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She thenwrote out a cheque for Trenor, and placing it, without an accompanyingword, in an envelope inscribed with his name, laid the two letters sideby side on her desk. After that she continued to sit at the table,sorting her papers and writing, till the intense silence of the housereminded her of the lateness of the hour. In the street the noise ofwheels had ceased, and the rumble of the “elevated” came only at longintervals through the deep unnatural hush. In the mysterious nocturnalseparation from all outward signs of life, she felt herself morestrangely confronted with her fate. The sensation made her brain reel,and she tried to shut out consciousness by pressing her hands against hereyes. But the terrible silence and emptiness seemed to symbolize herfuture—she felt as though the house, the street, the world were allempty, and she alone left sentient in a lifeless universe.
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Her voice had a dangerous edge, and Gerty noticed that herhand shook as she held it out to receive the second cup. Miss Bart accepted the cup of tea, but put back the cushion with animpatient hand. ” she asked, conscious that the note of irritation stillpersisted in her voice.
EDITH WHARTON
Once at Bellomont Judy Trenor intimates to Lilly that Bertha is manipulative and also unscrupulous such that it is better to have her as a friend rather than an enemy. It is well known that Bertha is bored with her husband and seeks attention and love outside the confines of marriage. At Bellomont Bertha continues to pursue Selden in an attempt to rekindle the flame of an adulterous affair they have been carrying on but with which he has become disenamored.
The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton – review
It was well enough to “manage” whenby so doing one could keep one’s own carriage; but when one’s bestcontrivance did not conceal the fact that one had to go on foot, theeffort was no longer worth making. The two women looked up in surprise; though it was a Saturday, the sightof Mr. Bart at luncheon was an unwonted one. But neither his wife nor hisdaughter was sufficiently interested to ask an explanation. It was not that Miss Bart was afraid of losing her newly-acquired holdover Mr. Gryce. Mrs. Dorset might startle or dazzle him, but she hadneither the skill nor the patience to effect his capture.
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She was not, however, without purveyors of informationready to supplement her deficiencies. Grace Stepney’s mind was like akind of moral fly-paper, to which the buzzing items of gossip were drawnby a fatal attraction, and where they hung fast in the toils of aninexorable memory. Lily would have been surprised to know how manytrivial facts concerning herself were lodged in Miss Stepney’s head. Shewas quite aware that she was of interest to dingy people, but she assumedthat there is only one form of dinginess, and that admiration forbrilliancy is the natural expression of its inferior state. She knew thatGerty Farish admired her blindly, and therefore supposed that sheinspired the same sentiments in Grace Stepney, whom she classified as aGerty Farish without the saving traits of youth and enthusiasm.
By Edith WhartonIntroduction by Cynthia Griffin WolffNotes by Cynthia Griffin Wolff
It was the char-woman of the Benedick who, resting oncrimson elbows, examined her with the same unflinching curiosity, thesame apparent reluctance to let her pass. In Mrs. Peniston’s youth, fashion had returned to town in October;therefore on the tenth day of the month the blinds of her Fifth Avenueresidence were drawn up, and the eyes of the Dying Gladiator in bronzewho occupied the drawing-room window resumed their survey of thatdeserted thoroughfare. She returned his profound bow with a slight nod, made more disdainful bythe sense of Selden’s surprise that she should number Rosedale among heracquaintances.
The consciousness of her different point of view merely keptthem at a little distance from her, as though she were a foreigner withwhom it was an effort to talk. It was the first time since her return from Europe that Lily had foundherself in a congenial atmosphere, and the stirring of familiarassociations had almost prepared her, as she descended the stairs beforedinner, to enter upon a group of her old acquaintances. It was the first time that she had faced her family since her return fromEurope, two weeks earlier; but if she perceived any uncertainty in theirwelcome, it served only to add a tinge of irony to the usual composure ofher bearing. The shock of dismay with which, on the dock, she had heardfrom Gerty Farish of Mrs. Peniston’s sudden death, had been mitigated,almost at once, by the irrepressible thought that now, at last, she wouldbe able to pay her debts. She had looked forward with considerableuneasiness to her first encounter with her aunt.
Mrs. Peniston and the Hilarious Vulgarity in Edith Wharton's House of Mirth - Vulture
Mrs. Peniston and the Hilarious Vulgarity in Edith Wharton's House of Mirth.
Posted: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Did she think that only thepayment of the legacies had been delayed? Why, Miss Stepney herself hadnot received a penny of her inheritance, and was paying rent—yes,actually! —for the privilege of living in a house that belonged to her.She was sure it was not what poor dear cousin Julia would havewished—she had told the executors so to their faces; but they wereinaccessible to reason, and there was nothing to do but to wait. Let Lilytake example by her, and be patient—let them both remember howbeautifully patient cousin Julia had always been. It was over in a moment—the waiter, MENU in hand, still hung on theresult of the choice between COUPE JACQUES and PECHES A LA MELBA—butMiss Bart, in the interval, had taken the measure of her fate.
When such a day coincides with the inner mood there is intoxication inits breath; and Selden, hastening along the street through the squalor ofits morning confidences, felt himself thrilling with a youthful sense ofadventure. He had cut loose from the familiar shores of habit, andlaunched himself on uncharted seas of emotion; all the old tests andmeasures were left behind, and his course was to be shaped by new stars. She did not, in truth, consider the question very closely—the physicalcraving for sleep was her only sustained sensation. Her mind shrank fromthe glare of thought as instinctively as eyes contract in a blaze oflight—darkness, darkness was what she must have at any cost. She raisedherself in bed and swallowed the contents of the glass; then she blew outher candle and lay down.
In a narrow-minded society, her resistance to marriage will ultimately be seen as a threat. This, too, she understands, and her failures induce bouts of melancholy that Wharton identifies, tellingly, as depression. Like her protagonist, Wharton was born into upper crust New York and coerced by her overbearing mother to choose a husband from within its ranks.
Everything in the pastseemed simple, natural, full of daylight—and she was alone in a place ofdarkness and pollution.—Alone! Her eyes fell on an illuminated clock at a street corner, and shesaw that the hands marked the half hour after eleven. Only half-pasteleven—there were hours and hours left of the night!
His mind turned to Gerty Farish’s words, and thewisdom of the world seemed a groping thing beside the insight ofinnocence. BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART, FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD—eventhe hidden god in their neighbour’s breast! Selden was in the state ofimpassioned self-absorption that the first surrender to love produces.His craving was for the companionship of one whose point of view shouldjustify his own, who should confirm, by deliberate observation, the truthto which his intuitions had leaped. He could not wait for the middayrecess, but seized a moment’s leisure in court to scribble his telegramto Gerty Farish.
At a wedding, Lily receives a $5,000 check from Gus Trenor, who claims to have reinvested another $4,000. Later, he invites Lily to the opera, where she is seen by her disapproving aunt and Lawrence Selden as she sits with Trenor and Rosedale. Trenor tricks her into leaving the opera and accompanying him to his home, where he tries to kiss her, claiming that Lily is not playing a fair game when she accepts his money but refuses him her attentions. When Lily arrives home, her aunt refuses to lend her the money to repay the $9,000 she received from Trenor. Lily confides in Grace, asking if she should turn to Selden for his understanding, but Grace advises against it; Grace secretly loves Lawrence and is jealous of Lily.
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