Is it Fate?

The House of Mirth centers on the theme of fate and how many of Lily's early actions and characteristics hint toward later events and issues within the novel. For example, in the beginning we saw Lily as a very impulsive character obsessed with her material life. Oftentimes she blames her misfortune with money on fate or destiny. Like it's not her fault that she loses all her money. Then later we find that her character traits lead her into these situations, she is more or less doing this to herself. She is manipulative and slightly obsessive by nature so then throughout the novel she keeps manipulating people and obsessing over her societal status, this doesn't surprise us. She also has trouble committing as we see with her multiple relationships and proposals. She is creating her "fate" for herself with her actions. It's almost as if she's hopelessly impulsive, obsessive etc. She can't get out of it so she blames it on fate.

This reminded me of a book a read last year by Thomas Hardy titled Tess of the D'Urbervilles. The protagonist in this novel, Tess, also deals with fate and how fate affects the plot with Tess. Tess's character is also "hopeless" in some areas areas. For one, she is easily influenced and has trouble making her own decisions. This trait hinders her actions throughout the rest of the book and keeps her from overcoming her issues. This is like Lily. Lily cannot overcomer her character traits either. And in the end it get the better of her. Tess died at the end of her story and so did Lily...was this their fate?

It is interesting too that both of these stories are so similar in format and theme. They both are in the same sort of time period, the turn of the century, I guess it must of been the style for novels or something.

I Take it Back...

In an earlier post I compared Lily to Lizzy Bennett from Pride and Prejudice, and now I would like to retract that statement after further reading into the development of Lily as a character. Lily is not like Lizzy at all I can see. Perhaps it was just the Victorian theme that made me think of them together, but I think Lily has evolved. She cares so much about money and has become so desperate that she is starting to break down. She is finally realizing how much she has alienated people for the want of money and social respect. The ironic thing is that she has sacrificed so much climbing the social ladder that people have taken notice and therefore have lost respect for her in her sort of wild desperation. Lizzy Bennett saw this part of society as ridiculous and tried to distance herself from it, she was never one to worry about financial security and in fact thought the opposite, especially when considering marriage. I think that Lily would like to do things for herself and marry for love not money and such, but she has become too dependent on her extravagant lifestyle that she can't imagine anything else.

A Financial Connection

"All her life Lily had seen money go out as quickly as it came in" (116).

Lily isn't very good at handling money as we have seen, she gains it gambling, then spends it on luxury clothes and jewelry, but it's nothing really practical. This quote kind of sums up Lily's financial situation. When I read it, it reminded me of Marx and how he argues that people are too reliant on money. They get caught up in it and forget about other things. Then there's the gap between the rich and the poor. That is why he advocated communism, because it decreased the physiological value of money and put everyone on an equal level. Lily is always trying to prove that she is in the top tier of society, she is always trying to appear like she has more money than she does. I think Marx would disapprove of her thinking and her obsession with money

Seldon

It seems to me that Selden's character in The House of Mirth is created to help the reader understand and realize some of the absurdities of the social scene. He is sort of on the fringe of this level of society and sort questions it himself with his relationship with Lily. He questions her actions and her values. Maybe Wharton is using him a "control" to sort of compare to with the rest of the characters and how they act in their world.

And it All Connects Back...

"success-what is success?" and the response "personal freedom...from everything" (70)

This is a piece of a conversation between Lily and Seldon about the idea of success. Lily thinks success is about making the most out of life, "to get as much as one can out of life..." whereas Seldon's definition is about gaining personal freedom, freedom from everything material and concrete. I found this to be an interesting connection in the text to Marx, Nietzsche and Gandhi, (as well as along the themes of this entire semester...) that total success in life requires man to take a step back from society and its many restraints. To forget about material goods and focus on spiritual philosophy and knowledge.

Marx wants us to give up our obsession with material goods and work instead as a community for the good of everyone. Nietzsche stressed the rigid formality of society and the need man retained to break away from it. Gandhi also, spoke of personal freedom when he talked about living a simple, modest life of nonviolent behavior and without predetermined expectations or duties. All philosophies arguing the benefits of thinking for yourself. In a way, Lily is right as well, this is how to make the most out of life, to break from the norm and the dependency of modern civilization to enjoy life in its most natural state, a free mind and free body. Personal freedom.

Flexibility is a Must

"Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one" (37).

I liked this metaphor in The House of Mirth because it talks about how adapting to one's situation and dealing with it is better than remaining stubborn and unmoved by it. When Lily and her mother lose most of their money and are forced to become more or less nomadic, Lily does not break down and lose hope, she doesn't close-up and harden her shell. Instead she becomes more flexible than before, accepting her new fate for the time being and adapting to her environment to make the most of it. She will not break with such a sudden change of lifestyle, instead she will bend around it and make it fit.

Lily and Lizzy

So far reading the House of Mirth has been a fun, new change considering our past titles of Gandhi, Nietzsche and Marx. I am enjoying the characters and an actual plot, not to mention the excellent writing style. Finally. This book actually reminds me of one of may favorite books: Pride and Prejudice . The descriptions about how the rich live, the lavish parties, dresses, food etc all remind me of the lifestyles of the Bennett's and the rest of them. The values are the same too. The young women are worried about getting married, missing opportunities. Worried about dying an old maid, poor, without any financial security, etc. They spend their money on dresses and jewelry all in hopes of bettering their chances to advance in society. Lily is like Elizabeth Bennett (or Lizzy as they called her), they are both deep thinkers and strong women. They both are looking beyond what the average woman wants, they are the rebels of their time, much to their mothers' disappointment. Young, pretty (but not overly so...), and thoughtful, they are anomalies.