Marriage(Pages 201-221)

The fortunes of Miss Bart in Book 2 of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth have recently been cast downwards as she sinks to new lows in her social status battle. She loses the upper class living which seems to be no big deal to me, but will only live in a hotel type place for a short time period because of her determination to marry. She desires to marry Rosedale but gets denied. I wish she could have left it at that. Now trying to make amends of the relationship with Bertha might possibly bring her to a more mischief and probable scandal. How surprising. The theme of money and the relationship that it has with the social status are becoming sadder and sadder in my mind. Why can't these people just enjoy life with or without the money? Was it that hard to love the people around you and just enjoy them? I see glimpses in the book where it seems that characters do care about another, but I am not so convinced. Such as when Rosedale and Miss Bart are discussing marriage and Rosedale feels, "The touch other hand, the moving softness of her look..."(Page206), give me the impression that he actually desires Miss Bart as a person, not just a status piece.