CRITICISM

Howard, Maureen. “The Bachelor and the Baby: The House of Mirth.” In The Cambridge Companion to Edith Wharton, edited by Millicent Bell, pp. 137-56. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Examines Wharton's mix of social realism and Victorian melodrama in The House of Mirth.

McIlvaine, Robert. “Edith Wharton's American Beauty Rose.” Journal of American Studies 7, no. 2 (August 1973): 183-85.

Discusses flower imagery in The House of Mirth.

Poirier, Richard. “Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth.” In The American Novel from James Fenimore Cooper to William Faulkner, edited by Wallace Stegner, pp. 117-32. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1965.

Poirier presents an overview of The House of Mirth, noting similarities between Wharton and other great female novelists.

Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. “Lily Bart and the Beautiful Death.” American Literature 46 (March 1974): 16-40.

Wolff examines parallels between Lily Bart's misguided attempts at self-definition and the art and aesthetics of her time period.

———. “Lily Bart and the Drama of Femininity.” American Literary History 6, no. 1 (spring 1994): 71-87.

Wolff explores Wharton's allusions to Edwardian theater in The House of Mirth.

Additional coverage of Wharton's life and career is contained in the following sources published by the Gale Group: American Writers; American Writers: The Classics, Vol. 2; American Writers Retrospective Supplement, Vol. 1; Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 25; Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: Biography & Resources, Vol. 3; Concise Dictionary of American Literary Biography, 1865-1917; Contemporary Authors, Vols. 104, 132; Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vols. 4, 9, 12, 78, 189; Dictionary of Literary Biography Documentary Series, Vol. 13; DISCovering Authors; DISCovering Authors: British Edition; DISCovering Authors: Canadian Edition; DISCovering Authors Modules: Most-studied Authors and Novelists; DISCovering Authors 3.0; Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century, Ed. 3; Exploring Short Stories; Literature and Its Times, Vols. 2, 3; Literature and Its Times Supplement, Vol. 1; Literature Resource Center; Major 20th-Century Writers, Eds. 1, 2; Modern American Women Writers; Novels for Students, Vols. 5, 11, 15; Reference Guide to American Literature, Ed. 4; Reference Guide to Short Fiction, Ed. 2; St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers; Short Stories for Students, Vols. 6, 7; Short Story Criticism, Vol. 6; Supernatural Fiction Writers; Twayne's United States Authors; Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vols. 3, 9, 27, 53, 129; 20th Century Romance and Historical Writers; and World Literature Criticism.