The House of Mirth is a tragic tale of the life of Miss Lily Bart, a beautiful young girl who is raised to aspire into wealth and luxury. Being raised as an ornament to catch the eye of a rich man, she is not skilled in anything except in the art of being beautiful and agreeable. But the mean and selfish New York elite is too much for her. They do not hesitate to use her in their wile schemes, and eventually, to cast her off. The story brings out an unpleasant side of the upper-class New York so...
Lily Bart, born poor but from a blue blood family, grew up privileged, well her mother pretended they had wealth, always telling her hard working husband, she will not live like a pig! He succumbs to an early grave, broke, at the turn of the century (20th), that is, the mother spends money, they haven't got, going to Europe, buying expensive clothes, jewelry, furniture, all for the sake of appearances, their friends, in High Society are very well - to- do. Since childhood, Lily is told one thing...
I have read almost all of Edith Wharton's writing. I have the highest regard for her work. She was overshadowed by Fitzgerald and Hemingway in her day but even so she won the Pulitzer prize in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence. The House of Mirth was one of her early novels and my favorite, although I like all of her novels.Lily Bart, the protagonist in The House of Mirth, is such a captivating and tragic figure that she has stayed in my mind for years. Of course, creating great characters...
Edith Wharton sets the New York social stage of the early twentieth century for a succession of short scenes that glitter with glossy superficiality. Lightning, backdrops and lush costumes are put on display to create a natural effect in this tableaux vivant of a novel, where Lily Bart stands out as the most stunning living painting ever. She is the leading actress of this theatrical narrative, a delicate flower bred for exhibition and ornament whose beauty shines with the precise effortless gra...
“Her whole being dilated in an atmosphere of luxury. It was the background she required, the only climate she could breathe in.” Veblen in his 'Theory of Leisure Class' (written six years before this book) argues that one of the way leisure class show their wealth is by maintaining people who will sit idly for them. The chief example is of wives, where richest men do not want their wives to be doing paid jobs - do and own charities - yes, art exhibitions -yes, partying - yes, just not doi
Mrs. Lloyd by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1775) In our imperfectly organized society there is no provision as yet for the young woman who claims the privileges of marriage without assuming its obligations. Oh, how I delighted in this book. How I bathed in the world Edith Wharton created, this world belonging to beautiful Lily Bart, as she navigates through the temptations and perils of society of the early twentieth century. I was charmed, transported and moved as she tries desperately to cling to th...
I really loved this - it was engaging and beautifully written, and the main character is fascinating. I absolutely recommend this - I think it'll stay with me for a long time.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth—Ecclesiastes 7:4There’s an article on the internet somewhere describing The House of Mirth as a cursed choose-your-own-adventure. It’s an apt comparison. There’s no single crucial incident, no defining moment that seals our heroine’s fate: there are a dozen. A rabbit warren of sliding doors, one juncture leading to the next, leading to the next, and on and on. From the opening scene where she accep...
The House of Mirth is the third Wharton novel I've finished so far, and while reading it, I was able to figure out why I love her books so much. Edith Wharton is witty, and her writing is beautiful, but more importantly, she is honest and realistic. She portrays rich, spoiled society exactly as it is - full of people who hide their own misery behind lavish homes and strict manners - and condemns it, but even as her characters realize how toxic this environment is, they are still driven by an ins...
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth made me think about a lot of 'stuff'—so if you're one of those self-righteous hall monitor types who scolds reviewers on Goodreads for not being relevant enough, then be on your way. There's nothing for you to see here except for some navel-gazing. Proceed at your own peril.The House of Mirth centers on a privileged white female named Lily Bart who's navigating the precarious social landscape of New York City and its environs at the tail-end of the nineteenth c...