The Objectification of Lily Bart in The House of Mirth

Abstract

          Writing during a time in which the accepted dictates of society served as the basis for behavior among the upper classes and, consequently, a woman’s training failed to extend far beyond the areas of music or archery, Edith Wharton dared to challenge the conventional handling of women in literary texts.  Her depiction of Lily Bart in The House of Mirth was so radical for the period in which she wrote, as the heroine’s tragic, untimely end serves to awaken readers to the realization that the societal customs of the early 20^th century resulted in the foreclosure and sacrifice of a woman’s identity.  Moreover, the objectification of women becomes apparent in the text, as Wharton employs her heroine, Lily Bart, to represent the implications of society’s treatment of, and expectations for, women.  A novel detailing the aspects of a society strikingly similar to that in which Wharton was raised, The House of Mirth details the struggles and obstacles encountered by an upper-class woman as she seeks to attain fulfillment as a person rather than an object.  Consistently viewed and referred to in much the same way that a painting would be, Lily’s usefulness is defined by her beauty rather than intelligence or skill.  While Lily makes several desperate attempts to regain her humanity by becoming self-supporting and thus, independent, she is repeatedly unsuccessful in doing so because her upbringing has confined her to a single fate.  Ill-equipped to “become a worker among workers, and let the world of luxury sweep by her unregarded,” Lily has not been taught how to survive in any environment other than that for which she has been bred.