Thought Pause. Endgame

House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.

From Riches to complete poverty, Lily went full circle. Her values that she learned from her mother were her ultimate demise. Vanity, greed, and her constant pursuit of wealth became her undoing. I believe that she learned that it was nobody else's fault but her own and that she had the power to change her fate. However, she lacked the will to do so. Despite her tremendous loss, Lily ultimately cleared her name of any debt and made right with the world. I feel as if Lily could have came out above all of the people whom she envied if she had chosen to practice a little humility and marry Selden to begin with. However, Lily did not believe that he could bring her happiness because he did not have the funds to do so. In that decision, Lily paid the price. If I was to remove all of the cluttering details, this story would bare particular resemblance to Romeo and Juliet with a few minor, ok, major differences. It is interesting to see how writers recycle plot lines and put a different name and spin on it. Just enough to make people believe that the story is new and unique from any other.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story. This book really made me pay attention to detail, especially through the confusing and convoluted parts. While this story does bare some similarities to the Hollywood romance, there were unique things that made this story pop out from the rest. In my eyes, this was a five star read.

"Strive as she would to put some order in her thoughts, the words would not come more clearly; yet she felt that she could not leave him without trying to make him understand that she had saved herself whole from the seeming ruin of her life" (Wharton, 250).