Book II: Plot Analysis up to Chapter 10

The House of Mirth by Edith WhartonPlot Analysis up to page 241 or Chapter 10

In Book I, Wharton began the novel with large expositions on Lily Bart. She introduces how Lily, an unmarried twenty-nine-year-old women, was raised and the goals she has to find a rich husband. Moreover, Wharton introduces Lily's gambling addiction and speding habits that chew away at the small amount of money she has. For example, "Once or twice of late she had won a large sum, and instead of keeping it against future losses, had spent it in dress or jewelry..." (Wharton, 20). Lily lives in the circle of the upper class society of New York even though she does not have to riches her friends have. Her beauty and social grace fits in perfectly with the upper class, but she will not remain a permanent member of this high society unless the marries a wealthy man. Lily's attraction to Lawernce Selden, her true love, is also revealed in the exposition of the novel. However, she cannot marry him because he does not have enough money to satisfy her needs and habits.

Lily aks Gus Trenor to invest her money in the stock market so she can make more money for spending. He agrees to do this because he is attracted to Lily despite being married. In return, Gus Trenor expects Lily to treat him as a close friend. This deal initiates the rising action of the novel. Unbeknownst to Lily, Trenor invests his own money into the stock market. He does not reveal this until he becomes unsatisfied with Lily's treatment of him. Lily is now in debt to Gus and must repay him nine thousand dollars.

Beginning Book II, Lily takes an unexpected trip to Europe with the Dorsets, which constitutes the start of the climax. Lily discovers that Bertha is having an affair with Ned Silverton and that her purpose on the vacation was to ditract Bertha's husband George. In a turn of events, Lily is accused of having an affair with George Dorset by Bertha, which leads to Lily's downfall from the high society.

In the falling action, Lily comes back to the U.S. to find her aunt dead and leaving her with a legacy of only ten thousand dollars, which is the amount she needs to pay Gus Trenor. Lily cannot recieve this legacy for a year, so she is living with Gerty Farish in poverty and desperately trying to climb her way back to the upper class society. She struggles with lonliness and life at the bottom; as a result, her train of thought and natural behavior become disarrayed in her new environment. Lily strugges and struggles to earn money for herself and it seems her only way out is to find some way to marry Simon Rosedale. Hopefully, she will not be so desperate to marry a man whom she despised!