The House of Mirth is a tragedy about Lily Bart, a well-born but penniless young woman belonging to New York City's high society of the 1890s. Written by American author Edith Wharton, it came out October 14, 1905. The House of Mirth traces Lily's slow two-year social descent from privilege to a lonely existence on the margins of society as she fails to marry a man of wealth and status to secure her a place in affluent society. Wharton uses Lily as an attack on "an irresponsible, grasping and morally corrupt upper class."Benstock, Shari (1994). "A critical history of the House of Mirth." In Ross C Murfin (series) & Shari Benstock (Eds.), Case Studies in Contemporary Criticism: Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth. pp. 309-325.
The House of Mirth was serialized in Scribner's Magazine beginning in January 1905 which created great interest in the story. In November 1905, Charles Scribner wrote to Wharton that the novel was showing "the most rapid sale of any book ever published by Scribner." By the end of December, sales had reached 140,000 copies. Wharton's royalties were valued at more than half a million dollars in today's currency. The commercial and critical success of The House of Mirth solidified Wharton's reputation as a major novelist. in
Literary reviewers and critics at the time categorized the novel as both a social satire and a novel of manners. Its commercial success allowed critics to classify it as a genre novel. In 2003, Carol Singley describes it as "a unique blend of romance, realism, and naturalism, [thus transcending] the narrow classification of a novel of manners." The House of Mirth continues to attract readers over a century after its first publication because Lily Bart's life and death matters as the existential struggle between "who we are and what society tells us we should be." in
The House of Mirth was Wharton's second published novel, preceded by two novellas, The Touchstone (1900) and Sanctuary (1903), and a novel, The Valley of Decision (1902).
Background, theme, and purpose
Wharton considered several titles for the novel about Lily Bart; two were germane to her purpose:
A Moment's Ornament appears in the first stanza of William Wordsworth's (1770–1850) poem, "She was a Phantom of Delight" (1804), that describes an ideal of feminine beauty:
"A moment's ornament" represents the way Wharton describes Lily's relationship to her reference group as a beautiful and well-bred socialite. Her value lasts only as long as her beauty and good-standing with the group is maintained. By centering the story around a portrait of Lily, Wharton was able to address directly the social limitations imposed on her. These included the mores of the upper crust social class to which Lily belonged by birth, education, and breeding.
The final title Wharton chose for the novel was The House of Mirth (1905), taken from the Old Testament:
The House of Mirth spotlights social context as equally important to the development of the story's purpose, as the heroine. "Mirth" contrasted with "mourning" also bespeaks a moral purpose as it underscores the frivolity of a social set that not only worships money, but also uses it ostentatiously solely for its own amusement and aggrandizement. At the time the novel takes place, Old New York high society was peopled by the extraordinarily wealthy who were conditioned by the economic and social changes the Gilded Age (1870–1900) wrought. Wharton's birth around the time of the Civil War predates that period by a little less than a decade. As a member of the privileged Old New York society, she was eminently qualified to describe it authentically. She also had license to criticize the ways New York high society of the 1890s had changed without being vulnerable to accusations of envy motivated by coming from a lower social caste. She accused her peers of having lost the sense of noblesse oblige of their forebears.
Wharton revealed in her introduction to the 1936 reprint of The House of Mirth her choice of subject and her major theme:
Wharton figured that no one had written about New York society because it offered nothing worth writing about. But that did not deter her as she thought something of value could be mined there. If only the writer could dig deeply enough below the surface, some "stuff o' the conscience" could be found. She went on to declare unabashedly that:
That the life and death of Lily Bart matters to modern readers suggests that Wharton succeeded in her purpose: to critique "a society so relentlessly materialistic and self-serving that it casually destroys what is most beautiful and blameless within it."
Plot summary
Lily Bart, aged 29, is an impoverished socialite who seeks a husband to secure her future. Her success is challenged by her advancing age — at twenty-nine, she has been on the "marriage market" for more than ten years — and her debts from gambling at bridge. Lily admires lawyer Lawrence Selden, but he is too poor for her to seriously consider marrying; instead, her only prospects are the coarse and vulgar Simon Rosedale, a financier, and the wealthy but dull Percy Gryce.
Lily grew up surrounded by elegance and luxury — an atmosphere which she believes she cannot live without. The loss of her father's wealth, coupled with the death of her parents, left her an orphan at twenty. Lacking an inheritance or a caring protector, she adapts to life as a ward of her strait-laced aunt, Julia Peniston, from whom she receives an erratic allowance, a fashionable address, and food, but little direction or parenting. Lily loathes the neglectful Julia but is forced to rely on her for her necessities and luxuries.
Lily learns that Lawrence and heiress Bertha Dorset were once lovers. She also confides her money problems to Gus Trenor, a stockbroker and the husband of her childhood friend Judy, receiving from him a check for $5,000 and an investment of $4,000 in her name. Trenor tries to exploit his generosity to make a romantic move, but Lily spurns his attentions. Bertha still has feelings for Lawrence notwithstanding her recent breakup with him, but Lawrence has feelings for Lily. Bertha aims to ruin Lily's budding romance with Percy by filling him in on salacious and scandalous rumors about Lily's card-playing and past romantic life. This effectively frightens Percy away. Lily, unaware of Bertha's machinations, blames Judy for having been the one to set the match up.
In retribution for a social snub, Lily's cousin Grace Stepney informs Julia of rumors that Lily is having an affair with Gus to obtain money so she can pay off her gambling debts. This plants seeds of doubt and discomfort in Julia who, though shocked, chooses to accept the rumors without speaking to her niece. Furthermore, Lily has soured her relationships with both Gus, who is angered by her spurning him, and Judy, because she refuses to visit her at Bellomont lest Gus confront her and reveal that she had manipulated him for financial gain.
To avoid having to spend time alone with Julia, the Trenors, Simon Rosedale, or anyone else she considers a possible source of embarrassment or boredom, Lily begins to accept invitations from people with whom she would not ordinarily socialize. These include the Wellington Brys, who are newcomers to the New York social scene, and whose social rise is being engineered by Carry Fisher. Carry, a fallen aristocrat who supports herself by acting as a social secretary to usher newly wealthy people into fashionable society, invites Lily to social events hosted by Louisa Bry. Lily also attends the opera with Carry, Simon, and Gus. In the eyes of high society, Lily cheapens herself by voluntarily associating with her social inferiors. She returns to Bellomont only to find that her peers now look at her with derision and disgust.
One of Julia's temporary servants, who is also the charwoman at Lawrence's apartment, sells Lily a package of torn love letters. These were written by Bertha Dorset years earlier, and they represent a chance for Lily to deal with her enemy. But instead of blackmailing Bertha into a positive relationship, Lily tries to neutralize the gossip by making herself useful to Bertha. Bertha, who is in a sexual relationship with Ned Silverton, relies on Lily to distract her husband, George.
The extent to which Lily's reputation is damaged becomes obvious when she publicly appears in a way that comes across as advertising her availability for an illicit relationship. Following Carry's advice, the Wellington Brys throw a large "general entertainment" featuring tableaux vivants portrayed by a dozen fashionable women in their set, including Miss Bart.
The standout of this event was the portrayal of Mrs. Lloyd in Sir Joshua Reynolds' 18th-century painting (1775–1776). The portrait shows a woman dressed suggestively. As the curtain opens on this last scene, the gasp of approval heard from the audience is not so much for Reynolds' interpretation of Mrs. Lloyd as it is for the loveliness of Lily Bart herself. This marks the height of her social success, but also the destruction of her remaining reputation. Come what may, she has transitioned from a marriageable "girl" to a not-quite-reputable woman similar to Carry Fisher. Yet she does not do as Carry Fisher does and instead accepts the loss of her respectability as the price she must pay to maintain a position in society.
As Lawrence observes her in the "tableau", he sees the real Lily Bart as if for the first time and feels the desire to be with her. He finds her alone in the ballroom toward the end of the musical interlude, as the collective praise from her admirers is subsiding. Lawrence leads her to a garden and tells her that he loves her. They eventually kiss. Lily sighs, " 'Ah, love me, love me—but don't tell me so!' " and takes her leave. As Lawrence gathers his coat to leave, he is disturbed by Ned Van Alstyne's remarks, ". . . .Gad, what a show of good-looking women; but not one of 'em could touch that little cousin of mine. . . . I never knew till tonight what an outline Lily has."
Lily pleads with Julia to help settle her debts and confesses her addiction to gambling. Julia feels taken advantage of and refuses to help, except to cover the bill for her clothes and accessories. Feeling trapped and disgraced, Lily turns to thoughts of Lawrence as her savior and has a change of heart towards him as she looks forward to his next visit at four o'clock.
Instead, her visitor turns out to be Simon Rosedale who, smitten by her appearance in the tableau, proposes a marriage that would be mutually beneficial. Considering what Rosedale knows about her, she pleads for time to consider his offer. Lawrence does not appear for his 4:00 appointment nor does he send word in explanation. Instead, he has departed for Havana and then on to Europe for a business trip.
To escape the rumors arising from the gossip caused by her financial dealings with Gus, and also disappointed by what she interprets as Lawrence's emotional withdrawal, Lily accepts Bertha's spur-of-the-moment invitation to join her and George on a Mediterranean cruise aboard their yacht; Lily is expected once again to hide Bertha's affair. Lily's decision to accept the offer proves to be her social undoing.
To divert the attention and suspicion of their social circle away from her, Bertha insinuates that Lily is carrying on a romantic and sexual liaison with George by instructing her not to sleep on the yacht in front of their friends at the close of a dinner the Brys held for the Duchess in Monte Carlo. Lawrence inadvertently helps by arranging a night's lodging, under the promise that she leave in the morning. The ensuing social scandal ruins Lily's reputation and causes friends to abandon her and Julia to disinherit her.