Dreamless Annihilation

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Chapters 10 & 11

"But in the sleep which the phial procured she sank far below such half-waking visitations, sank into depths of dreamless annihilation from which she woke each morning with an obliterated past" (Wharton, page 239).

As I find myself quickly reaching the end of the novel, Lily seems to be reaching the lowest of her points. The fact that Lily has turned to abusing Mrs. Hatch's prescriptions has amazed me. I have reached a point in the novel where I am giving up on Lily and her doings. In the wake of these two chapters, Lily has been given another shot to regain her footing in her life but seems to be walking away again. I was proud before that she seemed to actually be grasping her situation in the fullest. Now, I am not quite so sure. Lily seems to be giving up that is, until Rosedale gives her a way out with his help. I am sure Rosedale would like to marry Lily but cannot give up his own social standing either. In this was, Lily should be feeling like Selden. He was below her at the beginning of the novel when she refused him. Now, she should empathize with Selden as she is in that position with Rosedale. The irony in the situation has not seemed to hit Lily yet. Although Lily is at such a low place, I am pleased that she has seemed to learn her lesson about her own life for a small portion of these two chapters. When discussing her debts with Rosedale, Lily admits her faults. Unfortunately I had spent the money before I discovered my mistake" (Wharton, page 237). To my dismay, Lily rebuts her confession later on when she seems to believe that she can rise again in the social society by going to take the letters to Mrs. Dorset. 

Wharton's style of writing seems to be reflecting of the social class at hand. I felt that the entirety of the first book was full of lavish diction that causes utter confusion while reading. As I have read further into the second book, the wording seems to be simpler. Either I am understand it better, or Wharton seems to have weakened her diction to reflect that Lily has fallen in the social standings. 

Although Lily is spiraling downward, I do hope that she might be able to rise again with the chance of bettering her life. With the book nearing its end though, I am in doubt that this might be happening. 

"And sometimes I wonder, why we care so much about the way we look, and the way we talk and the way we act and the clothes we bought, how much that cost? Does it even really matter? Cause if life is an uphill battle, we all tryna climb with the same ol' ladder, in the same boat, with the same ol' paddle. Why so shallow?"