Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth offers a multidimensional and fluid analysis of social class. At first, Lily tries to belong to the upper class. However, through a series of unfortunate decisions, we witness Lily's inevitable descent into misery, poverty and death. Towards the end, Lily is completely “alone in a place of darkness and pollution” (Wharton p. 156). Although Lily's social actions are personally righteous, she finds herself in a cruel and judgmental society often seeking to oppress the lower classes. Just as Dante's classic descent into the Underworld of Hell is meant to provide insight into the unknown in an effort to point individuals toward salvation, Lily's social deterioration highlights the perils of the descending social class as well as the social chasms that separate populations. Poverty has become both a metaphorical and literal death for Lily. Furthermore, Marx's social class superstructure is explored in a context beyond work and property: one must also possess social prowess, power, influence, access, and good taste to be fully accepted into the elite. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essayIn The House of Mirth, the biggest gap between classes comes in the form of social competence. For example, Simon Rosedale, a wealthy Jew belonging to the nouveau riche class, repeatedly attempts to break into the social elite. However, although he participates in some upper-class social events, he is largely excluded due to his lack of social skills, as he is "still at a stage in his social ascension where it was important to produce such impressions » (Wharton p.16). Franklin develops the importance of high social esteem in his work Advice to a Young Merchant. He explains how “the most insignificant actions which affect a man's credit must be considered… This further shows that you are careful about what you owe; it makes you appear a prudent man as well as an honest one, and it still increases your credit” (Franklin p. 59). If the lender produces a favorable opinion on an individual, more credit can be obtained over a longer period of time. When one individual has power over another, the more powerful person's opinion of the less powerful person is important and can have a significant impact on their relationship. Even though Rosedale has no monetary debt, he has little or no social credit to fall back on. In The House of Mirth, Rosedale's lack of respect, positive connotations, and social skills among the social elite hinder his social ascension. To compensate for this shortcoming, Rosedale plans to marry Lily to increase his social capital and take his social ascension to the next level. level. However, following Lily's sharp social decline, he mocks Lily's acceptance of his previous proposal because he knows she is incapable of helping him. Rosedale goes on to explain that he's "more in love with you [Lily] than ever, but if I married you now, I'd be queering myself for good and everything, and everything I've worked for all these years would be wasted " (Wharton p. 269). Despite Lily's social skills, her esteem has deteriorated among the social elite. Thus, she is no longer of any help in Rosedale's quest for social status. Additionally, during Rosedale and Lily's last meeting, Rosedale offered to help Lily blackmail Bertha in an attempt to regain Lily's social status and make herfit for Rosedale's hand in marriage. He was beginning to develop real feelings for Lily, beyond the advantages she could offer him. However, Rosedale's final offering before Lily's death remains an attempt to elevate his own social status. If Lily denounced Bertha, the old social order could collapse and make way for social climbers to rise to the elite, which would primarily benefit Rosedale. This illustrates the selfish interests of the rich. However, selfish interests are not limited to the nouveau riche. The House of Mirth focuses on Lily's search for a suitable husband. However, the only desirable characteristics of the majority of men Lily considers marrying are their wallets and their social status. Additionally, Lily gave money to Nettie Struther, but only to boost her own ego and feel charitable and good about herself (Wharton p. 329). Grace Stepney was also able to gossip about Lily's gambling habits with Mrs. Peniston, thus ensuring Grace heir to the Peniston estate over Lily (Wharton p. 233). While Lily and Grace both cling to the wealth of others, their selfish agenda illustrates the selfishness that infects society as a whole. A crucial understanding of social class illustrated in The House of Mirth relates to the power that wealth can buy. The rich (both the old and new rich) are repeatedly able to exert their will over others. For example, Trenor making sexual advances toward Lily in repayment of his debts shows how his social status and power allows him to exert his will over Lily; she can only leave once he decides to stop her advances (Wharton p.155). Additionally, the difference in heritage between Lily and Mrs. Peniston's Grace Stepney shows how she is able to assert her conservative beliefs to individuals of a lower class and show her disdain for Lily's gambling habits (Wharton p 233). The wealth a person possesses is almost directly correlated to the influence they are able to wield. Thanks to this power, the rich are able to construct a personal alternative reality. When Bertha Dorset removes Lily from the Dorset yacht, Bertha reinforces her reality in which she is capable of having affairs and exercising power over those of a lower class (Wharton p. 227). The only reason she is able to control the construction of her reality is because she possesses the wealth and influence to do so. Therefore, the reality she constructs is one in which the truth accepted by society is whatever Bertha says is the truth or whatever angle Bertha chooses to exploit. However, Selden's case constitutes the best example of self-constructed reality. He has made a habit of excluding individuals based on their social class and their insignificant deviations from their common character, whether at Wellington Brys' party or when he discovers that Lily has moved hotels (Wharton p. 286). In Selden's reality, each misinterpreted action "seemed in fact to distance him from the region where, once or twice, he and she had met for an illuminated moment" (Wharton p. 285). The emotional chasm that forms between Selden and Lily is a direct result of the walls Selden builds based on misinformation. Even after Lily's death, Selden was unable to accept the emotional failure he had experienced with Lily and his own weakness due to the mental walls and alternate reality he had built. For Selden, the truth has become what he thinks it is. Although Selden belongs to the professional working middle class, he is like the rich in the sense that he is able to buildits own reality and exclude individuals based on its misinterpretation of their actions. Furthermore, The House of Mirth illustrates the implicit connection between wealth, power and freedom. Wealth leads to both power and freedom, as those at the top of the social strata enjoy a degree of freedom unparalleled in the lower classes. For example, many elite figures are able to sail to Europe on their yachts (Wharton p. 192). Gerty, however, is not invited and is condemned to work in American poverty. On this trip, Bertha invites Lily to distract George while Bertha has an affair with Ned Silverton (Wharton p. 197). With Lily aboard the yacht Dorset, Bertha is able to engage Lily in an affair with George if she wishes. Therefore, Bertha's wealth gave her great influence over Lily and the freedom to exert her will over Lily. Bertha's affairs with Selden and Ned Silverton remain out of the social spotlight. Her wealth and power have given her the freedom to do as she pleases. However, Lily is unable to escape Rosedale's spotlight when she leaves Selden's apartment in the first chapter, thus placing Rosedale in a position of power over Lily (Wharton p. 14). Lily is not rich, so she does not have power and is not free to do what she wants. Wealth leads to influence, which can then be used later to advance one's personal agenda. In order to reach the top of the social elite, one must also possess impeccable taste in material goods. This perceived lack of taste in a hypercritical society is what distances the Wellington Brys from the elite. At their party, Trenor implied that the cigars tasted like soap and may have been selected by the chef, and that the soup and champagne were not at the right temperature (Wharton p. 146). Trenor noticed these unimportant details as society, and the ruling class in particular, seeks to preserve the status quo. To progress in class, impeccable aesthetics must be maintained at all times. This is one of the main reasons why Lily frequently has new dresses made; Mrs. Peniston understands the importance of impeccable aesthetics in maintaining or improving one's place in society (Wharton p. 180). Even Lily's name speaks to the level of pleasing appearance that must be maintained. Lilies are a beautiful flower with a very specific environment needed to thrive. Marx explains the meaning of the new goods in his work Alienated Labor. Through his concept of commodity fetishism, the intangible aspects of a person's labor become tangible products with physical value. This valorization arises from the separation between what workers produce and where wealth circulates (Marx p. 254). The producer and the product have become obscure. As a result, individuals learn to desire and consume products as a commodity. Individuals like Ms. Peniston need and want new products, like dresses. For Ms. Peniston, as well as society as a whole, dresses serve as an external material marker of success and wealth. This property, in turn, helps the owner of the property appear wealthy, thereby allowing them to rise socially. Lily explains this belief in her conversation with Mrs. Peniston where Lily tried to explain the "expenses a girl faces these days" (Wharton p. 180). For Lily, the appearance of material wealth may be more important than the actual wealth itself, as in the case of Lily's mother who strives to preserve the status quo after her financial ruin (Wharton p. 34) . Commodity fetishism.