Loneliness is something that many people suffer from. In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, loneliness is caused by poverty and depression. At the beginning of the novel, Lily Bart is lonely, but has the novel progresses, her situation only worsens. Loneliness is a dominant theme in The House of Mirth.
Lily Bart has been lonely all of her life. Her father was always at work and her mother was too worried about maintaining her social position. She constantly told Lily that her beauty was the only thing that she had going for her, since they were not wealthy. Her mother once told her, "But you"ll get it all back--you"ll get it all back, with your face", referring to the money they had lost (25). This had a negative affect on Lily in the long run.
Everything in Lily's life, a live of poverty and wanting more, has been the same until recently. But what frightens her the most about this change is not her increasing poverty, but the loneliness. She now has few friends and little money, and she is starting to see lines on her face. As Lily was looking in the mirror one evening, "She was frightened by two little lines near her mouth" (25). This is displeasing to Lily because she believes that all she has left is her beauty, and now that is starting to fade. .
In the past, Lily took pleasure in attending dinners and playing bridge with the women of high social status, such as Judy Trenor. But this pleasure is starting to disappear. Her so-called friends turn against her and ruin her reputation. Lily is seen as a beautiful woman and everyone admired her. When the curtain open on Lily, everyone was amazed how "It was as though she had stepped, not out of, but into, Reynolds's canvas, banishing the phantom of his dead beauty by the beams of her living grace" (106) Though Lily is a beautiful woman and many admire that, these women talk about her behind her back and she is becoming frantic trying to rebuild her reputation.
Socially, Lily Bart starts out at being on the top. ... Secondly, Lily thought that she was loved by all. ... Mentally, at the beginning of the book, Lily was a very stable person. ... As the book continued little by little she started to feel lonely. ... Her life became so lonely and empty, that she became sick. ...
Lily Bart's Loneliness: A Self-Realization Loneliness is a prevalent theme throughout Edith Wharton's novel, The House of Mirth. ... Lily begins to feel lonely after she quickly loses the company of her friends. ... Lily's increasing poverty, in addition to the loss of all her old friends continues to make her feel lonely. ... (p.290) Lily's feelings of loneliness are heightened when she discovers that she did not inherit her aunt Julia's estate. ... Lily Bart's dilemma of poverty is dramatized when Lily feels a different kind of loneliness, one that leads her to ...
Lily is constantly worried about money. ... The hallucination of the baby made Lily feel better, Lily "had been unhappy, and now she was happy; she had felt herself alone, and now the sense of loneliness had vanished."" ... When Lily and Selden are together, Lily states, "I have broken two engagements for you today. ... Rosedale is quite smitten with Lily, and proposes marriage to her, however Lily refuses him. ... She hates living in the boarding house, but compared to the feeling of loneliness she has it does not matter. ...
Leo represents Adam, a man deeply dissatisfied with his lonely existence, and Salzman represents God as a matchmaker on the Sixth Day. ... Salzman tests Leo by matching him up with a school teacher named Lily Hirschorn, the older, traditional wife that a rabbi would want. ... The quote "In refusing Salzman's well intentioned and rational matches, Finkle-Adam rejects the insufficient first version of Creation, the lonely abyss of self. . . ... Sloan points out details such as how Salzman is disappointed when Leo does not fall for Lily. Salzman's push for Leo to go out with the aging ...
Through two main characters author involves us in a specific business going on between Leo Finkle, a lonely rabbinical student, and Pinye Salzman, a matchmaker. ... "Lily H. ... Leo's interest to Lily was aroused, and he began seriously to consider calling on her. ... But Lily didn't dream about him, she dreamed about an invented hero. ...
a) Lily: The image of lily in the Bible is fragrant, pure, white, delicate and lively. ... The image of valley is always isolated, lonely and mysterious. ... A lily is beautiful while thorns are ugly. ... Here the lilies symbolize life. ... Lilies taste sweet, but myrrh tastes bitter. ...
Floyd Cox, Lily Cox, Delotha Todd and Wydell Todd were the main characters haunted by Armstrong's tragic death. ... Floyd was unwilling to face his blues by atoning for his sins and wound up a lonely empty soul Lily Cox was equally effect by the actions and decisions of her husband as by the guilt of Armstrong's death. Lily's blues were more on a personal level before the tragic event. ... However, like Wydell she eventually found herself, the Lily she been searching for all her life. ... Wydell and Lily after coming to terms with their problems t...
Later he tries to become warm to Lily and has a conversation with her, but when their discussion results in a misunderstanding the story begins to be told in an omnisciently in Gabriel's point of view. ... After he mistakenly offended Lily, he worries whether or not he will offend other people with the speech he had written. ... It was falling on every part of the dark central plain It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling,...
