The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton
Chapters V & VI, pages 187-201
Lily Bart seems to revert a little bit back to her old ways in this section by feeling below her standards by socializing with the Gormers. However, the change that I noticed the most in Lily was her reasoning behind finding a suitable husband. With some persuasion by Carry, Lily begins to reconsider marriage again. Except this time, she wishes to marry for redemption into her previous social standing and for financial stability which she desperately needs. Earlier in the story, Lily simply wanted to marry in order to firmly establish herself in the social hierarchy and to continue to live the lavish lifestyle that she so very loved. Yet, with the suggestion of Rosedale, a character that she despised only sections ago, Lily thinks again of her needs and determines that he would be a suitable candidate. She cannot marry him for the social aspect, seeing as she has fallen from her position, so she decides to take a different approach. "What if she made him marry her for love, now that he had no other reason for marrying her?" (Wharton, 195).
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