The House of Mirth (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Edith Wharton
- First Published: 1905
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Social realism
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth century
- Setting: New York City, upper Hudson estates, and Monte Carlo
- Principal Characters: Lily Bart, Lawrence Selden, Simon Rosedale, Mrs. Peniston, Gus Trenor, Mrs. Haffen, Gerty Farish, Bertha Dorset
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism, Naturalistic literature, Didactic literature
- Subjects: Values, New York, North America or North Americans, Northeast, U.S., United States or Americans, Love or romance, Suicide, Twentieth century, New York City, Social issues, Marriage, Betrayal, Class consciousness, Manners or customs, Social life, Blackmail, Upper classes, Greed, Truthfulness and falsehood, Ambition, Gossip, Wealth, Scandal, Finance
- Locales: New York
Form and Content
The House of Mirth is a work of social realism that criticizes a very specific world—that of wealthy, nineteenth century New York society—yet it is also much more than that. It is a moral fable with timeless insight into the problem of finding and keeping clarity of vision in a corrupt culture. The novel also reflects aspects of the feminine experience that are common, in one form or another, to modern Western culture. Lily Bart’s moral failures are those of the world in which she lives. Edith Wharton leaves little doubt about her condemnation of...
[The entire page is 2314 words long]
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