House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.
Lily has her heart set upon marrying Rosedale... mmm, that might be a problem. It turns out that Rosedale no longer wishes to marry Lily because he believes that he could do better because he heard of the things that happened with Lily and the Dorsets. Lily contemplates blackmail but she refuses that option because it would harm Selden and Bertha as a side effect. Lily realizes that she has been defeated completely by Bertha and her resources. Lily realizes that she can never work her way back into a higher status. Despite recognizing her complete downfall, Lily refuses to give up her expensive taste in clothes and living, or her greatest battle, gambling.
Like a true addict, Lily does not back down from her drug, gambling. It is kind of pathetic to see how someone who has realized their own defeat can be so stubborn as to not give up what became her downfall in the beginning. Frankly, I fail to see how Selden and Gerty can stand to help her when she refuses to help herself. Later on, when Lily become the secretary for Mrs. Hatch, whom is a divorcee, she still pursues the rich life even though she lacks the capacity to do so. It was a good moral decision for to not get involved with Mrs. Hatch and Fred Van Osburgh. This seems to be the end for Lily Bart and her bachelorette life.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen... "Miss Bart had not revealed to Gerty the full extent of her anxiety. She was in fact in urgent and immediate need of money: money to meet the vulgar weekly claims which could neither be deferred nor evaded" (Wharton, 217).
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