One of the tragedies in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is that Lily Bart is unable to marry Laurence Selden and thus secure a secure position in society. Their relationship swings from casual intimacy to total love depending on how and where Selden perceives Lily. Selden sees a beautiful quality in Lily Bart that is not present in any of the other women in the novel. This mysterious beauty so often alluded to, as well as her attraction to other men, is best understood when Lily is conceived of as the goddess Diana. As Diana, Lily Bart hunts for the perfect husband but cannot marry, remains separated from the "seedy" of society, and is ultimately crushed by a ruthless rejection that can even destroy a goddess. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Diana, the goddess of the hunt and virginity, perfectly combines the traits that Lily Bart exhibits. Although never explicitly linked to the goddess, Wharton's first description of Lily emphasizes her "wild grace" and "sylvan freedom": "She stood before the mantelpiece, studying herself in the mirror as she adjusted her veil The attitude revealed the long slope of her slender hips, which gave her profile a kind of wild grace, as if she were a dryad captured and subjected to the conventions of the drawing room, and Selden reflected that it was the same sylvan freedom; in its nature which gave so much flavor to its artificiality" (15). Not only does the description recall the image of Diana, but also the name of Lily. Lily of the valley is Diana's flower. Lily Bart later chooses to wear a simple white dress for her part in Reynold's painting, thus choosing Diana's color. All scenes in which Selden gets close to Lily therefore occur in the woods, indicating that he can perceive her as similar to Diana. quality when it is in its natural habitat. Even at the beginning of the novel, we notice that Lily chooses the Selden road because it is the only road that has trees, "someone had the humanity to plant a few trees over there. Let's go to the shade." (8). The most intimate conversation between them will take place sitting in a beech forest after walking through the woods. It can therefore be said with certainty that when Lily is in the woods her true nature emerges, that nature that Selden considers "real" and with which he falls in love. This explains why, during the play at Wellington Brys' party, Selden is so deeply affected by Lily's portrait. She comes out wearing a white dress as part of a Reynolds painting, "Mrs. Lloyd," but captivates audiences with her naturalness: "Her pale draperies and the backdrop of leaves against which she stood served only to relieve the long, dryads that extended upward from his poised foot to his raised arm" (142). Once again we see a direct comparison with Diana. Selden is so taken by this scene that he completely agrees with Gerty Farish when he says, "It makes her seem like the real Lily - the Lily I know" (142). His love for Lily is strengthened by the fact that he and Gerty are the only two people who know what Lily is really like. Selden watches the other men judge Lily and shares his thoughts with the reader, making the beautiful analogy of Caliban judging Miranda. Selden's attraction to Lily is based on two conflicting perceptions: like Diana, Lily is firstly unattainable and, secondly, her affiliation with nature makes her most desirable when she is in her virgin element. The flirtations between the two characters seem to indicate that both are intimately aware of this paradox. Their walk in the woods culminates in an enigmatic exchange of emotions that can be understoodonly if Selden is aware that Lily will never marry. She asks him, "Do you want to marry me?", to which he replies, "No, I don't want to, but maybe you would if I did!" (77). Selden, aware that he cannot marry her, holds back his love for her and indicates that he would love her if she were able to marry him. Despite knowing that Lily cannot marry, Selden does After Reynold's scene at Wellington Bry's party, he takes Lily out into the garden to see her again with the foliage around her, culminating in the only act of sexual exchange in the novel, a kiss. "She hardly noticed where Selden was leading her until they passed a glass door at the end of the long series of rooms and stopped suddenly in the scented silence of a garden. Gravel crunched under their feet and around them c 'It was the transparent darkness of a midsummer night. Hanging lights created emerald caverns in the depths of the foliage and whitened the sprays of a fountain falling among the lilies' (144). This is Selden's way of reinserting Lily into the painting, now among the lilies, and allowing him to see her in her "pure" god-like state Unfortunately for Selden, Lily soon turns away from him crying, "Ah, love me, love me - but don't tell me" (145). love her, but will never be able to conquer her. This characteristic feature of the escape will influence her relationships with all the other suitors in the novel. Lily's paradoxical behavior towards all the men who court her is therefore explained by the parallels between her and Diana. In the same way that Diana represents the goddess of the hunt but at the same time is the goddess of virgins, Lily will seek suitable men from marry but will never marry them. That Lily is chasing men is made clear in the second chapter with Percy Gryce, and later in the conversation with Mrs. Trenor: "Why don't you say so Judy? I have a reputation for being on the lookout for a rich husband?" (49). She's also incredibly successful, getting every single eligible man (and even one ineligible man) to proposition her. However, despite her success, Lily is unable to commit to any of them. He takes a walk with Selden which ruins his chances with Percy Gryce. Later, as he tries to choose between Rosedale and George Dorset, he rejects them both by literally running away or by mentally running away. As Diana, Lily's primary motivation for not using the letters against Bertha Dorset is no longer moral, but rather that of marriage. Lily Bart has often been portrayed as the most moral character in a world of corrupt and shameless individuals who slowly destroy her. Her decline at the end of the novel is often explained as the result of her high morals, morals which prevent her from using her letters against Bertha Dorset. However, this explanation fails on two counts: can we really accept that Lily is the most moral character when she participates in society as much as anyone else, and are morals enough to justify her failure to use letters? It is inconceivable that a woman as intimately aware of social codes as Lily would not make up her mind to attack Bertha Dorset as soon as possible. Furthermore, seeing Lily as the novel's moral heroine requires that her actions live up to that label in the first place. This is hard to justify given that she lies to Rosedale already in the first chapter, and in the next chapter we see that her interest in Americana is motivated solely by the fact that she can win over Percy Gryce. Later, Lily is perfectly happy to be on Dorset's yacht, fully aware that she is there to distract Mr. Dorset from his wife's infidelities. Therefore, the only important piece of evidence that could place Lily on a moral high ground compared to the other characters is her failure to useletters. However, this can be better explained as resulting from his innate inability to marry rather than altruistic tendencies. She is twice tempted to use the letters, first by George Dorset and then by Rosedale, and both times she refuses to use them only when marriage is mentioned. Thus, when Lily meets George Dorset along the country road, she indicates that she is strongly tempted to consider marrying him, and it is this temptation that causes her to reject him. His meeting with Rosedale proceeds along similar lines. "And it was not, after the first moment, the horror of the idea [to use the letters against Bertha Dorset] that kept her enchanted, subservient to [Rosedale's] will; it was rather its subtle affinity with her innermost desires. . He would have married her tomorrow if he could have regained Bertha Dorset's friendship" (268). Lily seriously contemplates Rosedale's proposed course of action until he continues, "You can't get it done without me; ...and here I am, ready to get you out of them tomorrow if you say so. You don't say so." you, Miss Lily?” (269). As Rosedale approaches her, Lily panics and jumps away from him, immediately disavowing the entire plan. So it is her inability to marry, not morals, that leads her to ultimately reject both Rosedale and Dorset. Lily's inability to marry allows her to be elevated above the mediocre society she struggles to join. Wharton cleverly places Lily above the elite members of New York society by describing her as Diana. As the only figure equated with one of the gods, Lily is able to remain somewhat distinguishable from the other base characters. The story would be boring if it were the same as Bertha Dorset. The charm of Lily is that she seems to struggle to fit into society and yet remain detached from it. To achieve this sense of distinction, Wharton cannot allow her heroine to marry. If Lily entered into a union with any of the men who are interested in her, she would lose the "sylvan freedom" that Selden so admires in her. Marriage represents a way to drag a woman into society and, in this process, destroys the very part of her that is distant from society, her individuality. Rosedale expresses this when she tells Lily, "with a lot of support behind you, you'll keep her exactly where you want her to be" (269). In other words, by marrying Rosedale, Lily is forced to become the same kind of person as Bertha Dorset, and in the process loses her separate identity. The irony here is that marriage serves as an escape for all the other young women except Lily, and in fact tends to give them more freedom. Gwen Van Osburgh is the best example of this. After marrying Jack Stepney, her entire attitude towards life changes. "But [Stepney's] wife, to his surprise and dismay, had developed a trembling gait that left him trailing breathlessly in her wake" (192). We're made to understand that, free from Van Osburgh's code of conduct, Gwen is now able to do whatever she wants. Lily, however, doesn't fit this mold. Not having grown up with a strict family code, she has developed a freedom that would be destroyed by marriage. In this way Lily is ironically forced to flee the marriage in order to be free. The House of Mirth is a scathing social analysis that Wharton plays brilliantly through Lily's downfall. Selden's unfulfilled love for Lily Bart hinges on his awareness that it is her Diana-like qualities that set her apart; yet it is this same distinct quality that will bring about its demise. Lily's inability to resurrect her reputation and use the letters against Bertha Dorset is intimately linked to her inability to marry; her model of escape from every man who proposes to marry her there. 1964.