Fragility In The House Of Mirth

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Hands, Social Structures, and Female Fragility in The House of Mirth

Human hands are unfailingly present in everyday human life and art, either visual or literary. Despite the prominent presence of hands, hands are seldom noticed or appreciated in any walk of life; accordingly, literary analysis sweeps the mentions of hands under the rug. One writer, Sonoko Toyda, even connects hands to symbolize the very heart of a female and the head of a man (XI). Authors often write fictional woman to rely on their outward beauty; usually, beauty connects to a woman’s symmetrical face or slim body type, but hands too link to a woman’s beauty. Edith Wharton communicates both facial structure, female form beauty, and hand use to pleasing aesthetic …show more content…

Correspondingly, Carry Fisher’s, a dramatic women know for bringing people to the upper class, hands were admirable instruments of service for those around her (Wharton 44). Carry’s hand description separates her from many of the women surrounding her, for hers are less ladylike and more useful than other women. Still, Carry remains at the top of society with her divorces and powerful hands. Later, hands are used in reassuring gestures for those subjugated by the system of female oppression. Predominately, Selden grabs Lily’s hands away from her face as she desperately questions him for undermining her life decisions (68). Graveness outweighs any passion in the action, for he knows she is a slave to the society she despises. In the moment, Selden cannot help but to notice the beauty of her weeping face covered by her hands, which undermines his compassion for her societal entrapment. Gus Trenor’s, the businessman husband of Lily’s friend Judy Trenor, hand on Lily’s had the opposite effect of Selden’s; namely, Gus’s hand upset Lily, and it was a touch mirroring society’s limitations of attractive women, rather than a concerned gesture (81). Having lived among the upper crust of the Gilded Age, Wharton considered hand beauty as another element utilizable for The House of Mirth to highlight the unnecessary objectification of women, for outward beauty need not matter in the grand scheme of female worth as a

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