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Overview
In her tragic 1905 novel The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton offers a stark dramatization of the powerlessness of women in the Gilded Age New York of the 1870s
. Unmarried socialite Lily Bart falls in love with lawyer Lawrence Selden, whose lack of money spoils their chances for happiness together. Accusations of liaisons with a married man diminish Lily’s social status, and as she makes of missteps, she learns how venal and brutally unforgiving the upper crust of New York can be. The House of Mirth is a beautifully written and tragic account of the human capacity for cruelty. The novel has been adapted many times, including in 2000 when Lily Bart was memorably portrayed by Gillan Anderson.Read the free full text, the full book summary, an in-depth character analysis of Lily Bart, and explanations of important quotes from The House of Mirth.
