The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
Once Lily arrives at the Trenors' residence, Wharton takes the opportunity to enlighten the reader on Lily's upbringing through flashbacks and characterizations of Lily's caretakers: Mr. and Mrs. Bart as well as Mr. Bart's sister, Mrs. Peniston.
Lily's most significant influence was her mother; both Lily and her mother seem never to tire due to social obligations. More importantly, Lily inherited her mother's vanity which continues to drive Lily to abhor both poverty and informal living among the rich. After Mr. Bart died and the family fortune, despite never being a true fortune, was lost, Mrs. Bart and Lily relied on the generosity of relatives who, despite being much wealthier than the Barts, chose to live in a manner more common among the common man and earned Mrs. Bart's animosity for doing so. Mrs. Bart taught Lily that the only escape from poverty was her marrying a rich man, a lesson that ensured her vanity would not easily subside completely and that she would choose between love and wealth.
Mr. Bart played a much less significant role in Lily's early life. Because he rarely appeared at home, it was clear that he believed his only duty to his family was to provide money. This belief was so prevalent that, when Mr. Bart learned that he was terminal, the only focus of the family was the fact that he could no longer provide financially. As modern psychology suggests, women look for a husband that will provide for a family as her own father did. Since Mr. Bart only gave his family money, Lily will likely focus her efforts on Mr. Gryce (so I was wrong) for the time being not for his personality, but for his godly income.
After her parents' deaths, Lily was taken in by her aunt Mrs. Peniston who only decided to look after Lily to inflate her own generous ego. Although Mrs. Peniston showered Lily with gifts, Lily found herself battling the dependence Mrs. Peniston was trying to create by denying Lily an allowance that would allow her to depend on herself. Mrs. Peniston symbolizes Lily's struggles against wealth which threatens her independence.
The drawbacks of this upbringing become apparent in Lily's gambling problem. She has become so obsessed with money that the mere thought of gaining more will ironically bleed her dry. Now she must decide between Selden, the one she really wants, and Gryce, the one who can support her addiction to money.
However, there is hope that Lily will break free from her vanity: "She would not indeed have cared to marry a man who was merely rich: she was secretly ashamed of her mother's crude passion for money" (Wharton, 27). By making such major influences on Lily rather minor characters in the story, Wharton highlights Lily's longing to distance herself from the complications her caretakers' vanity has caused in the past.
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