House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - Essay Example

& Number: The House of Mirth (by Edith Wharton) 12 November (Estimated word count 020) IntroductionPeople can be characterized by the times or era in which they lived. These particular periods in history can be described by the prevailing cultural and social mores of those times. Examples are the Belle Epoch (sometimes spelled as La Belle Epoque) and the Pax Britannia are marked periods in recent history. The former refers to the time between the late nineteenth century and the beginning of World War I while the later pertains to a prolonged period in our history marked by global peace due to British political and military supremacy. It is also often spelled as Pax Britannica, a period distinctive of living a life of luxury (some historians and writers refer to it derisively as a life of conspicuous consumption). This paper discusses some of the issues associated with the Belle Epoch in which how people dress and clothe are often substitutes for describing a life at that time, similar to types of music and literature prevailing. In other words, fashion is a good alternative for observing culture at that time. Discussion This paper deals with the novel “The House of Mirth” by Edith Wharton and setting of the novel was around the Belle Epoch period. This was a time when people were extremely conscious and very particular about their mannerism, especially when in public. Their usual or main preoccupation was putting up appearances or a facade to impress other people despite all their feelings to the contrary. Rarely did people speak out their mind or speak the truth. It is a much better alternative not to speak directly, bluntly or harshly about certain things. In short, people took great care to be polite, have good manners and engaged in endless flattery. The main thesis of the writer and independent scholar Clair Hughes is that the dress and clothes of people in this period correspond to their cultural values. This means they took a great care and to great expense to make themselves presentable, despite failing finances as in the case of the novel's main tragic character, Ms. Lily Bart. She herself had once belonged to the upper class of society but gradually fell on hard times due to bad life choices, as they say. She had dissipated her own wealth from bad investment decisions and a penchant to gamble. Author Hughes had used fashion as a metaphor for the times in which people convey all their attitudes and personal values for life through the clothes they wear (Hughes vi). People during those times express themselves through their clothes to show off their social status as well. Fashion is a good measure of the cultural values of a society within a certain period. In the article, this was clearly the intent of author Hughes of using the fashion of those times, similar to other cultural phenomena such as music or literature, as an expression of the wealth, class, ideas of beauty and moral uprightness that people hold themselves to. Religious, social, political, economic or other types of divisions or strata in a society can be discerned through fashion. In the history of clothing can we see how people lived, what values they hold, the emotions they have at certain moments and even the way they spend leisure time (ibid. 134). Fashion as the embodiment of culture is especially applicable or true in the case of a woman, in which she always dresses thematically for whatever occasion at the moment. It has a great significance for her that she wears something appropriate whatever her station in life is as she is supposed to be the epitome of beauty, good manners and being modest or demure. A cursory examination of the novel will reveal that the fashioning of important characters were achieved through their sartorial concerns; that behavior and attire often go together (Kuhn and Carlson 7). A good author can give a good description of characters through their fashion. My critical assessment of this article in relation to The House of Mirth is that it gave a different perspective for the reader when seen in this light. Fashion, dress and clothes have a general tendency to often correctly reflect the status of a person, whether real or in a novel. It is a good indication of a person's wealth, mannerisms, behavior and attitudes such that readers can often identify with a character in a novel because they see something similar. Reading the novel from the lens of fashion gave a different interpretation for all the novel's characters and further enhances the reader's enjoyment. It gave flesh to the imaginary characters and makes a character seem realistic enough that people can identify with a certain literary figure. It may not always be the case that fashion is used to such an extent in a novel as most authors have different alternative ways of developing their literary characters. Sometimes they will describe the mood of the times, the type of environment they live in, the people they deal with or some other detailed or minute descriptions such that readers' attention are captured. It is just one way of holding on to the reader but it is without a doubt that fashion in a novel can give the reader a good feel of the time and place of the setting of that novel. Conclusion Sartorial choices and descriptions can go a long towards giving readers a good idea of the historical and social context of a work in literature. A good example to use and to show how fashions can be a good way for people to express themselves is the tea gown, which was widely popular in the times of the Edwardian Era (of which it belonged to the Belle Epoch). The inventions started by the Industrial Revolution gave women a lot of leisure time as they were freed from the drudgery of housework; it gave them the means and the opportunity to be able to enjoy themselves and do away with the tight laces of the corset. An afternoon tea time allowed women to bond together and let their hair loose, so to speak, They chat or gossip. Works Cited Kuhn, Cynthia G. and Cindy L. Carlson. Styling Texts: Dress and Fashion in Literature. Youngstown, NY, USA: Cambria Press, 2007. Print. Hughes, Clair. Consuming Clothes: Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. Dressed in Fiction. New York, NY, USA: Berg, 2006. Print. Read More