Wharton’s portrayal of the main characters (Lily Bart & Lawrence Selden) as “strangers” (as defined by Simmel) to the high society, took on a life of its own. Through Lily, we admire and experience the luxuries of said society while simultaneously witnessing Lily’s meticulous calculations about interactions with those around her. Lily’s ultimate fall from grace, though, still leaves her as a “stranger” to the world she resigns to be a part of (the working class) – “It was the strangest part of Lily’s strange experience, the hearing of these names, the seeing the fragmentary and the distorted image of the world she had lived in reflected in the mirror of the working-girls’ minds” (306, Chp. X). Wharton represents the discomfort of moving from a high social stratum to a lower one in the same way she did for Lily’s previous life. This engaging depiction allows for us to sympathize more for our protagonist. Even though Lily was raised to be a part of the upper echelons of society, she simply does not belong; therefore, as we see a similar pattern happening once she becomes a part of the lower strata it moves us to connect with her feeling of displacement.
The narrator utilizes indirect discourse to convey Lily’s experiences. As the narrator presents to us Lily’s thoughts, he allows her to take some authority in the narration, as she takes over the depiction of others around her. We can observe Lily’s authority as she describes Rosedale, “In the silence, Lily had a clear perception of what was passing through his mind. Whatever perplexity he felt as to the inexorableness of her course-however little he penetrated its motive- she saw that it unmistakably tended to strengthen her hold over him” (321, Chpt XI). Lily’s description of Rosedale’s perception of her cues us to the degree she has been removed from high society. She has now transitioned to be “other”, as defined by DuBois, from being a “stranger”. She presents his feelings and perception of her as someone who is considered outside the norm, sealing her fall from the high pedestal where she once stood. Wharton’s portrayal of Lily provides insight to the most effective techniques modern authors utilized, moving past the details that dominated Lily’s exterior to successfully convey her overwhelming burden of remaining a “stranger”.
I am still having trouble logging in to the blog, so I will just add my blog post as a reply here for the time being:
In the last chapters of The House of Mirth, Lily experiences a new kind of containment in the working class that parallels restriction under society’s customs, but also contrasts sharply with Lily’s conscious subjection to restraint within society. The narrator utilizes the metaphor of a “great gilt cage” to depict the abstract sense of confinement created by the set of restrictions and customs of high society (Wharton 54). Though Lily resents the restrictions placed on her in society, she consciously chooses to remain a part of society and hold onto many of the material values and aspirations of society.
On the other hand, the world of the working classes into which Lily must enter reflects a more concrete type of containment, from which it is nearly impossible for Lily to escape. The descriptions of the physical spaces Lily inhabits in this world reflect this more concrete confinement from which Lily cannot raise herself. For instance, once she is forced to earn her own living, Lily’s life plays out in a series of cell-like, enclosed spaces such as the millinery workroom (Wharton 277) and Lily’s dingy room in the boardinghouse (Wharton 282). Additionally, the structure of the paragraph in which Lily encounters Miss Silverton parallels Lily’s movement from the expansive and fashionable avenues of New York into the small, confining spaces of the world in which she must now live: “this glimpse of the ever-revolving wheels of the great social machine made Lily more than ever conscious of the steepness and narrowness of Gerty’s stairs, and of the cramped blind-alley of life to which they led. Dull stairs destined to be mounted by dull people” (Wharton 258). The physical descriptions of spaces in the last chapters of this novel reflect this concrete stagnation and repression that sharply contrasts with the relative liberty found within the more abstract “great gilt cage” (Wharton 54). Lily feels confined and restrained in both society and in the working class; however, there is a key difference in her conscious choice to remain in society despite this resentment of her repression and the impossibility of her escape from the poverty in which she finds herself at the end of the novel.
I am still having trouble logging into the blog, so I will just add my blog post as a reply here for the time being. I hope this works:
In the last chapters of The House of Mirth, Lily experiences a new kind of containment in the working class that parallels restriction under society’s customs, but also contrasts sharply with Lily’s conscious subjection to restraint within society. The narrator utilizes the metaphor of a “great gilt cage” to depict the abstract sense of confinement created by the set of restrictions and customs of high society (Wharton 54). Though Lily resents the restrictions placed on her in society, she consciously chooses to remain a part of society and hold onto many of the material values and aspirations of society.
On the other hand, the world of the working classes into which Lily must enter reflects a more concrete type of containment, from which it is nearly impossible for Lily to escape. The descriptions of the physical spaces Lily inhabits in this world reflect this more concrete confinement from which Lily cannot raise herself. For instance, once she is forced to earn her own living, Lily’s life plays out in a series of cell-like, enclosed spaces such as the millinery workroom (Wharton 277) and Lily’s dingy room in the boardinghouse (Wharton 282). Additionally, the structure of the paragraph in which Lily encounters Miss Silverton parallels Lily’s movement from the expansive and fashionable avenues of New York into the small, confining spaces of the world in which she must now live: “this glimpse of the ever-revolving wheels of the great social machine made Lily more than ever conscious of the steepness and narrowness of Gerty’s stairs, and of the cramped blind-alley of life to which they led. Dull stairs destined to be mounted by dull people” (Wharton 258). The physical descriptions of spaces in the last chapters of this novel reflect this concrete stagnation and repression that sharply contrasts with the relative liberty found within the more abstract “great gilt cage” (Wharton 54). Lily feels confined and restrained in both society and in the working class; however, there is a key difference in her conscious choice to remain in society despite this resentment of her repression and the impossibility of her escape from the poverty in which she finds herself at the end of the novel.