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| The Main Source of Lily Bart's Problems |
Chapters five and six of book
two of The House of Mirth, a novel
written by Edith Wharton, expose the reader to what could be considered dramatic
irony. After being dismissed from their European cruise by Bertha Dorset, Lily
Bart returned to America. It is then that she discovers her longtime aunt and
caretaker, Mrs. Peniston, had died. Lily selfishly was relieved, as her expected
inheritance would now be able to cover her past debts. However, she stays
around only to discover that Mrs. Peniston left her estate to Lily’s cousin,
Grace Stepney. Because of this, Lily is once again struggling for money, but
this time also has no one to take care of her. Although I expected this to
happen, as the reader was made aware that Mrs. Peniston was angry and
disappointed in Lily, it came as quite a shock to her. I feel as though this
entire situation radiated irony. Lily had finally believed that she was going
to survive without drastic measures due to the estate, yet now she finds
herself in an even worse predicament. Although she probably deserves what
occurred, resulting in a bruised ego which she probably needed, I cannot help
but feel sympathy towards Lily. Yes, she needs to get her life on track and
realize that she cannot freeload off of others, but being disinherited by Mrs.
Peniston was rather harsh, especially since Lily does not know the reason
Peniston was angry. Living in a dingy hotel, disgusted with what she has come
to, Lily, rather than trying to fix her situation, decides that “she must try
to marry Rosedale,” (Wharton, 200) as even though she does not care for him, he
can take her problems away. Once again, Lily’s shallowness and selfishness
overpower any thoughts she might have of pulling her life together, as
apparently Mrs. Peniston’s disinheritance of her was not an extensive enough
wake up call.
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