Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how, in her book "The House of Mirth", Edith Wharton addresses the issues of class and gender faced by western society during the beginning of the twentieth century. The paper analyzes how gender expectations often go hand-in-hand with class expectation in Wharton's novel. The views of the main character, Lily, regarding the char-woman is one such example. The paper further discusses how, in the society of the time, there is a very definite class distinction between the upper and lower classes. The paper concludes that Lily's suicide is the ultimate act of defiance against society's expectations of her.

From the Paper:

"Class expectation is closely integrated with gender expectation in Lily's quest to marry Gryce. This becomes abundantly clear in Part III, when Lily reflects that she has no choice but to accept the bland future in front of her, and entertain Percy Gryce relentlessly "on the bare chance that he might ultimately decide to do her the honour of boring her for life. "It was a hateful fate--but how escape from it? What choice had she? To be herself, or a Gerty Farish." Even being bored for life is better than being associated with Gerty Farish. While the idea therefore does not particularly appeal to Lily, she nevertheless accepts her fate for as long as she is able to do so."

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