Lily Bart Quotes

As stated above, the forces of chance and environment as they affect individual lives, is a common theme in a naturalistic novel. Naturalistic protagonists are often a victim of their society and environment, which is also the case of Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth. Lily Bart is a beautiful woman born into a high-class society that dresses expensively, lives well, and values wealth and connections. However, readers find out in the 3rd chapter, that Lily’s father is financially ruined before his death. Thus, she has to get married soon to secure her social position. Moreover, Lily’s society expects nothing from a woman but to look pleasant and marry someone with money, and Lily grew accustomed of making herself look as pleasant

as possible. She is also on the search of finding an appropriate, rich husband who will make her live the lifestyle of her society and the people surrounding her.

Through her first encounter with Selden, readers learn through Selden’s thought that “She (Lily) 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” (chapter 1, book one). With this quote, it seems obvious that Lily had become a representation of her society, looking pleasantly beautiful and wanting the lifestyle her social class provides. In a way, Lily is aware of her society’s effect on her, she knows that she became a victim of this environment and she herself admitted that. For instance, when Lily is asked to tell her story, she answers: “the beginning was in my cradle, I suppose-in the way I was brought up, and the things I was taught to care for” (chapter 4, book two). In here, she confesses that the way her mother and her society brought her up has shaped her life. Nonetheless, towards the end of the novel, naturalism is evident again in Lily’s last encounter with Selden as she tells him that “I have tried hard-but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent

existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else” (chapter 12, book two). In here, Lily admits that she can only fit into that society, she is of no use anywhere else and that’s why she tries so hard to be back into it.

On the other hand, Lily wasn’t the only character affected by her environment.

Selden as well was described by Wharton to be a victim of his environment, just like Lily is. “He had meant to keep free from permanent ties, not from any poverty of feeling, but because, in a different way, he was, as much as Lily, the victim of his environment” (chapter 4, book one). Edith Wharton implies that the way Selden was brought up, how charming and luxurious his mother was, and how his father was someone who delighted in a charming woman, were all part of the reason why he has feelings for Lily Bart. Even though Selden was in a way free and independent, he still had connections in his society, he somehow kept going back to

them.

Another example of naturalism in The House of Mirth is Lily’s tragic death. In chapter 13, Lily was seized with a sudden fever of activity, she started sorting out her dresses but then she received her check from her aunt’s state and paid off her debts. Then, she started thinking about her financial status and the little money she has left. That night, Lily took some sleeping pills and as she lied in bed she is said to have found something to say to Selden that “should make life clear between them” (ch.13, book two) but, Lily overdosed on her sleeping pills that night, and died. The next day, Selden goes to her as he found out that he loved her, even if all the conditions of life conspired to set them apart, but he found her dead body instead. In the end, Lily died unable to overcome the fate her society set for her. Worrying about her financial and social status eventually smothered her to death. She could only survive within the radiance of that surrounding, and when she lost it, she lost everything. Which brings readers back to chapter one when Selden thought “She (Lily) 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”. In fact, throughout the book, all that has been explained about Lily’s situation, all that she went through, in a way, foreshadowed this moment, and that could fall under the theme of “pessimistic determinism”.