Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for (or at least
I have): the reunification of Lily and Selden for the first time since their
meeting in Nice and Monaco in chapter 9 of Book II of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. Although, I have to
say, I was incredibly disappointed and saddened by the conclusion of their
conversation. I may be an optimist and a hopeless romantic, but I thought one
of them would finally give up their pride or take their guards down and say “I
love you,” but apparently that was just too hard for them. However, as I was
reading this chapter, I couldn’t help but compare and contrast the love story
of Lily and Selden with that of Rose and Jack in the movie Titanic. I have actually considered how the love interest between Lily
and Selden has been similar to that Jack and Rose in Titanic since their conversation at Bellomont due to the fact
that, in both works, the attraction is between a wealthy woman who is a member
of high society and a man who is less wealthy. I did not realize how similar
and yet conclusively different the two stories were until reading this conversation
between Lily and Selden, though. To begin with, in both The House of Mirth and Titanic,
it is the less wealthy man who falls in love with the woman of high society
first and pursues her; however, both Rose and Lily, though relatively unhappy
in their frivolous society, at first show a hesitance and resistance to this love.
While their roles in high society may not have suited either of the women (Rose
completely hated it, while Lily seemed to love it but in fact was not truly
happy), both were scared of the consequences of marrying someone who was less
wealthy than them. After all, marriage to a man outside of their wealthy set
would be like writing their own social death sentences and alienating
themselves from their family and friends. However, both Jack and Selden are
intuitive men who are consciously aware of the fact their women could prosper so
much more in happiness and love in an environment other than the one that they
had been raised in and were scared to leave. Both sought to express to their
loves that there was so much more to life than the material wealth and luxury
that bound them to their social class. Clearly, many connections can be drawn
between these love stories, as many of the essential elements of the story are
identical.
While
many similarities exist between the love stories of Lily and Selden and Rose
and Jack, the differences between The
House of Mirth and Titanic are
perhaps even more noteworthy. For example, in Titanic, Jack pursued Rose constantly and won her affections in a
matter of days, whereas Selden was perfectly content to go long stretches of
time without encountering Lily, and their relationship stretched over a span of
many years. Also, Jack and Rose were very expressive and very direct in
professing their love to one another, whereas, in the case of Lily and Selden, “The
situation between them was one which could have been cleared up only by a
sudden explosion of feeling; and their whole training and habit of mind were against
the chances of such an explosion” (Wharton, 226). Most importantly, while Rose
was ultimately able to give her heart fully to Jack in Titanic, Lily has now rejected Selden’s offer of love twice in The House of Mirth. Rose was never able
to spend her life with Jack because he died on the night of the sinking of the
Titanic, and now it appears that Lily and Selden will never be together either,
only the reason for their fallout is simply by choice. As a result, the love
stories in The House of Mirth and Titanic resemble one another in a
multitude of ways, yet ultimately contrast in the attributes and choices of
their characters.
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