The House of Mirth, Book 1, sections 3 and 4

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

For most of part 3, Wharton introduces us to most of Lily Bart's, until now, untouched past. The reader is introduced to two polar times in her life; her early days of extravagance and bliss, and her latter years after her father's death, marked by desperation and dependency. From her anecdotal tales of her childhood, you discover that Lily Bart lacked a substantial emotional relationship with her father while her mother only saw Lily's father as a means to an end. This predicament must be how Lily Bart developed her hopes for a maternal relationship with real intimacy. After Lily Bart's mother died, she went on to live with her Aunt Peniston, who's resources highly towered over her own ingenuity. On looking back, Lily wondered if it was Aunt Peniston's own passiveness that has brought Lily to now be twenty nine and unmarried.

Lily Bart is surprised by Selden's arrival

With Lily still unsure of her own status among these social elites, she does find solace in her ally by default, Mrs. Trenor. Lily thinks as Mr.s Trenor as one of her most trusted friends mostly due to the fact that Trenor does not see any social threat in Lily. To Trenor, what matters the most to her is her ability to play the role as the ideal hostess, amazing people with her extravagant and lively dinner parties. By far the most interesting development in the book, however, is the unexpected arrival of Lawrence Selden at the end of Part 4. This unexpected arrival worries Lily Bart greatly. I believe that part of the reason she so wants to avoid Selden is that he represents the side of her that so greatly wants to have a real, substantial, loving relationship with a man. However, this would mean that she would not be able to continue her life among the elites. The two men, Gryce and Selden, are juxtaposed throughout this part of the book, Selden being the man who invokes passion yet little means and Gryce having great wealth but being extraordinarily dull. The part ends with Bertha Dorset sweeping in and intercepting Mr. Selden, fixing her as one of the possible main antagonists. At one point, when discussing Mrs. Dorset, Mrs Trenor says, "But she is dangerous- and if I ever saw her up to mischief it's now" (Wharton 35)