Lily Bart Quotes

As stated above, the forces of chance and environment as they affect individual lives, is a common theme in a naturalistic novel. Naturalistic protagonists are often a victim of their society and environment, which is also the case of Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth. Lily Bart is a beautiful woman born into a high-class society that dresses expensively, lives well, and values wealth and connections. However, readers find out in the 3rd chapter, that Lily’s father is financially ruined before his death. Thus, she has to get married soon to secure her social position. Moreover, Lily’s society expects nothing from a woman but to look pleasant and marry someone with money, and Lily grew accustomed of making herself look as pleasant

Through her first encounter with Selden, readers learn through Selden’s thought that “She (Lily) was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate” (chapter 1, book one). With this quote, it seems obvious that Lily had become a representation of her society, looking pleasantly beautiful and wanting the lifestyle her social class provides. In a way, Lily is aware of her society’s effect on her, she knows that she became a victim of this environment and she herself admitted that. For instance, when Lily is asked to tell her story, she answers: “the beginning was in my cradle, I suppose-in the way I was brought up, and the things I was taught to care for” (chapter 4, book two). In here, she confesses that the way her mother and her society brought her up has shaped her life. Nonetheless, towards the end of the novel, naturalism is evident again in Lily’s last encounter with Selden as she tells him that “I have tried hard-but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent

Selden as well was described by Wharton to be a victim of his environment, just like Lily is. “He had meant to keep free from permanent ties, not from any poverty of feeling, but because, in a different way, he was, as much as Lily, the victim of his environment” (chapter 4, book one). Edith Wharton implies that the way Selden was brought up, how charming and luxurious his mother was, and how his father was someone who delighted in a charming woman, were all part of the reason why he has feelings for Lily Bart. Even though Selden was in a way free and independent, he still had connections in his society, he somehow kept going back to