House Of Mirth Compare And Contrast

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The Miriam Webster Dictionary describes mirth as a, “Gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter.” This poses the question why would Edith Wharton title her work, House of Mirth when the story is anything but cheerful? Throughout the book we watch the downfall of the main character Lily Bart as she falls down the social ladder of the early twentieth century. As she finally realizes she will never be the person that she wants to be, Lily ultimately reaches the end of her life by overdosing on sleeping medication. The book clearly does not follow a gleeful plot as a majority of the characters are hiding gossip from one another, however maybe that is Wharton’s point. Maybe the point of the title of House of Mirth is to show, similar