House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
In this section of the book, there is a personality shift that can be seen in Lily Bart. Initially, Lily Bart seems obsessed with vanity and wealth and she intends to maintain status by marrying someone who is wealthy, at least that is what her mother desires. Enter Gryce, the rich someone who Lily is manipulating and gaining the favor of. Lily promises Gryce that she would attend Sunday Mass with him, however, Lily makes excuses to get herself out of that obligation in order to spend time with Mr. Selden, who exemplifies a modest, middle class life. At this point in the story, the relationship between Lily and Selden begins to develop into something more. Also at this point, the story bares a resemblance to a teen drama where Lily, the preppy popular cheerleader, begins to fall for Selden, the less popular yet charming kid, over Mr. Gryce, the popular and rich jock who everybody is expecting Lily to choose to take to prom because that is what the social norm would dictate. This is where Lily Bart discovers that she really wishes to be with Selden. This makes the primary theme clearly visible. That is that Lily Bart is destined to go against the social norm and make her own decision to be with someone she truly loves over someone in the same social class as her. Lily's personality change is epitomized when "carrying her glance a few feet farther, to set up a rapid comparison between Lawrence Selden and Mr. Gryce. It was that comparison which was her undoing. Why else had she suddenly grow interested in Selden" (Wharton, 43)?
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