Edith Whartons Novel the House of Mirth - Essay Example

The Number 22 November House of Mirth Edith Wharton’s novel “The House of Mirth” concludes with few choices for the novel’s protagonist Lily Bart. Having being falsely accused of sexual impropriety, Lily gradually loses her social standing and is no longer accepted by the upper social circle of New York. At the end of the novel, Lily realizes that there is the only way out of her plight. It is to marry a well-off suitor Simon Rosedale who is of Jewish origin. Yet, this marriage will cost her something. As Rosedale points out, Lily will have to use the love letters between her ex-friend Bertha and her lover, to blackmail Bertha and reinstate her reputation in the upper echelons of the city. Marriage will not be possible unless this condition is satisfied, explains Rosedale, since without this marriage to Lily will “queer” himself “for good and all”, or in other words, severely compromise his reputation (Wharton 362). Lily does not accept the condition and loses her last opportunity for having normal life. My goal in this paper is to explore the function of the character of Rosedale throughout the novel. Namely, I will focus on the nature of interaction between Rosedale and Lily Bart. Also, I will investigate the change in Rosendale toward Lily as the narrative goes on, with focus on its connection to the changing position of Lily within her society. Finally, I will discuss the ideological position Rosedale embodies throughout “The House of Mirth”. Nature of Interaction between Rosedale and Lily Rosedale’s interest in Lily is, above all, dictated by his desire to move into the upper class of Old New York. Rosedale believes that apart from huge sums of money, he needed the right wife that will help him climb the social ladder. Indeed, “unless the rich man also accumulate[d] a woman, all his money and property and power d[id] not extend beyond the narrow mercantile world into the social realm, into the society at large. Therefore for a rich man, ownership of a woman [was] not a luxury, but a necessity.” (…). From the beginning of the novel Rosedale spots that Lily has many complementary features that can help him to reach his goal. In his opinion, it takes only two things to successfully climb the social ladder: "money, and the right woman to spend it." (Wharton) As a matter of fact, previously occupied social position appears to have less significance that person’s money. Consequently, as Rosedale has decided for himself, the only way out of this situation is to “buy” a spouse that will come from the adequate social standing, which will automatically raise Rosedale’s status up to hers. Therefore, Rosedale perceives marriage with Lily as a kind of business contract. To illustrate, he even offers her cash in exchange for assisting him in entering the upper echelons of the late 19th century American society. Yet, as the novel unfolds, it becomes clear that Rosedale likes (he uses the word “loves”) Lily, not just because of her social status, but being charmed by her inner world and womanhood. To illustrate, he says “I'm more in love with you than ever, but if I married you now I'd queer myself for good and all, and everything I've worked for all these years would be wasted” (Wharton 362). Typical for her social class, Lily does not accept Rosedale without prejudice. Describing him in Chapter 1 of the novel, she speaks of him as a “glossy-looking man” (Wharton 13). Trenor, in his turn, describes him as “fat and shiny” with evident “shoppy manner”. When Lily happens to have a talk with Rosedale at the wedding party of Jack Stepney, she feels extreme disgust and aversion. Paradoxically, the prejudice of Lily’s companion Gerty Farish goes as far as to start warning about being too nice to Mr Rosedale notwithstanding the fact that he has just donated 1, 000 dollars for their Girl’s Club. From Lily's perspective, in Chapter 1, Rosedale is described as a "glossy-looking man" (Wharton 13), and elsewhere, by Gus Trenor, as being "fat and shiny" and having a "shoppy manner" (Wharton 65). Lily speaks of Rosedale in a somewhat scornful way: He was a plump rosy man of the blond Jewish type, with smart London clothes fitting him like upholstery, and small sidelong eyes which gave him the air of appraising people as if they were bric-a-brac. […] Mr. Simon Rosedale was a man who made it his business to know everything about every one, whose idea of showing himself to be at home in society was to display an inconvenient familiarity with the habits of those with whom he wished to be thought intimate. (Wharton) Lily feels a "repugnance" towards him when he speaks to her at Jack Stepney's wedding; when she hears the name Sim Rosedale it "obtrudes itself on [her] thoughts like a leer" (Wharton 46). Gerty Farish displays a strong dislike for him when she wishes that "Lily were not so nice to Mr. Rosedale," even though he has just shown that he can be generous by his donation of a thousand dollars to her Girls' Club (Wharton 105). Next, the narrator's ironic contrast while providing description to Rosedale’s "smart London clothes" that fit "him like upholstery" (Wharton13) clearly devalues Rosedale. In this same passage, Rosedale is again belittled as having "small sidelong eyes which gave him the air of appraising people as if they were bric-a-brac" (Wharton 13). Change in Rosendale toward Lily If at the outset of the novel Rosedale is attracted by Lily’s social position, which makes him propose to her, as the novel unfolds and Lily loses her social standing, Rosedale’s interest in her appears to vanish. To illustrate, when Lily comes to the thought that she no longer feels disgust toward Rosedale and decides to accept his proposal, as she still believes he is interested, Rosedale flatly replies that he is not interested any more. He explains that Lily has lost her particular appeal in his eyes. In the second part of Wharton’s novel, however, he will change his mind and offer Lily a condition which she has to accept if she wants to become his wife. Lily is to blackmail her former friend and present enemy Bertha using the stolen love letters between Bertha and her lover. Despite the fact that is Bertha who initiated Lily’s rejection by her society by lying about her indecency, Lily does not want to spoil the reputation of the man involved in his love affair. Besides, she finds out this inappropriate to blackmail Bertha the way Rosedale advises her to do. So she refuses to accept Rosedale’s proposal. Having been forced out of the upper class, the heroine of Wharton’s novel finds herself in need to earn her living somewhere in a sweat shop. She soon dies of the overdose of a sleeping drug that Lily got addicted to, poor and abandoned. Analyzing the proposal by Rosendale in Lily’s circumstances, one may say that it serves the evidence to consider Rosedale in a different light. If at the beginning of the novel, the reader might have formed negative perception of Rosedale as a shallow man that serves only his needs, and is just a petty character in the whole book, his little generosity distinguishes him out of the pseudo-noble representatives of the late 19th century Old New York elite. Probably, Lily feels this kindness very well after she has been abandoned by each and every member of her social class. Yet, Lily does not accept the proposal and the condition offered by Rosedale. Ignoring the deceptive norms of her own society, she cannot use her own advantage at the expense of the man she loves. Instead, she decides to sacrifice herself. Mc Leod rightfully asserts here that “for Lily (…) to regain her status would be selling her soul”. (McLeod) Rosedale’s Ideological Position As it has been already mentioned, Wharton’s Rosedale is an epitome of nouveuax riches and the representative of the capitalist market place. He aims at joining the Old Aristocracy, yet his opinion of these people is very realistic. As he constantly feels the contempt and disdain on the part of the “aristocrats” that do not find it humiliating to dinner at his expense, he realizes the social and moral emptiness of these people. Yet, his persistence does not vanish: “Why should I mind saying I want to get into society? A man ain't ashamed to say he wants to own a racing stable or a picture gallery. Well, a taste for society's just another kind of hobby. Perhaps I want to get even with some of the people who cold-shouldered me last year – put it that way if it sounds better. Anyhow, I want to have the run of the best houses; and I'm getting it too, little by little.” (Wharton) Trenor describes Rosedale as a man that is “mad to know the people who don't want to know him. ... The people who are clever enough to be civil to him now will make a mighty good thing of it" (Wharton 65). Despite the fact that his words about "giving away half-a-million tip[s] for a dinner" (65) may be a simple exaggeration, they illustrate how the two groups are interdependent. Trenor addresses Lily with a kind of complaint, "'The women all think - I mean Judy thinks - I've nothing to do but to go down town once a month and cut off coupons, but the truth is it takes a devilish lot of hard work to keep the machinery running'" (65). For such people like Trenor, Rosedale has really become "a chap that it pays to be decent to" (74). Ideologically, Rosedale embodies the new capitalistic elite of diverse ethnic background. Read More