An extract from a text called "The House of Mirth"
The purpose of the extract is to focus mainly on the relationship between
Selden, and Lily Bart. Here, we see that Selden, unexpectedly, meets with
Lily Bart in a train station, and from the start, it is obvious that he is
attracted to her, by the fact that his “eyes had been refreshed by the sight
of [her]”. In the “afternoon rush” of the station, this is a very colorful
contrast as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the station. Right from the
start, we see that Selden is a person who is, by nature, someone very
logical, and who carefully analyses his situation. This is justified by the
poem being written in a third person point of view, from Selden; therefore,
we as the readers are able to relate to Selden’s feelings and thoughts and
see what he is experiencing. From this, it can be deduced that Selden is a
logical person by the use of diction in the passage, in the words “inferred”,
“plan”, “argument from design”, and through the use of repeated rhetorical
questions within the extract, to show how his train of thinking leads him on
to further deductions. Furthermore, he is a man of highly observant powers,
represented by the descriptive, lyrical nature in which the extract is written
in. When he sees Miss Lily Bart, he describes her “vivid head, relieved
against the dull tints of the crowd”, something which others might not
notice. In addition to that, Selden could also be said to be slightly
pretentious in nature, by “respond[ing] joyfully that to [rescue Miss Lily
Bart] was his mission in life”, and by “declaring himself entirely at [Miss Lily
Bart’s] disposal”, which are extremely formal and overbearing declarations,
and which could hint slightly at Selden trying to maintain his distance from
her while, at the same time, trying to “be drawn, for a moment, into…
sudden intimacy”. In addition to this, confidence, perhaps even arrogance,
is expressed as we see how Selden is able to interpret every step of Miss Lily
Bart’s actions as something more significant than what she seems to be
showing, and due to his repeated questions as he thinks, it is almost as if he
priding himself on his ability to outwit Miss Lily Bart and see her actions for
what they really are. There is almost joy in the knowledge that “she would
contrive to elude him” if “she did not wish to be seen”, and this little game
amuses him. Again, although he is arrogant in thinking that his “course lay
so far out of [Miss Lily Bart‘s] orbit”, he observes her physical beauty, her
“little ear, the crips upward wave of her hair… and the thick planting of her
straight black lashes” with an almost lustful pleasure, and yet maintaining a
detached view, as much as he can. We may also note that Miss Lily Bart has
an almost gripping effect on Selden; we see that Selden’s first reaction to
seeing her is to “pause in surprise”, almost as if her presence has shocked
him, and that he has the time for a “cup of tea” with her even though his
work is fairly urgent in nature, prompting him to rush back from a “hurried
dip” into the country”. Also, this is prompted by the repetition of words like
“arrested”, “impulse” and “struck”, words which are very forceful and
which imply that Selden cannot resist Miss Lily Bart’s charm.
On the other hand, although he is attracted to her, he cannot have a
intimate relationship with her because he suspects Miss Lily Bart of having
“far-reaching intentions” instead of her “[simple] acts”. This is fortified by
Selden’s viewing of the “herd of [the female] sex” as extremely “dull and
ugly” in contrast to Miss Lily Bart, and the “crudity of this average section
of womanhood”. Almost portraying Selden as a chauvinist, it is clear that he
thinks he deserves Miss Lily Bart because she stands out as “strong and
fine”, compared to the “sallow-faced girls with preposterous hats, and flatchested women struggling with paper bundles and palm-leaf fans”; it is
almost as if he deserves her, because she represents the best as the leader
of the female gender. Even though it is so, Selden still feels that the “fine
glaze of beauty” of Miss Lily Bart is still temporal in nature, and mostly
exterior, in stark contrast to the “vulgar clay” she is made of, are, Selden
feels, are other women. However, he also questions whether a “coarse
texture will… take a high finish”, assuming that because Miss Lily Bart is
beautiful outside, she is perfect within, as she is without, showing that Miss
Lily Bart has perhaps bewitched him, and caused him to feel a certain
longing towards her, because she is, unlike the rest of her gender, more
perfect and more capable than they are.
Miss Lily Bart, on the other hand, is perceived to be a cunning and devious
woman in Selden’s eyes, manipulating him through her charm. We should
keep in mind that the story is seen through Selden’s eyes, and that there is
no definitive evidence to show that Miss Lily Bart is actually using her wiles
to manipulate Selden. When Miss Lily Bart is first noticed, Selden perceives
her as having “a desultory air”, an air of uncertainty and hesitation. From
the fact that it was strange and that it “perplexed” Selden, we can assume
that Miss Lily Bart is not one to actually vacillate often, and it again brings
us to the point that Miss Lily Bart’s “simplest acts seemed the result of farreaching intentions”. To Selden, her act of standing out in the crowd,
“letting it drift by her”, is as if she is able to withstand the incessant flow
of daily life as it rushes past her, and she serves as a foil to Selden, someone
who, unlike Selden who must take a “hurried dip into the country” from
work, is able to work without rushing here and there.. Again, the fact that
Selden works in the city, and that she works in predominantly “countryhouses” reinforces the idea that Selden’s “course lay… far out of her orbit”.
In contrast to Selden’s constant analysis and evaluation of the situation,
Miss Lily Bart is seen to react spontaneously, especially when she first meets
Selden and exclaims “Mr Selden- what good luck!”. Her off-the-cuff
reactions could hint at her character- firstly, that she is a person who is able
to talk her way out of situations, and secondly, a person that is able to
display her emotions very well, as well as, perhaps, veil her inner feelings
effectively with this veneer. By her very nature, she is attractive and
“arrest[s] even the suburban traveller rushing to his last train”, and we see
that even Selden cannot resist looking at her even though there is “nothing
new” about her.
We may also note that Miss Lily Bart possesses a certain amount of coquetry,
which we are able to observe, she uses with great skill in weaving Selden
into her plans, when she replies as to “what form [Selden’s] rescue was to
take”. Here, her pauses in her speech, where she says “almost any- even to
sitting on a bench and talking to me. One sits out a cotillion- why not sit out
a train? It isn’t hotter here than in Mrs Van Osburgh’s conservatory- and
some of the women are not a bit uglier”, shows her pauses for emphasis and
effect on Selden, as well as her diction, hinting that she is well educated. It
is evident that she tries to project an image of being prosperous, by the fact
that she has a “little jeweled watch” and wears “laces”. Also, the fact that
she dances often hints at her prosperity, of either being a teacher of
dancing to people who are well off, or being a student in dancing, a pastime
for the upper echelon of society in 1905, when the extract was written.
Accordingly, Miss Lily Bart displays a certain sort of arrogance, in thinking
that the girls in Mrs Van Osburgh’s conservatory “are not a bit uglier”, and
that her “arrest” of other people’s gazes is probably intentional by her
“jeweled watch” and “laces”.. Her condescending nature is also exemplified
by her note that the patrons in “Sherry’s” were “a lot of bores”, and going
on to note that she was as “old as the hills, of course”, which, although
might be true, are not evidently what other people think. This understatement by her could show that she tries to project an image of humility
towards Selden, but in doing so, actually reveals the extent of her
arrogance. All this serves to portray the fact that she is a work of art, as
Selden believes, and that she is very valuable, so valuable that “a great
many dull and ugly people must…have been sacrificed to produce her”. Her
image of being “at once vigorous and exquisite, at once strong and fine”
also serve as opposite ends of a spectrum of desirable qualities, but not
entirely oxymorons, and this technique also serves to show how valuable she
is compared to the “returning holiday-makers“. Her sophistication also hints
that there is more to her than what she seems to be, more than just “vulgar
clay”. This may be corroborated with the fact that her “indefatigable
dancing” and “eleven years of late hours” were not seen in her “purity of
tint” and her “radian[ce]”. Again, we take note that Miss Lily Bart does
realise her beauty and charm, in her assumption that Selden was “com[ing]
to [her] rescue”, and that everyone else around her is a “bore” or is
“uglier”. Therefore, all this could make her actions, as she “glanced
plaintively around the station” somewhat planned in nature, even hinting
that they were purposeful and deliberate and that she had some hidden
intentions not revealed to Selden in the extract. Her view of other women
being all less interesting than her also shows that she seems to look at
everyone as beneath her, but leaves it to Selden to actually realise this
instead of openly telling him her fortes. The description of Miss Lily Bart in
the extract therefore shows she is somewhat of an enigmatic character, and
serves, again, as a foil to Selden, the logical and practical character that we
see him to be.
The extract possesses an underlying motif of colour throughout the extract,
and we see that Miss Lily Bart is described as a very colorful, “radiant”,
“vivid” person, “relieved against the dull tints of the crowd”. The effect of
this is to show a multi-layering of her personality, and that something could
be deeper that what lies above on the surface. This motif is used very well
to consistently flesh out the theme of appearance versus reality, as well as
the use of the environment to show this; alone and in the train station,
Selden is faced with monochromatic crowds, while out and alone with Miss
Lily Bart, the “rapid shower had cooled the air”, and the environment
develops into a somewhat more light-hearted and refreshing one, with Miss
Lily Bart around. The extract ends off with us realizing that Selden does not
see her as something more than a work of art, and thereby probably
underestimating, even though he has already pre-empted, her veiled
intentions, through the effective use of an extensive train of thought
developed by Selden, and dialogue.