The House of Mirth: Lily Bart's Behavior

   The novel The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton primarily has to do with an upper class society of New York in the 1900s. To these people, most of their life has only to do with money and power. In this world, women are snubbed when they do not look wealthy and are not dependent of other men, and this is what I will be focusing this blog on. In this novel, women are thought of as possessions of their partners and this is what influences a lot of Lily Bart's behavior.
    In this era of the novel, women are thought of as possessions of men. Whether it is their father or husband, women have to look good because they are reflections of the social status of the men. This is actually still relevant today. This is probably where the concept of "trophy wives" came from, because it is really just the same concept. The men that are rich marry pretty, good looking women showing their status, and the women get to dress up in expensive clothes to further push this status. So, this book is actually relevant for us today because women are still some what looked at as possessions.
   The first thing that I see in the novel that alludes to this is the way that all the women dress. Lily Bart is so overly concerned with how see looks in the way that she dresses to impress men. She brings this up when she discusses with Seldon how his clothes are beginning to look a little shabby. She says "Your coat's a little shabby- but how cares? It doesn't keep people from asking you to dine. If I were shabby no one would have me: a woman is asked out as much for her clothes as herself" (Wharton, 12). This explains her obsession with buying new clothes for every season, even when she is putting herself into debt doing so. She tries so hard in her looks because she wants to show potential suitors how good she looks and how good she would look for them as a trophy wife. So, even though she is not married yet, she is still just a possession to all the men she is trying impress.
   Another reason I saw in the novel that women were just possessions of men was when Seldon and Lily talk about Seldon's cousin Gerty Farish. Gerty is a woman in the novel that lives by herself, unwed and is very looked down upon in their society. She is looked down upon when she wants to do things for herself and does not look for a husband to provide for her. In today's time, this would actually be a good quality in a woman, but not in this era. Lily tells Seldon that she does not like this when she says "How delicious to have a place like this all to one's self! What a miserable thing it is to be a woman" (Wharton, 8). She shows her dissatisfaction that woman cannot live on their own without becoming "unmarriageable". All her actions are just to find a man of wealth because she knows that as a woman, she cannot succeed on her own.
   Lily's behavior around Percy Gryce also shows that she will do anything to find marriage. When Lily finds Mr. Gryce, she alters her behavior to attract his attention to her more. She makes the tea well, she asks about his book collection and acts intrigued, and she thoughtfully and intelligently adds to the conversation with him to keep him attentive. Then, when Bertha Dorset join the two, Lily again changes herself to look more appealing to the young man. Mrs. Dorset asks for a cigarette because she knows that Lily smokes, but because Lily does not think that Mr. Gryce would like a woman that smokes, she replies "What an absurd question, Bertha!" (Wharton, 22). This again is an example of how concerned Lily is about looking good for chances of marriage. If she looks good, then she ultimately can be a good wife because she can look good for her husband.
   Even though a lot of these behaviors have changed in our lives, a lot of it is still there. Women wear tight jeans and heels to attract men. This is obviously still came from a time like this one. So, women are still somewhat inferior to men. Although, a lot of things have changed. When women want to make a living for themselves and be independent, it is a good quality. Women are expected to work just as much as men and can divorce and are not looked down upon. So, all together, this novel was interesting to read to see how women had to act in the 1900s to be respected, and see the good improvements we have made in our society, and improvements we still should make to make men and women equal.