“The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (New King James Version, Eccl. 7:4). From this wise Biblical proverb stems the title of Edith Wharton’s second novel The House of Mirth. The narrative examines Lily Bart, a seemingly prosperous and confident young New Yorker plagued by self-hatred and debt. The common literary allusions “gilding the lily” and “consider the lilies” better illustrate these negative attributes, which ultimately caused her downfall.
“Gilding the lily” is arguably one of the most direct allusions in The House of Mirth. Taken from the Shakespearean quote “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily…is wasteful and ridiculous excess” (King John iv.ii.10–18), the idiom perfectly illustrates Wharton’s troubled protagonist. As a result of her distorted worldview, Lily Bart painted herself with an unnecessary gold gilding. She believed costly jewels, fashionable clothes, and high society defined beauty—and that, without these, she was nothing. If …show more content…
Wharton says that, for once, the “truer instinct of her unassisted beauty” (142) influenced the heroine’s magnificent appearance. Lawrence Selden, beholding Lily in her simple elegance, deemed her “the real Lily Bart, divested of the trivialities of her little world” (Wharton, 142). This proved that Lily gilded her physical beauty as well. If she had stuck to her natural, God-given loveliness, she would’ve always felt truly beautiful, as she did the night of the tableau vivant. Instead, she constantly depended on expensive clothes to feel pretty, thus never feeling genuinely pretty at all. Nevertheless, Lily strove diligently to gild her already perfect beauty, metaphorically “gilding the Lily” throughout the entire novel. This desperate pursuit was the core of Lily’s personality, for when she could no longer gild herself, she became gravely
“Gilding the lily” is arguably one of the most direct allusions in The House of Mirth. Taken from the Shakespearean quote “To gild refined gold, to paint the lily…is wasteful and ridiculous excess” (King John iv.ii.10–18), the idiom perfectly illustrates Wharton’s troubled protagonist. As a result of her distorted worldview, Lily Bart painted herself with an unnecessary gold gilding. She believed costly jewels, fashionable clothes, and high society defined beauty—and that, without these, she was nothing. If …show more content…
Wharton says that, for once, the “truer instinct of her unassisted beauty” (142) influenced the heroine’s magnificent appearance. Lawrence Selden, beholding Lily in her simple elegance, deemed her “the real Lily Bart, divested of the trivialities of her little world” (Wharton, 142). This proved that Lily gilded her physical beauty as well. If she had stuck to her natural, God-given loveliness, she would’ve always felt truly beautiful, as she did the night of the tableau vivant. Instead, she constantly depended on expensive clothes to feel pretty, thus never feeling genuinely pretty at all. Nevertheless, Lily strove diligently to gild her already perfect beauty, metaphorically “gilding the Lily” throughout the entire novel. This desperate pursuit was the core of Lily’s personality, for when she could no longer gild herself, she became gravely