Bailey Allen
Ms. Cavaney
AP English
19 August 2014
House of Mirth Quotations
1. House of Mirth, written by Edith Wharton, is a novel critiquing the wealthy social hierarchy, which the main character Lily lives in. Wharton seems to make fun of Lily’s desperation to marry herself off. Throughout the novel, Lily encounters men that she believes may be marriage material. Each man is from the rich aristocracy who has enough money to support her high standard lifestyle. Lily uses her attractiveness and flirty personality to draw men in to investigate their financial situation and become acquainted. In the beginning of the novel, Lily encountered Lawrence Selden at the train station. She ventures back to his apartment to make small talk over tea.
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She elaborates on how terrible her life is as an unmarried woman and how society expects more from women than men. Lily whines about how men seem to be threatened by her and there is pressure on her to find a husband or become an outsider in the wealthy life. Lily proceeds to ask Selden his feelings on possibly marrying her. Selden replies he is her friend but has no intent of creating a relationship. “She coloured and laughed. “Ah, I see you are a friend after all, and that is one of the disagreeable things I was asking for.” (p.31). This quotation shows Lily’s desperation to find a husband. Lily knows that majority of people watch and make assumptions about her, so the quicker she can reel someone into being her husband the faster she will be accepted in society. This is why I do not sympathize with Lily because she attempts to make everyone show compassion for her by complaining how awful of a life she has and how. She seems to want money more than love so any opportunity to be involved with a wealthy man she seizes the chance. It makes her appear to the readers as a woman with no standards, which is one of the reasons I don’t sympathize for her. 2. After Lily arrives in Bellomont she participates in gambling night. The night ends ironically because Lily who needs the money most forfeits almost three hundred dollars, while the wealthy ladies receive a large dividend. She becomes acquainted with Percy Gryce who becomes her next target of wooing. When Selden appears at Bellomont, Lily suddenly has a change in heart and fantasizes about a life with Selden. “Lily smiled at her classification of her friends. How different they had seemed to her a few hours ago! They had symbolized what she was gaining how they stood for what she was giving up” (p.70). This shows a glimpse of Lily changing and becoming a dynamic character, but the thought of love over money consumed Lily causing the idea of freedom to be faint in her mind. Lily contemplated this thought several times at Bellomont partially because she was the lowest in status and they instructed her to do chores instead of treating her like a friend.. I don’t sympathize with Lily in this situation because when she has a realization that there is more to life than money she allows objects and status to overtake her mind shattering the thought. She doesn’t want to have to earn her money and be degraded to a lower social position, so she wants wealth to take away her freedom allowing her to be popular. 3. Also during the time Lily was visiting at Bellomont, she befriended Gus Trenor. When Lily picked him up from the train station, they struck a deal. Since Mr. Trenor gave the impression of unhappiness in his marriage, he decided it would be generous of him to donate a small supply to Lily once a month in exchange for friendly companionship. Lily was overjoyed with the amounts of money that she would receive because it allowed her to feel the luxury of living a wealthier lifestyle. As time passed from her stay at Bellomont, Lily began to distance herself from Mr. Trenor even though he was unselfishly bestowing money upon her. A few weeks later, Lily ran into Mr. Trenor at the opera. Gus was irritated with her because she had lost connection after he was so kind to her. “But the plain English of it is that, now you’ve got what you wanted out of me, you’d rather have any other fellow about” (p.124). Gus realized that Lily was just using him to accumulate wealth to enhance her chances of finding a younger, wealthier man to marry. By demonstrating these actions this is why Lily has limited friends and I don’t sympathize with her. It exhibits to readers her demoralizing personality and how she will use others to achieve her goals. Lily also exemplifies her avarice personality, how she is always greedy for money and doesn’t value friendship. 4.
In Book II, it takes place in the Mediterranean on the Dorset’s yacht. They invited Lily to come along on the journey and she uses this opportunity to flirt and look her best for all the men on the boat. Selden feels nervous to see Lily after all of the rumors floating around about Lily and Gus Trenor. Mrs. Fisher was telling Selden how Lily had many prior relationships that could have even led to marriage but she decided to flirt with another family member causing the marriage proposals to fizzle out. “That’s Lily all over, you know: she works like a slave preparing the ground and sowing her seed; but the day she ought to be reaping the harvest she over-sleeps herself or goes off on a picnic” (p.183). This quote said by Mrs. Fisher is a metaphor for Lily’s love life. It means that Lily will put all the effort into finding a husband but right when its time for marriage she breaks it off. This shows Lily has commitment issues because she always believes there will be a better guy who makes more money. This is one of the main reasons why I do not sympathize with Lily because she would rather marry someone with a larger financial status and she will hop from guy to guy trying to find one with the largest income. This again presents the theme throughout the book of marrying for money over …show more content…
love. 5. When Lily’s aunt died, she was left with the slimmest amount of inheritance from the will. She would only acquire ten thousand dollars while wealthier family members received a larger amount. Ever since the voyage to Europe, Lily’s social status had diminished. Rumors had been spread about her and she had little money to pay off any debts. Carry Fisher tells Lily she needs to find a husband that would support her and help her raise her social position. Consequently Lily wants to marry Rosedale, he was a young man on the rise of society who Lily believes would be a great fit. First she thinks this is a great idea but later on she has second thoughts, which could be a result of her commitment issues. “The world is too vile, she murmured, averting herself from Mrs. Fisher’s anxious scrutiny” (p.238). Lily didn’t know if she should marry Rosedale or George Dorset, but since she was already in a tough spot with Bertha she assumed that would not be the best idea. This situation all started when Lily wanted to marry for money instead of happiness. Now she is stuck in a tough situation where she needs to marry to support herself. Instead of just realizing she loved Selden, she pushed him away and is now having to scramble for a husband. I don’t sympathize with Lily because she caused rumors to surround her life causing everyone to make assumptions that could be false about her. She also displays she has poor money management and they only option for support is through marriage. 6. When Lily approaches Rosedale about a marriage deal the situation became very ironic. Rosedale shoots her down since Lily was really no longer a part of the wealthy society and she had no financial groundwork. This is ironic because in the beginning Lily was the one that held higher standards trying a husband with more money, but now Rosedale thinks he can find a better wife. At this point Lily solely focuses on finding a man that can financially support her because she has no friends and is an outcast in society. Lily tries to make money by helping Mrs. Hatch, but doesn’t really enjoy it so working for is a discomfort for Lily. The only people that make an effort to support Lily are Selden and his cousin Gerty. Gerty understand Lily because they both are women in the outskirts of a stuck up society, unmarried, and have to work to support themselves. “Oh, Gerty, I wasn’t meant to be good, she sighed out incoherently” (p.249). This quote symbolizes Lily coming to understand that she has made mistakes in her life that have no lead her to this point. Her realization that she has been to stubborn and judging of others has left her in the exact place she doesn’t want to be, the bottom of society. I don’t sympathize with Lily over this because by always believing people were not good enough has come back to haunt her because now she has no one to lean on and wants others to feel her pain. 7.
Lily has no job, no friends, and cannot live the luxury life that she had always dreamed about. She joins the working force, which in her mind was the lowest thing in society. Lily was embarrassed and seems to become depressed with her life. Lily ventures to the doctor to get on sleeping medicine to try and relive her sleeping problems. The day Lily got fired from work; her world fell apart leading to the cycle effect of her death. That night she received money from her aunt’s inheritance. She used that to pay off all of her debts but it left her with no money to support herself. When she got into bed, she took her sleeping medicine but Lily overdosed. “She lay very still, waiting with a sensuous pleasure for the first effects of the soporific” (p.299). She died that night in her sleep and was found the next morning by Gerty and Selden. Seeing her perished body, Selden realized that his proposal for his true love was too late and he should have acted earlier. I think that by Lilly overdosing on the medication that it was her way of escaping the life she was in. This was the one way she could get out and finally enjoy the life that she had always
wanted.
After reading the novel As I Lay Dying, I was able to gather some first impressions about Jewel Bundren. One of these impressions is that Jewel Bundren is aware that Anse Bundren is not his father,. One reason why this is evident is because when Jewel half brother, Darl, is questioning him about who his father is, Jewel doesn’t answer, meaning he might know that he isn’t related to Anse. Another reason this is evident is due to the way Jewel acts when he is talking to Anse, as he is continuously disrespectful to him. Even though it’s shown Jewel is aware that Anse is not his father, there is no indication in the novel that he is aware that Whitfield is really his father. Another first impression I was able to gather about Jewel
In the beginning of the novel, as the reader is first introduced to Lily’s character, she comes across as an extremely negative young girl. While thinking about
“That night I lay in bed and thought about dying and going to be with my mother in paradise. I would meet her saying, “Mother, forgive. Please forgive,” and she would kiss my skin till it grew chapped and tell me I was not to blame.”
Fancy wardrobes, extravagant parties, and endless gossip makes up much of their lives. Even though she doesn’t have an abundance of money, Lily manages to keep pace with her friends. When Bertha lies about her and spreads the untrue news that she had had an affair with George, Lily’s life changes dramatically. She finds it hard to get a job, and she begins running out of money. One of her old friends, Mrs. Fisher, eventually apologizes for being so rude after the cruise and agrees to help her to find a way to make a living. Lily works with one of Mrs. Fisher’s friends for a while, but then Bertha befriends Lily’s employer and causes Lily to quit her job. Lily makes one final attempt at getting job with a woman named Mrs. Hatch. That arrangement goes well until Lily unknowingly gets involved in a scandal of sorts and is forced to quit that job, too. Lily’s last option is to join the working class of New York. She begins working as a hat maker but is unable to keep her job due to her lack of
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen” (“Brainy Quotes” 1). In Edith Wharton’s framed novel, Ethan Frome, the main protagonist encounters “lost opportunity, failed romance, and disappointed dreams” with a regretful ending (Lilburn 1). Ethan Frome lives in the isolated fictional town of Starkfield, Massachusetts with his irritable spouse, Zenobia Frome. Ever since marriage, Zenobia, also referred to as Zeena, revolves around her illness. Furthermore, she is prone to silence, rage, and querulously shouting. Ethan has dreams of leaving Starkfield and selling his plantation, however he views caring for his wife as a duty and main priority. One day, Zeena’s cousin, Mattie Silver, comes to assist the Frome’s with their daily tasks. Immediately, Mattie’s attractive and youthful energy resuscitates Ethan’s outlook on life. She brings a light to Starkfield and instantaneously steals Ethan’s heart; although, Ethan’s quiet demeanor and lack of expression causing his affection to be surreptitious. As Zeena’s health worsens, she becomes fearful and wishes to seek advice from a doctor in a town called Bettsbridge giving Ethan and Mattie privacy for one night. Unfortunately, the night turns out to be a disastrous and uncomfortable evening. Neither Ethan nor Mattie speaks a word regarding their love for one another. Additionally, during their dinner, the pet cat leaps on the table and sends a pickle dish straight to the floor crashing into pieces. To make matters worse, the pickle dish is a favored wedding gift that is cherished by Zeena. Later, Zeena discovers it is broken and it sends her anger over the edge. Furious, Zeena demands for a more efficient “hired girl” to complete the tasks ar...
Firstly, Brave Orchid is a woman warrior because she receives an education later in life. Kingston writes, “Not many women get to live out the daydream of women – to have a room, even a section of a room, that only gets messed up when she messes it up herself” (Kingston 61). In this passage, Kingston reveals that a woman going off to live at school was not a commonality. Amongst the other women she lives with, she is by far the oldest. Despite the fact that older women are supposed to be wiser, Kingston does not provide any characters at school that share Brave Orchid’s age; she is about twenty years everyone’s senior. Therefore, being a fully grown adult woman attending medical school must have been a rarity. She did not subject herself to
Throughout “Ethan Frome,” Edith Wharton renders the idea that freedom is just out of reach from the protagonist, Ethan Frome. The presence of a doomed love affair and an unforgiving love triangle forces Ethan to choose between his duty and his personal desire. Wharton’s use of archetypes in the novella emphasizes how Ethan will make choices that will ultimately lead to his downfall. In Edith Wharton’s, “Ethan Frome.” Ethan is wedged between his duty as a husband and his desire for happiness; however, rather than choosing one or the other, Ethan’s indecisiveness makes not only himself, but Mattie and Zeena miserable.
Ethan Frome is the main character of Edith Wharton’s tragic novel. Ethan lives the bitterness of his youth’s lost opportunities, and dissatisfaction with his joyless life and empty marriage. Throughout the story Ethan is trapped by social limits and obligations to his wife. He lives an unhappy life with many responsibilities and little freedom. Ethan Frome studied science in college for a year and probably would have succeeded as an engineer or physicist had he not been summoned home to run the family farm and mill. Ethan quickly ended his schooling and went to run the family farm and mill because he feels it is his responsibility. He marries Zeena after the death of his mother, in an unsuccessful attempt to escape silence, isolation, and loneliness. Ethan also feels the responsibility to marry Zeena as a way to compensate her for giving up part of her life to nurse his mother. After marring Zeena he forgets his hope of every continuing his education and he is now forced to remain married to someone he does not truly love.
Many people oppose society due to the surroundings that they face and the obstacles that they encounter. Set in the bleak winter landscape of New England, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton is the story of a poor, lonely man, his wife Zeena, and her cousin Mattie Silver. Ethan the protagonist in this novel, faces many challenges and fights to be with the one he really loves. Frome was trapped from the beginning ever since Mattie Silver came to live with him and his wife. He soon came to fall in love with her, and out of love with his own wife. He was basically trapped in the instances of his life, society’s affect on the relationship, love, poverty, illness, disability, and life.
Lily’s actions are completely driven by her desire to fit into the upper class part of society and her need to have money to successfully do this. The actions she partakes in to achieve these goals are sometimes harshly judged by other characters, but The House of Mirth seems to almost draw sympathy for Lily from the fact that she is stuck in this role she cannot remove herself from. Even through showing other life paths like Gerty Farish’s, Lily’s options for an independent life where she can live the way she desires are limited. What she was taught as a child, the choices she makes because of her childhood, how being poor is viewed by society, and the unjust view of Lily’s actions are what ultimately both destroys Lily and results in her being shown sympathy.
While disaster overwhelms others, guilt consumes Lily. “I was speculating how one day, years from now, I would send the store a dollar in an envelope to cover it, spelling out how much guilt had dominated every moment of my life, when I found myself looking at a picture of the black Mary,” (Kidd 63). Lily at no instant in the novel indicates mailing the envelope or the assumed regret she would posses when she regards the Black Mary. This affair does not suggest years from now she would not send the dollar. This exposes that while she may execute seldom vile things, she would try to rectify them.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan, the rich couple, seem to have everything they could possibly want. Though their lives are full of anything you could imagine, they are unhappy and seek to change, Tom drifts on "forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game"(pg. 10) and reads "deep books with long words in them"(pg. 17) just so he has something to talk about. Even though Tom is married to Daisy he has an affair with Myrtle Wilson and has apartment with her in New York.. Daisy is an empty character, someone with hardly any convictions or desires. Even before her relationships with Tom or, Gatsby are seen, Daisy does nothing but sit around all day and wonder what to do with herself and her friend Jordan. She knows that Tom is having an affair, yet she doesn't leave him even when she hears about Gatsby loving her. Daisy lets Gatsby know that she too is in love with him but cant bring herself to tell Tom goodbye except when Gatsby forces her too. Even then, once Tom begs her to stay, even then Daisy forever leaves Gatsby for her old life of comfort. Daisy and Tom are perfect examples of wealth and prosperity, and the American Dream. Yet their lives are empty, and without purpose.
In the novel Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the novel displays Papa’s wealth and how competitive he is. These statements are true based on his actions, for an example coming to Kambili’s school to see the girl who got first in class. First, Papa demonstrates that he is anxious about his reputation and he gives some of his wealth away to boost his reputation. Papa is a concerned character when it comes down to his reputation and he shows that when he goes to his village by, “ Greet your parents, make sure you show them this money” (Adichie, 55). Papa is wealthy and is uptight about his reputation in his village. The people around him are being affected too (Kambili, Jaja and Mama) because people view them as uptight about
The reason for this is that Lily did not even leave the hospital in fear of her brother dying or getting worse. She stayed as close to him as she could and even had a heart attack in the hospital worrying for her brother’s life.
Character of Seldon “He declared himself entirely at her disposal: the adventure struck him as diverting. As a spectator, he had always enjoyed Lily Bart; and his course lay so far out of her orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a moment into the sudden intimacy which her proposal implied.” Source: The House of Mirth, By Edith Wharton It should be noted that the role of Selden is highly important because it is a stock role in the novel of manners, and therefore helps in clearing and highlighting the unspoken conversation between people. In the novel the construction of his character is such that he is the observer, the person who cannot marry. It is in this position of the observer, that an unbiased view is shown, and it is through his eyes that we are asked to interpret the society. This role of an observer is very much highlighted by the author, as Seldon’s home forms a private enclave that will not be interrupted and into which very few people are allowed. The novel shows, that Selden is a good friend of Lily, and therefore from time to time, stands to influence her. His char...