... to apologize to him for her uncouth manners towards him. He then realizes how much he still loves Lily, regardless of the gossip that tore them apart. The climax of The House of Mirth occurs when Gus Trenor tries to rape Lily. Trenor once lent Lily a large sum of money, which Lily believed was intended to assist her in her financial management, but Trenor's actual motive, was to make ... her sleep. Although several lessons can be drawn from this story, one of the most evident, especially at the end of the book, is that one must never take someone else for granted. Also, The House of Mir...

• Word Count: 1570
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... the turn of the twentieth century, the novel The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton offers a complete and insightful view to the varying degrees of classes that made up the women's society at the time. Each female character portrays a different part of society, ranging from the powerful rich, to the disrespected poor. Every character's personality and decisions were based around their desire, or lack there of, to fit into a certain social class. If this novel were the ... on her way to being excluded from society anyway. Gerty Farish was an independent woman who thought outside of society'...

• Word Count: 1424
• Approx Pages: 6

In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, the main character, Lily Bart, starts off with two goals: to marry well and acquire wealth. Lily is constantly worried about money. Ever since she was a small child and her mother complained of "dinginess-, Lily has wanted to be financially stable. She goes through life looking for a husband that can assure her a place in the leisure class, even though the shallow life ... matters. Lily hated to be "poor, to look forward to a shabby, anxious middle age, leading by dreary degrees of economy and self-denial to gradual absorption in the dingy communal exist...

• Word Count: 1273
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School