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A review by laurieb755
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
1.0
Mirth is defined as "amusement, especially as expressed in laughter." I looked up the meaning at the start of reading this book and then again just now. I tried to see this story as Edith Wharton's way of poking at the absurdities of a way of life of a certain privileged class in a particular era and milieu.
However, try as I may, the story frustrated and annoyed the heck out of me! Lily Bart was a twit. She was raised to rely simply on her looks and her wiles. Her family lost their money, she was raised by her mother and, eventually orphaned, found herself attached to a wealthy widowed Aunt. This did nothing to soften Lily's self regard and, all too often, her snobbishness towards others. She believed she was meant for the finery in life and the lifestyle of the wealthy. That attitude blinded her to the need to consider others.
Her Aunt was on the prudish side, and that certainly did not resonate with the lifestyle Lily had in mind for herself. I found it difficult to have empathy or sympathy for Lily, as she was often the victim of her own machinations. She thought she could use her beauty to out-wile any social issue that came her way. To watch as she fell out of grace with the very people who at various times considered her one of their own, often coveting her presence (even though most of them were as vacuous as she) was simply irritating!
Ultimately, she was her own worst enemy, even as she could be called a victim of the times, life style, culture and the double-standards that applied to men and women, to people with money and people without money, and to people considered beautiful and those who were considered mundane.
As you see, this book produced a lot of annoyance in me. Surely that is due to the skill of Edith Wharton as a writer. What prodded me to read the book in the first place? My husband and I enjoy historical house tours and several weeks ago visited the Mills Mansion at Staatsburgh. Edith Wharton's name was mentioned on the tour, with the Tour Guide noting the possibility that Wharton may have visited or stayed at the house because the House of Mirth contains descriptions that were in synch with the surroundings and some events that occurred at the house. That comment seemed like an opportune time to remedy the fact that neither my husband nor I had read anything by Wharton. Suffice it to say, after hearing me provide an ongoing synopsis, my husband has decided it is not necessary for him to read the book. And so ends our Wharton foray.
However, try as I may, the story frustrated and annoyed the heck out of me! Lily Bart was a twit. She was raised to rely simply on her looks and her wiles. Her family lost their money, she was raised by her mother and, eventually orphaned, found herself attached to a wealthy widowed Aunt. This did nothing to soften Lily's self regard and, all too often, her snobbishness towards others. She believed she was meant for the finery in life and the lifestyle of the wealthy. That attitude blinded her to the need to consider others.
Her Aunt was on the prudish side, and that certainly did not resonate with the lifestyle Lily had in mind for herself. I found it difficult to have empathy or sympathy for Lily, as she was often the victim of her own machinations. She thought she could use her beauty to out-wile any social issue that came her way. To watch as she fell out of grace with the very people who at various times considered her one of their own, often coveting her presence (even though most of them were as vacuous as she) was simply irritating!
Ultimately, she was her own worst enemy, even as she could be called a victim of the times, life style, culture and the double-standards that applied to men and women, to people with money and people without money, and to people considered beautiful and those who were considered mundane.
As you see, this book produced a lot of annoyance in me. Surely that is due to the skill of Edith Wharton as a writer. What prodded me to read the book in the first place? My husband and I enjoy historical house tours and several weeks ago visited the Mills Mansion at Staatsburgh. Edith Wharton's name was mentioned on the tour, with the Tour Guide noting the possibility that Wharton may have visited or stayed at the house because the House of Mirth contains descriptions that were in synch with the surroundings and some events that occurred at the house. That comment seemed like an opportune time to remedy the fact that neither my husband nor I had read anything by Wharton. Suffice it to say, after hearing me provide an ongoing synopsis, my husband has decided it is not necessary for him to read the book. And so ends our Wharton foray.