The House of Mirth: Book 2, Chapters 3 and 4

Chapters three and four of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth bring to light the prevalence of a certain theme in the novel. This theme, as so cleverly realized out by Lily Bart, is the importance of convenience. Since the very first chapter of this book, Lily has struggled with not only making friends, but keeping them for more than a few weeks. This difficulty is brought about due to convenience. When Lily has a positive, radiant reputation among society, it is convenient so to speak to befriend her and treat her well, yet when extra baggage is put on her plate or unsavory rumors spread, it is much easier for society to shun her. In these chapters, even though Mrs. Bertha Dorset has been cheating on her husband and making a bad name for herself, she switched around stories and got society hooked on Lily’s misfortunes and mistakes. Lily exclaims how it is so much simpler and less stressful for everyone to trust Bertha, “because she has a big house and an opera box, and it’s convenient to be on good terms with her,” (Wharton, 182). Fortunately, there is one decent character in this novel that does not fall prey to the selfishness of the late nineteenth century wealthy, and she is Gerty Farish. Most likely because she has faced money problems and not always had everything handed to her on a silver platter, Gerty does not bother with convenience, rather she sees the importance in being a decent person and friend. Yet, even with the presence of a person who cares, Lily struggles with the fact that the rest of society does not see her problems fit to deal with. As one to base her decisions partially on convenience too, I believe for the first time, Lily has realized that her fellow members of society are not the great people she sought to be like, but rather cowards who run at the first sound of danger or trouble. Furthermore, as convenience rules Lily’s social world, the same situation occurs today. People seek those who have the most to offer them, but if something comes up that puts a halt to those benefits, they move on to another person who is less complicated. In a world that runs on the convenience of things, one must be careful that they do not drop relationships if uncertainty becomes a factor.