... upper class life since it was not socially accepted for women to work. The greatest aspect of Terence Davies' "The House of Mirth" is that it's such a downer. The movie tells the story of a young lady by the name of Lily Bart (Gillian Anderson), a self-constructed woman on the lookout for a husband in New York's social circles. Her way of life, which has been purchased mostly on credit, demands money in order to ... and most unaffected, fashions an adaptation with an equal measure of damnation." The Washington Post states, "Like a corkscrew slowly, inexorably penetrating a bottle of spo...

• Word Count: 1006
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

In Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, elements of naturalism are used to show how the protagonist Lily Bart's life is controlled by her struggle between love and money. According to Encarta's electronic encyclopedia, "naturalistic writers regard human behavior ... Lily Bart is obviously controlled by economic conditions and emotion. She wants nothing more than to be accepted by the high society of New York. Although Lily was raised in an upper society family, she knows the only way for her to remain in that society is to marry a rich man. Even though she could ... is to marry a rich man. Ther...

• Word Count: 622
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... devotion to fiction works. Wharton was born Edith Jones in 1862, into an upper class New York City family. She was engaged at a young age, yet the marriage was called off because of the Jones family's snobbish reputation. Jones finally married Edward Wharton in 1885, though and though her marriage soon went to ruins, she remained married to Wharton for over ... years. Morality became a favorite concern in many of Wharton's works, and conformity was oftentimes in opposition to rebellion and immorality. The two were universal stances, and touched many on a personal basis, resulting in Wha...

• Word Count: 483
• Approx Pages: 2