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Naturalism In The House Of Mirth

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Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth is predominantly examined by critics in terms of literary Naturalism. The purpose of this analysis is to compare two critical approaches to Naturalism in The House of Mirth by literary critics Carol Singley and Walter Benn Michaels. Carol Singley analyses the theme of Naturalism within the concept of religion and science in her book Edith Wharton: Matters of Mind and Spirit, while Walter Benn Michaels assesses the Naturalism of the novel from an aspect of economics, power and speculation in his critical review The Gold Standard and the Logic of Naturalism: American Literature at the Turn of the Century. The deterministic framework in naturalistic texts generally presents the characters as …show more content…

According to Singley, Lily dies not only because of her failed escape from fate but mainly because she refuses ‘the shallow, materialistic values of her society’ (Singley, 1998, pg.69). Singley’s reading of the novel also recognizes Christian allegories ‘about the fragility of spiritual values in a materialistic culture’ by asserting that Lily’s search ‘for marriage based on trust and love rather than greed’, as well as her ‘homelessness and eighteen-month wanderings’, could be read as a condemned spiritual pilgrimage (Singley, 1998, pg.69). Lily’s refusal to exploit Bertha’s letters in order to defend her own reputation resembles the Christ’s sacrifice. Singley states that Wharton contrasts Darwinian theories with the Christian belief leading to salvation by God after conforming to a divine pattern of existence. She explains that although Wharton concludes her novel sceptically, with Lily’s failure to surpass the society ending in her pointless death, Wharton’s urge to demonstrate the crucial need for such transcendence is present throughout the …show more content…

According to Singley, the persistent theme of morality conflicting with romantic accomplishment is associated with Wharton’s enduring concern for moral authenticity and gender-imposed constraints. Even though her heroine is audacious and independent, she is unable to attain her wishes for romance and a higher truth without self-sacrificing and renouncing her passion. Singley blames the author for Lily’s existential failure because of Wharton’s oppressing Calvinist belief that kept her subjugated under the acceptance of guilt and moral payment for sexual pleasure in her

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In many works of literature, women are portrayed as either dependent and madly in love with a man, whether he is a good man or a bad one, or they are seen as devious and only using men in order to gain something or succeed. This idea appears in society as well, even in the early 1900’s. In Edith Wharton’s novel Ethan Frome, the audience is acquainted with a woman who can be portrayed as the loving, innocent and infatuated stereotype, but when looked at closely can be seen as the real antagonist of the novel. In the novel Zeena, Ethan’s wife, can be quickly judged and seen as the woman culpable for Ethan’s demise. The audience perceives her as nasty and miserable.

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That insistence upon her own happiness at the cost of the disapproval of her friends is not seen as simply wanting to have a nice time in her life. It is seen as Wharton wanting to flirt and waste her time with parties. Lucy Freeman, Wharton’s best friend, describes her in The Coquette; or, the History of Eliza Wharton as “[meaning] to exhibit a few more girlish airs” before she gets married (Foster 595). Freemen very strongly disapproves of this inclination, particularly when she has her own opinions about who and when Wharton should marry. Wharton only pleases Freeman when she gives in and gets engaged to the man her friend

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