Book II: Chapters VII & VIII

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
Chapters VII & VIII (pgs. 201-221)

Simon Rosedale and George Dorset are both very attracted to Lily Bart. Moreover, they were both possible marriage candidates for Lily, and she is in desperate need of a rich husband in her terrible situation. Rosedale has been described as self-absorbed and intrusive throughout the novel. He concentrates his money to invest and build power to be accepted into the upper class social ring. Like Rosedale, George Dorset is also selfish, "...she saw that, for the first time, a faint realisation of her plight penetrated the dense surface of his self-absorbtion," (Wharton, 200). Rosedale put himself in a very good situation socially; on the contrary, George Dorset is miserable with Bertha Dorset becuase of the cheating scandal. George Dorset is willing to accept Lily as his wife despite what the marriage could do to Lily socially. Rosedale has changed his mind about marrying Lily because he thinks he only motive to marry him is he could pull her out of her current situation. Plus, marrying Lily could mean a steep decline in his social standing, which he has worked incredibly hard to build. While George Dorset is only concerned about his own well-being, Rosedale offered Lily a possible return to her social status. Because what Rosedale offered was unhonorable, Lily refused the offer. So in the end, Lily rejected both Rosedale and George Dorset.