초록 열기/닫기 버튼
In The House of Mirth, Lily Bart’s divided self, which is rooted in her sense of guilt over her father’s death after her sumptuous debut, brings about her ambiguous and self-destructive behavior and rejection of the gender relations where the husband applies himself to work while the wife functions as a conspicuous consumer. Lily repeatedly refuses the conventional marriage in which a man’s wealth is traded for an aesthetic woman. She forgoes the opportunity to gain spiritual freedom by marrying Lawrence Selden and refuses to become a status symbol for Simon Rosedale, a Jewish upstart. Although her self-destructive behavior causes a series of scandals, she does not explain herself and is expelled from the high society. Lily seems to deliberately seal off the possibility of marriage to avoid becoming economically dependent on men. As an old maid, she tries to become independent by working as a social secretary for upstarts, establishing her own millinery business, and becoming a milliner. Lily’s precarious economic status and poverty justify Mrs. Bart’s obsession with her daughter’s marriage and the fear of the Other such as old maids. Rosedale plainly discusses financial problems that plague Lily, which is more helpful than Selden’s idealistic republic of the spirit. Lily’s failure to become independent and her tragic death underscore the need for women’s vocational training and improved job stability for women in America.
키워드열기/닫기 버튼
Edith Wharton, The House of Mirth, Economic Independence, Divided Self, Old Maid, the Other
