House of Mirth Chapters V and VI

Chapters 5 and 6 in Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth seem to be an almost pivotal moment in the book, for in this short span of time, Lily and Selden fall in love and essentially agree to get married. After Lily deceives Mr. Gryce by convincing him that she has a horrible headache and insists he go on a day trip with the rest of the Trenor party to visit the Van Osburghs, she spends the entire afternoon on a walk with Selden. In the quick-paced and clever conversation that proceeds between Lily and Selden, they unintentionally begin discussing and dissecting a lot of very complex issues and topics, such as high society, freedom, and, ultimately, their love for one another. While some of the comments and analogies that each character made in the conversation were a little confusing to me, I think that, for the most part, this chapter allowed me (and the characters) to make several important epiphanies. For example, Lily defines success as the ability to reap from life as many pleasures as possible, and because she has not yet found a husband, she considers herself an unsuccessful person at this point in her life. Selden, on the other hand, responds that his view of success is the attainment of personal freedom. He confesses that he sees success as freedom “from everything- from money, from poverty, from ease and anxiety, from all the material accidents. To keep a kind of republic of the spirit- that’s what I call success” (Wharton, 54). From this point on in the conversation, I believe that Lily begins to question nearly everything that she has been so sure of her entire life, including the splendor of high society, the true value and respectability of a wealthy lifestyle, and, most importantly, her choice in marrying Mr. Gryce. As Selden explains the corruption which money can produce within a person and the manipulative ways of society, Lily questions with frustration all the things that she has been working so hard to attain, such as wealth and marriage to Mr. Gryce, when she says, “Then the best you can say for me is, that after struggling to get them I probably shan’t like them” (Wharton, 57)? At this pivotal moment, the fact that Lily is falling in love with Selden and the republic of spirit that he can offer begins to dawn on her, which I believe reflects a major theme of the book. While I am truly happy that Lily has chosen to marry Selden, I can’t help but worry that the incident with Mr. Rosedale may come back into play in addition to a wave of social politics that could tear Lily and Selden apart.

I noticed while reading chapters 5 and 6 of The House of Mirth that setting had a great deal of impact on many of Lily and Selden’s thoughts and actions. To begin with, while Lily could not express herself well to Selden when Mrs. Dorset was present in the Trenors’ library, the fact that she and Selden were alone on their Sunday afternoon walk allowed them to fully express their thoughts and opinions with one another and truly fall in love. Furthermore, the beautiful weather and scenery outside was what inspired Lily to take a walk in the first place, and she expresses in chapter 6 that the landscape seemed to match her own mood and sensations, for she felt the land’s calmness and breadth within her. As the horizon expanded and air grew stronger on her walk, I believe that she also felt as though the opportunities of her life were expanding and her love for Selden was growing stronger. Also, when she and Selden had finally implied their love for one another, the scenery silenced them and made them pause for a moment to take it in. Finally, however, Lily realized that twilight was approaching, and that if they did not return to the house soon, the Trenor party would return and question the two of them. Ultimately, the setting of this chapter prevented their conversation from continuing further. I truly think that Wharton intentionally fabricated the scenery of this chapter to reflect the emotions of the characters, as well as to manipulate their actions and direct their conversations.