Commonly called "a novel of manners" because of the way the characters think and talk about how people in society should behave, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton focuses primarily on Lily Bart, a woman whose decline and social fall read primarily as a critique of the habits and customs of upper-class New York in the early 20th century. Lacking personal resources, not entirely respectable, and well beyond the age when women of her era were considered marriage material, Lily Bart nevertheless enjoyed both fame and status. of lavish living until her inability to adapt to social expectations pushes her lower and lower. the social ladder until she dies in poverty. Many critics portray Lily's decline and fall as something inevitable, but the text contains compelling evidence that this is not the case. Most of the evidence is concentrated in the character of Mrs. Carry Fisher, a character who, in many ways, is a foil to Lily. Despite disadvantages far more serious than those of the heroine, Carry thrives while Lily self-destructs. This disparity disproves the popular idea that Lily Bart is a helpless creature who has no choice but to make the choices she does. This essay will show how Carry Fisher is exactly what Lily imagines herself to be, but is not: a woman who survives and thrives because she knows how to be exactly what the occasion demands. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The House of Joy is set in the early 1900s and published in 1905, when women could not yet vote. Although women could own assets in their own right, most money and property were controlled by men. Lily and Carry both have a similar problem: they have no male provider and very few personal resources. But their problems exist for different reasons, and the two women approach them in radically different ways. While Lily ignores problems, relying on her beauty and her ability to lie and manipulate to get out of unpleasant situations (1), Carry prefers to face reality. She states that "half the troubles in life are caused by pretending there aren't any" (2), she recognizes that she lives in a world where most people have to earn a living and she understands that her survival depends on her. useful to others. Her willingness to accept the transactional side of society is one of the reasons she survives. Lily and Carry are members of the upper class of New York society at the height of the Gilded Age. They are surrounded by both material wealth and an atmosphere of social and economic upheaval. The conservative element of upper-class society, exemplified by Percy Gryce, Julia Peniston, and Grace Stepney, struggles to maintain its increasingly tenuous hold on social privilege. Disdainful of ostentatious displays of wealth and willing to spend money but loath to waste it, conservative members of the upper stratum are the final arbiters of what is and is not appropriate behavior (3). Yet their hegemony is threatened by fashionable factions, many of whom are relatively new to their wealth and prone to flaunting it. The Trenors, the Dorsets, and the various hangers-on who attend their parties and adorn their living rooms enjoy conspicuous consumption. They compete to see who has the biggest opera box, the biggest yacht and the partiesthe most scandalous house (4). In this rarefied fashionable environment, attention is a form of currency, many conventional societal norms are outdated, and hospitality is a spectator sport with media coverage. Although neither Lily nor Carry are wealthy or even financially independent, they begin the novel moving primarily in the fashionable circles of society. While Lily's participation is driven by personal inclination, Carry participates out of necessity. Lily is an orphan whose parents have lost almost all of the family's money due to years of living beyond their means. She grew up in an environment where conspicuous consumption was normal, where she was not taught the value of a dollar, and where it was considered acceptable not to pay bills or servants' wages on time. The resulting instability in the household and the quarrels between her domineering, spendthrift mother and her gentle but hardworking father were something she considered normal. The bankruptcy and death of her father occurred after Lily's coming out (5), when she was nineteen and an adult according to the customs of the time. Even though she still has a small amount of capital invested (6), the interest earned on it is not enough to allow her to live independently even if she did like her "filthy" cousin Grace Stepney and rented a room in a pension. House. But Lily is supported financially by her aunt Julia Peniston, whom she despises for her frugality and lack of frivolity (7). Lily has a room in the Peniston house on Fifth Avenue, is fed and clothed at her aunt's expense, and has all her ordinary expenses paid by irregular but generous cash donations from her aunt (8). That's why she can afford to dress beautifully, attend fancy parties, and criticize people who don't. Lily's contempt even extends to her aunt, without whom she would be destitute. Although Lily hopes to inherit enough from Aunt Julia to live comfortably, she spends the first half of the novel intermittently trying to attract a wealthy husband and avoid the negative consequences of living beyond her means. Despite her reflections with Lawrence Selden on the failures of society (9) and despite her acknowledged desire for wealth (10), Lily is completely unable to accept that she is part of a transactional society and not a person with a inherent value that is admired and admired. appreciated simply because it exists. She does not like any suggestion that she helps others in return for the hospitality or gifts she receives (11), she does not understand why the people she treats poorly by not fulfilling her commitment do not continue not to have a positive opinion of her. (12), and she believes she can claim the privileges of adulthood while being treated as a dependent child if she maintains willful ignorance (13) of the most fundamental aspects of the agreement she is entering into . In short, Lily's perspective is that of an irritable and abused child. After surviving two divorces, Carry Fisher has no significant personal wealth. She receives a small alimony from her second husband and owns what is described as a "small" house near, but not actually on, fashionable Fifth Avenue (14). Early in the novel, people frequently refer to the fact that Carry needs every dollar (15), but the reason is not revealed until the second book: Carry has a young daughter whom she must provide for. The exact identity of the girl's father is not obvious, but she must have been born before the events of The House Of Mirth as Carry isconstantly visible throughout the first part of the book, without any reference to an ongoing pregnancy. Unlike Lily, Carry does not have a wealthy aunt to support her. She earns her living by working as a private social secretary for the nouveau riche. She introduces the nouveau riche to high society and helps them learn to dine, dress, and entertain according to the standards of the time (16). For this, she charges fees large enough to allow her occasional luxury (17). Sometimes she serves as a sort of employment agency, placing her wealthier peers with domestic workers like cooks or casual workers like musicians or decorators (18). However, this type of income is not stable. Sometimes she borrows from male characters in the book, or gets them to speculate in the stock market on her behalf, and although there is never any suggestion that Carry does not repay the borrowed money, there are Veiled suggestions that she might trade romantic attention (or even outright sexual favors) for money. But most of his wealth in the second half of the book comes from commissions, fees, stock tips, and other income related to helping new millionaires integrate into the social elite (19) . As a savvy investor and businesswoman, Carry therefore attends posh parties for professional purposes. She knows that other people gossip about her and complain about her presence: hostesses like Judy Trenor expect their guests to make a little noise, and Judy in particular wants Carry to soothe and distract her husband. boring” whose work and investment decisions determine the party possible. (20) From the conservative group's perspective, Lily and Carry are both damaged goods. There are reasons why lovely Lily reached the relatively ripe age of twenty-nine (21) without having been married. Even though her parents' financial woes weren't her fault, Lily has made her share of scandalous blunders. In her twenties, while living in Europe, beyond the reach of her mother's creditors, Lily was engaged to the Italian prince Varigliano. But while the property contract was being drawn up that would have ensured the livelihood of Lily and her family in the event of her husband's death, the prince's attractive stepson appeared. Lily began a reckless public flirtation with him and he broke off the engagement (22). In the late 1890s, a broken engagement wasn't as scandalous as a divorce, but since then, Lily has sabotaged one romantic relationship after another. This, coupled with her fundamental dishonesty, her adoption of the habits and mores of the fashionable world, and her habit of treating people very poorly unless she expected something of them, meant that the we “talk about Lily” (23) in a certain way. which is not appreciated by his conservative relatives. Among her fashionable friends, Lily smokes cigarettes, plays cards for money, and even borrows money from Ned Van Alstyne, her elderly first cousin. For a single woman in the early 1900s, these were not respectable activities. Yet while Lily's fashionable peers have enough money to protect them from otherwise predictable consequences, Lily has none. From the fashion world's perspective, Lily and Carry are valuable, but for different reasons. Although in previous years Lily would wander around as a professional guest due to her charming personality and beauty, as the novel begins, her charm fades. It is no longer a novelty and receives fewer invitations each year. People are no longer willing to entertain her just for the pleasure of her company. (24) His aunt is waitingof her helping him supervise the fall cleaning, her hostesses like Judy Trenor expect her to take a seat at the bridge table and help him write the holiday cards address (25), and she is outraged to find that she is now expected to find a way to contribute to the society in which she lives. If she were married, with access to her own dining room and living room, she could easily return the favor by simply throwing a party and inviting everyone who had hosted her in the past (26). Yet, as Julia's ward, Lily has no hospitality to offer (27) and therefore cannot participate in society as a full adult. Carry offers hospitality to others, but in the first part of the novel she is a low-budget type: Lily generally regards Carry's "crowded little house" as beneath her (28). But Carry's main contribution to other people's parties is as a social lubricant. She makes her living helping newly wealthy people such as Simon Rosedale, the Brys, and the Gormers establish their homes and make their way on the social scene (29). Carry first serves its customers by integrating them into the fashionable part of society that is more accepting of newcomers. Once she establishes them with the fashionable world, she helps them expand their influence until it includes the Conservative Party. In doing so, it helps provide the fashionable and conservative sections of society with the entertainment and novelty they crave. As physically attractive women, Lily and Carry both receive a lot of male attention, but they use it differently. Lily has very advanced social skills and is able to give another person the feeling that Lily truly loves him, trusts him and is ready to reveal his most intimate secrets. It can be endearing, especially to men, but Lily uses her power of fascination above all to entertain herself. She makes intermittent attempts to trap a wealthy husband and manipulates Gus into pretending to speculate on her behalf in exchange for romantic attention. But as soon as she gets what she wants from people, Lily treats them like something she would scrape with the bottom of her shoe. The way she confronts Percy Gryce repeatedly once she is prematurely sure of his affection for her (30), his callous treatment of Gus Trenor (31), and the way she socially snubs the Brys when she no longer needs their hospitality or support (32) are examples. Additionally, Lily has no problem showing contempt for people she thinks she doesn't need, like Mrs. Haffen (33) or her poor cousin Grace Stepney (34). The fact that the people Lily uses and rejects usually notice is proof that Lily is not as clever a manipulator as she believes: an expert manipulator is never caught or even suspected. In contrast, Carry flirts and acts as the embodiment of a “spicy paragraph” (35). Although she occasionally uses people, especially men, she never misleads them. She is described as frank, she freely admits the source of her money (36) and she admits when she is wrong (37) instead of trying to lie her way out of a problem or blaming others like the Lily says afterwards. the Percy Gryce fiasco. She never tries to present herself as something she is not, such as when Lily tries to pass herself off as an innocent baby in the woods early in her courtship with Percy (36). The people Carry uses invariably benefit enough from their association with her to want to continue their friendship. Carry isalso a loyal friend who does not abandon Gus Trenor, Lily Bart or Simon Rosedale once she finds a solid financial base. Although Lily considers herself an avid people reader, this is not the case. She completely misunderstands Simon Rosedale (37) and thinks she can flirt with Gus Trenor to get financial help from him, but ignore him when he seeks reimbursement. She ignores the fact that her poorer cousin, Grace Stepney, is a potential enemy because she has been supplanted by Lily as heir apparent to Aunt Julia (38), and she fails to predict Bertha's attack Dorset to Monaco, although they have already been the target of one at Bellomont (39). She misinterprets Percy Gryce's beginning interest in her as evidence of an attraction strong enough for her to describe it to others as a de facto commitment (40). She does not recognize the motivations of Bertha Dorset (41), and she cannot recognize the moment when she is about to lose the favor of her aunt Julia, as well as her only financial support, as a direct result of her behavior more and more scandalous (42). Unlike Lily, Carry is extremely perceptive. She is educated and very educated for a woman of the time. In addition to drawing analogies with the natural sciences (43), Carry is described as having studied and embraced several different causes over the years, including Christian Science, socialism, and municipal reform (44). She is also very careful in her interactions with others: she never talks about herself except for a specific purpose, and she pays close attention to how others think and react. For example, she shows herself to be very astute in her assessment of Louisa Bry's reasoning during their falling out in Monaco. It treats each person as an individual rather than as a representative of a class or group, and it does not rely solely on impressions or personal likes and dislikes when deciding whether or not to associate. to someone. She is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt: in Carry's thinking, "it didn't matter who threw the party, as long as things were done well" (45). While Lily and her friends snub Simon Rosedale and describe him as socially "impossible" because he has difficulty understanding the unwritten rules of the upper class, Carry has no problem accepting Rosedale's hospitality in his opera box and to invite him to her home as a guest. when she has the means (46). This, in many ways, makes Carry a foil to Lily, who persists in prejudging people based on appearances alone, although she has been trained not to do so (47). Carry is therefore able to deduce the real reason why Lily is on board the Sabrina, to recognize the danger weighing on Lily and to explain it in the clearest terms possible to Lawrence (48 years old), hoping that he will intercede because Lily tends to follow his advice. It is Carry who recognizes a tabloid reporter on the train who notices that Lily was seen arriving at the yacht with George Dorset. When George surprises his wife Bertha returning in the early morning with her lover, Lily is completely unaware of the danger she is in. It is Carry who recognizes how critical the situation has become. She urges Lily to leave the yacht (49) and even gives Lily the opportunity to retire gracefully by taking over Carry's position with the Bry family, income and all. (50) Throughout the novel, Lily believes that she can adapt smoothly to become "just what the occasion demands" (51). But his social skills are only really effective as long as the situation requires a social butterfly capable of buying clothes andjewelry, tailoring one's own hats, spending other people's money, and giving instructions on how a party "should" be organized. Although Simon Rosedale thinks she would be an incomparable hostess and social leader (52), and although she privately and publicly mocks others' deviations from her ideals of physical and social perfection (53), Lily never shows any skills of her own, except in the area of ​​clothing. She completely fails as a husband hunter, heiress, business guest, social secretary, philanthropist, and even a hatter's assistant. Lily's failure in the art of husband-hunting is featured and referenced throughout the book, but nowhere is it mentioned. this is most evident in her ridiculous attempts to entrap Percy Gryce, a conservative but wealthy man a little younger than her. Pretending to be a shy and innocent young woman who has never touched tobacco or played bridge (54 years old), Lily lies one after the other while stroking Gryce's ego to try to make him fall in love with her. At the Trenor's party in Bellomont, Lily presents herself as a religious and conservative young woman, and goes so far as to convince the teenage daughters of her hostess to agree to get up to come to church with her. Even though she creates a false image of herself, exactly the kind of woman Percy Gryce would want, she does not invest the necessary effort into keeping that image alive. She spends so much time fantasizing about how boring it will be to marry Percy that the omnibus leaves for the church without her. In Lily's absence, Percy discovers that Lily never goes to church and that the teenage girls only agreed to accompany her this time out of friendship (55). Percy returns to find Lily in the company of Lawrence Selden, the former romantic property of a very vicious Bertha Dorset who is upset by what she interprets as Lily's interference. When Lily cancels her walk with Percy that afternoon, urging Percy to go on a driving expedition to the Van Osburgh house in a nearby town and thinking that time apart might whet his appetite for her ( 56 years old), Bertha is so mad. about how Lawrence stays to spend time with Lily and she retaliates by making sure Percy hears every scandalous detail about Lily's past (57). Terrified, Percy runs away and returns home by train the next morning. Lily spends the next few weeks distracted by various things while, unbeknownst to her, Bertha puts Percy in touch with Evie Van Osburgh, the youngest and most conservative of the Van Osburgh heiresses. Evie matches Percy perfectly in terms of character and personality. Although Lily thinks she can have Percy back whenever she wants (58), he proposes to Evie instead (59). Lily fails as a celebrity femme fatale in part because she also insists on presenting herself as a "young girl?" marry”, that is to say a young girl (60 years old) capable of marriage. At twenty-nine, Lily is a long way from childhood, and her background and conduct make her anything but a marriage affair. She visits the private apartment of a single man in broad daylight and appears in a painting wearing scanty clothing and in a posture calculated to emphasize her figure. Yet she doesn't kiss him lightly at risk? imagine like Carry Fisher does. Carry is socially successful partly because she doesn't go out of her way to shock people, and partly because she never tries to pass herself off as respectable either. So she is free to do things like learn about business, learn about financial management, and promote her own interests using all themeans available. Lily, who willingly studies subjects that might interest a future husband, scoffs at the acquisition of knowledge that is incompatible with the image she has of herself. Thus, she is not familiar with any aspect of financial or business management. This does not prevent her from deliberately concluding a profitable commercial transaction with the husband of her best friend (61 years old). But because she pretends to be an innocent girl, Lily feels she doesn't have to live up to her side of the unspoken deal she made with Gus, and is very upset when he insists on her due. Instead of spending time alone with him during a trip to Bellomont like Carry (62 years old) does, in the relative privacy of the country, Lily makes sure to only be seen with him in public, this who ends up romantically linking their names through gossip (63). Meanwhile, everyone can see that Lily is spending a lot of money (64), so eventually news comes to the attention of Grace Stepney and Julia Peniston that Lily might receive money in exchange for her attention to Gus . The rumors, in this particular case, are absolutely right. This fact, combined with Lily's habits of gambling and borrowing money, disillusions Aunt Julia and harms Lily's relationship with her. Lily does not capitalize on the opportunities presented to her. The day after the Bry's winter party, Lily attends a dinner at Carry's house to learn that, while Lily spent Gus's money mainly on clothes and trinkets (65), Carry bought real estate, adding another apartment to his little house. . She uses the space to earn some extra money by modeling, and she hosts informal get-togethers where she introduces various new artists, musicians, and other entertaining people to wealthy friends who want to be the first to discover something new. new (66). These parties make Carry indispensable to entertainment-hungry Gwen and Jack Stepney, creating a social bond that helps Carry avoid blame when Gwen's younger brother narrowly escapes a predatory marriage (67). By ignoring all opportunities to acquire real estate and other assets that could make her independent, Lily never develops even reasonable cash reserves. Despite being surrounded by people, including women, who have no problem managing their own money or paying others to do so, Lily never develops the slightest interest in ensuring her own financial security. . Another example of Lily's inability to take advantage of opportunities is how she rejects Julia Peniston's company, avoiding her during fall cleaning and resenting her lack of willingness to spend money on redecorating or entertaining . For Lily, nothing is worse than being intentionally filthy, ill-famed or greedy. So, instead of showing any consideration to her aunt and instead of being aware of the people who could potentially replace her as Aunt Julia's favorite, Lily avoids her aunt's company, indulging in the kind of play, borrowing and scandalous behavior that she knows. would despise. She gratuitously snubs poor middle-aged Grace Stepney, who was her aunt's former favorite, causing Grace to be disinvited from one of the occasional family dinners that were Grace's main social activity. Throughout the book, Lily's self-absorption and sense of her own superiority are so intense that she really doesn't notice the people she hurts. Lily believes that no matter how outrageous her behavior seems or how "filthy" she treats people, they will love her, forgive her, and find the most positive explanation possible for her conduct, as does theseedy philanthropist Gerty Farish. When people offended by Lily retaliate, it always comes as a surprise. Until the moment her aunt's will is read, she sincerely believes that she will inherit a substantial amount of money while avoiding any form of calculation or negative consequences for actions that brought shame to Aunt Julia and to his family. (68) While Lily constantly modifies her image in an attempt to be "just what the occasion demands", and failing miserably either through her own incompetence or lack of attention to detail or follow-through (69), Carry Fisher is the same. no one all the time. She never pretends to be anything other than what she is and she has a talent for seeing the bigger picture. Early in the novel, she enjoys an affair with young Ned Silverton, but when he turns his attention to Bertha Dorset, Carry does not treat him badly. When things are going well for Carry, she doesn't snub the people who helped her when she was in trouble. Astute and pragmatic, Carry may indeed be a "beaten thread puller" (70), and she has no qualms about extracting maximum value from people who can afford to pay for her social midwife, but she also repays the money she borrows. or provides some sort of in-kind favor. The fact that Judy Trenor, who is fully aware of her husband's financial dealings (71), never remains angry with Carry as she does with Lily, despite the fact that both women are using her husband financially, does not prove that Carry has a special dispensation of sorts, but that she has found a way to repay what she borrows, either in money or some other form of social currency. While Lily is quick to avoid old-fashioned people and resents being made fun of by "her friends the Wellington Brys" (72), Carry does not select his companions based on the opinions of others. She is also honest and sometimes more outspoken than others would like, but she is also one of the only people willing to interact with Lily during her fall from social favor. When she treats Lily badly in a restaurant because she is surrounded by others whose support she needs, Carry regrets her role in the scene. She apologizes to Lily at the first possible opportunity (72) and offers her several ways to earn a living (73). Indeed, the only people who remain friendly with Lily towards the end of the book are those who choose their friends without considering the opinions of others. Carry, Lawrence, Gerty and Simon are the only ones who do this. “I wish she would give me some of her missed opportunities” (74), Carry says, speaking to Lawrence about his beloved Lily. Unlike Lily, Carry very rarely overlooks an opportunity. Known for her social promiscuity and willingness to attend any good party, no matter who throws it, Carry has friends in the lowly and ascendant circles (75) as well as among the elite. This is how she meets aspiring social climbers who employ her to help them access high society. Wear therefore cultivates and socializes with people of several social classes. She also doesn't take much pride in monetizing the benefits she has. In this regard, Carry is the opposite of Lily. Over the course of the two books that make up the novel, Carry repeatedly tries to offer Lily opportunities to make money. She introduces her to her clients the Brys, first as a way for Lily to escape some of her problems during the Thanksgiving holiday after the wedding and later as an opportunity to take over Carry's duties and earn money. money by providing useful services. But once the vacation is over, Lily not only ignores the Brys during her