The Bitter Waters of Life

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Chapter 14

"He knelt by the bed and bent over her, draining their last moment to its lees; and in the silence there passed between them the word which made it all clear" (Wharton, page 268).

I have to say that the end of this novel was heartbreaking. I believe that Lily committed suicide after her agony seemed to crash down on her. As soon as she told Selden in the previous chapters that he would not see him for a while, I felt that she was going to harm herself because she is overwhelmed by her situation. Furthermore, I believe that the climax seems to be her conversation with Selden in chapter twelve. Everything seemed to be clear to her and I knew the fate of her once she burned the letters. As I said in my last blog, the letters seem to symbolize her past life of luxury. The letters were her ticket back into society and money with Rosedale. When she burned them, I felt that she saw her love of Selden could not bring her to expose the letters and that at the same time, she knew she could no longer go on. I do wish Lily could have found hope in Nettie Struther to keep going and see herself in Nettie's story. When she went to sleep, I felt that her wish was to go on and end up like Nettie with a baby but she had already acted on her woes.

As a whole, I ended up enjoying the book even though I can say that I did not like it at all when I started. The pain of Lily is seen in the second half as I began to feel sorry for her circumstance although brought on by her own choices. Lily was not given the best foundation for her life with her mother's snobbish attitude towards those of a lower class. The remarks of her mother tore her to pieces as she became what her mother always told her to avoid. I do wish I could know what came of Selden. He was my favorite character as he was sensible about his situation. 

"But at least he had loved her - had been willing to stake his future on his faith in her - and if the moment had been fated to pass from them before they could sieze it, he saw now that, for both, it had been saved whole out of the ruin of their lives" (Wharton, page 267-268).

"I was born in the arms of imaginary friends. Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been. Then you come on crashing in, like the realtest thing. Trying my best to understand all that your love can bring. Oh, half of my heart's got a grip on the situation. Half of my heart takes time. Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you that I can't keep lovin' you, can't keep lovin' you, with half of my heart."

Nearing the End

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

Chapters 12 & 13

"'Once - twice - you gave me the chance to escape from my life, and I refused it: refused it because I was a coward. Afterward I saw my mistake - I saw I could never be happy with what had contented me before. But it was too late: you had judged me - I understood. It was too late for happiness - but not too late to be helped by the thought of what I had missed. That is all I have lived on - don't take it from me now! Even in my worst moments it has been like a little light in the darkness. Some women are strong enough to be good by themselves, but I needed the help of your belief in me. Perhaps I might have resisted a great temptation, but the little ones would have pulled me dow. And then I remembered - I remembered your saying that such a life could never satisfy me; and I was ashamed to admit to myself that it could. That is what you did for me - that is what I wanted to thank you for. I wanted to tell you that I have always remembered; and that I have tried - tried hard...'" (Wharton, page 250).

Lily Bart has changed. Her monologue I quoted above fully showed me the change that Lily has finally encountered. Previously, I believed she had already changed in small ways but then she always seemed to revert back to herself. In these two chapters, Lily admits many things I believed to be true about her and seems to have finally figured out herself. With many clues though, the book seems to be leading to the last strand of Lily's existence. 

The full setting of chapter twelve reminds me of the first chapter of the novel. Lily reminds herself of that day when she enters Selden's apartment. With the letters in her jacket, I fully believed Lily was going to confront Selden about the letters. She surprised me when she left that she threw them in the fire. The letters appeared to symbolize her past life of luxury as they were her last ticket to return to her former life. As a whole, the novel seems to be a parallel of itself. The start of the book placed Lily with Selden at his home, and the end of the book placed her in his home again. The novel seems to show Lily's rise to her peak as she was proposed to by Rosedale to her rock bottom as she is finding herself without money.

I was fully surprised when the money from her aunt's legacy came to her at her room. I thought Lily could have taken the money instead of paying off Trenor at the time. He could wait especially if she was certain she was not to return to her former life and her former friends. I want to know where Carry Fisher and Gerty are. They seemed fully supportive of helping Lily but in her time of most need, neither of them seem to be around to help her through her rough time. 

Lastly, Lily Bart is the protagonist. In another since though, she seems to be the antagonist. Trenor does seem like the likely candidate for this position. I do believe he is an antagonist but he did not bring about Lily's fall. She rightfully owed Trenor money so he is at no fault besides leading her on. Lily, with her careless actions, brought about her own demise by beating herself down.