Mo Problems(Pages 187-201)

The majority of this past reading by Edith Wharton in The House of Mirth began to disgust me for really two reasons. First, I was disgusted by the clear development in the social class. There are these elites in the society, but then there are these second class elites that get over looked and almost pushed around in my opinion. The second reason that I felt angered was because of the way that each of these elite groups spend their time. They vacation, buy clothes, buy houses, and spend parties. What kind of a life is that to live? Each group spends their summer vacationing in these absurd places simply because they do have enough money to do it and also because of the "Heat" in New York during the summer. Miss Bart's position between these two social classes at the moment can end with the marriage proposals that she has basically been handed, and that bothers me. This idea of who you marry defining who you are and who is going to like you bothers me a lot. I hope that this is not how the world functions in today's society as I grow older. I hope she chooses Rosedale for the right reasons and not just the benefits of money issues like debts. "They swallowed her past as easily as they did Miss Anstell's..."(Page 189), clearly points towards the issues that I have with the absurdity of the events that occur in this book. They are unrealistic, and I understand that this is a book, but the fact that this book reflects the society that was around Wharton deeply troubles me.