The House of Mirth: Book 2, Chapters 13 and 14

After reading the closing chapters of The House of Mirth, authored by Edith Wharton, I cannot help but be upset with the ending she chose for the novel. Throughout the novel, Lily Bart’s selfishness, lack of respect, and superficiality incessantly irritated me, confused me, and angered me. However, her sudden changes brought upon by poverty and the working class in the last few chapters proved that she had changed into a better person. Although she was in a serious state of depression, it took hitting rock bottom for her to realize how trivial all of the things she used to care about truly were. Her true success and pride came from those she helped, including a Nettie Struther, who Lily had helped through an illness a while back. After seeing the healthy woman, joyous and vibrantly alive, and realizing that all of that cheerfulness was made possible because of her, Lily states “It will be my turn to think of you as happy – and the world will seem a less unjust place to me too,” (Wharton, 254). Furthermore, even with all of the troubles and hurt Bertha Dorset caused Lily, she never brought to the attention of anyone the blackmail letters she had on Bertha. I believe that Lily finally discovered that nothing good results from the destruction of others, even if Bertha did not, and she no longer wished to gain revenge or the satisfaction of Bertha’s downfall. Because of her situation, Lily actually began to care about others, yet this sudden change resulted in a lack of care for herself. She basically fell apart after looking back two years, the span of the novel, and realizing how terribly she squandered that time. This drastic change of personality is what distresses me so much about her death. A changed Lily in the world could have been an advantageous entity, yet it seems as though by this point, she might have been content with how she left her legacy.