"The House of Mirth"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses why the character Lily Bart from Wharton's "The House of Mirth", is a failure in the business world. He explains that this is because she has been raised, as most women of the time were raised, as a wealthy pampered woman who has no understanding of the business world. The paper also presents the concepts of poverty and wealth as understood through the male characters. The author believes that the only skills that society teaches women is to look pretty and snag a man.

From the Paper:

"Selden's idea of success is similar to whatever Lily may think, "My idea of success, he said, is personal freedom ...Freedom from worries...from everything; from money, from poverty, from care and anxiety, from all the material accidents. To keep a kind of republic of the spirit,...that's what I call success". That idea of success is "rich" in one word. If you are rich enough to be free from worry about money, then you are successful in Selden's eyes and in society's eyes. If you are poor, you are clearly a failure, and it does not matter if you are happy or not, you are only successful if society says so. "

More papers on "The House of Mirth":

• Book Review # 122433 : "Lily Bart in "The House of Mirth"
• Analytical Essay # 61882 : "The House of Mirth" and "Little Women"
• Analytical Essay # 16223 : "Wharton's "The House of Mirth"

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