The House of Mirth

Edith Wharton's dark view of society, the sombre economics of marriage, and the powerlessness of the unwedded woman in the 1870s emerge dramatically in The House of Mirth. One of America's finest novels of manners, this is a tragic account of the human capacity for cruelty.

One of Edith Wharton’s most accomplished social satires, this novel tells the story of the beautiful but impoverished New York socialite Lily Bart, whose refusal to compromise in her search for a husband leads to her exclusion from polite society. In charting the course of Lily’s life and downfall, Wharton also provides a wider picture of a society in transition, a milieu in which old certainties, manners, and morals no longer hold true, and where the individual has become an expendable commodity.

This classic American novel is now available in a Broadview edition that includes a critical introduction and a rich selection of contextual documents. Appendices include Wharton’s correspondence about The House of Mirth, contemporary articles on social mores, etiquette, and dress, and related writings by Henry James, Thorstein Veblen, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Contributor: Janet Beer (Edited by), Elizabeth Nolan (Edited by)

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