From tea to chloral: raising the dead Lily Bart - character in woman author Edith Wharton's book 'The House of Mirth'

Twentieth Century Literature, Winter, 1998 by Bonnie Lynn Gerard

Trenor's attempted rape signals the relentlessness with which New York society will devour Lily Bart, as if in accordance with an implacable natural law that dictates the victimization of those who threaten the power of others. The inevitability of her demise seems at every turn socially determined, as even those who might come to her rescue betray the predisposition toward consuming her physical beauty and perfected social skills.

Bertha Dorset offers her the sanctuary of her Mediterranean yacht, only to use her as a distraction for George while she pursues an affair with young Ned Silverton. When Lily's careless conspicuousness with Dorset results in a "crash" with Bertha, Lily falls from the graces of the Sabrina, as Bertha, "in full command of her usual attenuated elegance, sat dispensing tea" before finally dispensing with Lily altogether (330). Her fall lands her in the questionable company of a procession of social climbers, the Gormers and Mrs. Norma Hatch, whose "elephantine sofas" swallow Lily up in the "purely physical satisfaction" of a life "lapped and folded" in "ease" (449,440). As a member of their rapidly "rising" social group, Lily is subjected to "dut[ies]" for her hostess, even while she is "of no more account among them than an expensive toy in the hands of a spoiled child" (388-89). Dorset himself approaches Lily with an appeal to friendship while she is on Long Island with the Gormers; but it is only too clear that his friendship is conditional on her willingness to let him use her knowledge about Bertha's affairs to help him gain revenge against his wife. Lily is "the only person who knows," and her knowledge makes her a perfect implement to feed Dorset's craving for domestic revenge (393). Rosedale, as well, offers to indulge Lily's material needs, but while he offers Lily the social power she craves, he savors the crumbs of her failed social feast only to satisfy his own craving for acceptance into high society. What he wants, he tells her, is "a woman who'll hold her head higher the more diamonds [he puts] on it" (284).