The Represention of Manners In

Representation of Manners

The novel of manners is a novel that focuses on the customs, values, and mindset of a particular class or group of people who are situated in a specific historical context (Bowers and Brothers 5). The context tends to be one in which behavior has been codified and language itself has become formulated, resulting in a suppressing or regulating of individual expression. Often, this type of novel details a conflict between the individual’s desires and the ethical, moral, economic, or interpersonal mandates of society (Bowers and Brothers 5). The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton is a novel of manners concerned with the subtle nuances of behavior and standards of correctness portrayed by the upper-class of New York in the late 1890s. In the novel, Wharton uses the genre to depict Lily Bart’s struggle to maintain individualism while conforming to society’s expectations.

The novel of manners developed in the 19th century as authors explored the place of women in society and the social effect of marriage (Bowers and Brothers 4). These authors wanted to show in particular the problems that come with marriage as well as with the problems of conforming to society. The world of the novel of manners was perceived as a woman’s world, viewed from a woman’s perspective (Bowers and Brothers 4).

The genre developed four specific conventions in the 19th century. Out of the four, three of the conventions are represented in The House of Mirth. One of the conventions was that the protagonist of the novel was usually a single woman looking to get married. The second convention dealt with the woman’s understanding of the socio-economic class within the novel. This was an important factor because it determined whom the woman would marry. The third convention found in The House of Mirth was the novel ending with the marriage or death of the protagonist, the case of Lily Bart, death. The House Mirth portrays all these conventions in the novel but instead of Lily conforming to society, Lily attempts to develop her own self-identity and independence.

Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth, was an unmarried 29 year old woman who desired to be a social success “[or] to get as much as one [could] out of life…” (Wharton 81). Her mission was to marry a relatively wealthy man, thereby ensuring her financial stability and a place in the higher levels of New York society. Lily says to Judy Trenor, “why don’t you just say it…I have the reputation of being on the hunt for a rich husband” (Wharton 62).

Women were expected to represent the characteristics of true womanhood. They were expected to be pure, pious, and self-sacrificial. Women were “generally assumed to be taken up with the legitimate business of courtship and marriage…” (Wharton 18). They were “expected to be pretty and well-dressed…and if they could not keep it alone, they had to go into partnership” (Wharton 33). Women [were] engendered for marriage, and the whole construction of gendered identity [was] about teaching women how to shape and deploy their physical assets for attraction and their public personae for approaching men (Loebel 111). Lily was expected to marry a man without loving him because he was to support her financially.

Lily wanted to marry for wealth, but she also wanted to marry for happiness. Lily desired to have her own independence or her own “republic of the spirit.” She wanted to be free “from money, from poverty, from ease and anxiety, from all the material accidents” (Wharton 81). Lily wanted to incorporate both of the worlds of wealth and independence. She was unable to do this because she did not know how to incorporate the two because of the way she was raised. Lily was raised to live for the luxurious offerings of life and not for the value of life. This upbringing caused Lily to be confused about how to achieve her own “republic of the spirit” without clashing with her desire to be wealthy. Lily does not have a chance for freedom because she was expected to always be consumed into her looks and outer appearance.

The basis of much of the societal interaction in The House of Mirth revolved around money. Lily tells Selden “money stands for all kinds of things…” (Wharton 84). Money served as a prerequisite for admission to the upper-class society of New York in the late 1890s (Bowers and Brothers 15). The socio-economic class of The House of Mirth was based upon three distinct categories of money. Wharton’s focus [was] on two segments of the highest social level: the “old” Old New York represented