In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton uses time in a variety of ways that provide symbolic meaning along with vivid setting. Wharton uses weather, climate, and the changing seasons to foreshadow events in the immediate future and to reflect Lily's emotional state or perceptions. When Lily's vision of events is impractical, unrealistic, or just plain wrong, climate and weather take on subtly ironic overtones. However, to fully appreciate the ingenious subtlety of Wharton's prose it is necessary to understand the climate and conditions of the environments she uses. This essay will begin by presenting a brief description of the geography and climate relevant to The House of Mirth, with emphasis on how the changing seasons influence the behavior of Lily Bart and her peers enough to influence the plot of the novel. It will use specific examples to illustrate how representations of climate accurately reflect Lily's subjective and often unrealistic impression of reality. It will show how climate is used to foreshadow key events and present a scene where the climate symbolism is extremely ironic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay There are three settings in the novel where the climate is relevant: the island of Manhattan, the state of New York, and the city of Monte Carlo in Monaco, near the French Riviera. Rich characters live in New York during the winter months but travel away from the city in the spring and summer. Much of the upper class is migrants, owning “country” estates in New Jersey and upstate New York, or even vacationing abroad during the warmer months. This is partly because Manhattan is a very physically uncomfortable place to be in the summer without air conditioning... and in Edith Wharton's time, residential air conditioning had not yet been invented. Manhattan Island is in the warm temperate region, with summer conditions from late May to late September with warmer temperatures later in the season. By the early 1900s the island was already becoming densely populated and had been deforested and replaced with businesses, industrial parks, and living spaces for humans and horses.[i] Manhattan is not cooled by the ocean like Long Island is, although due to the East River and canal system there is a large amount of water which contributes to the humidity.[ii] When Lily is trapped there in the summer after her return from the disastrous events aboard the Sabrina, with no invitation to leave the city for colder climes and no financial resources of his own, he experiences a literal heat that can be interpreted as reminiscent of Hell or perhaps Purgatory. Compared to Manhattan, the Adirondack and Catskill mountain areas are cooler in the summer, especially outside the Hudson River Valley. They are not close enough to the ocean to be cooled, however the humidity is not excessive and the summer temperature tends to be several degrees cooler than in Manhattan. The terrain is hilly and somewhat mountainous, with fertile soil suitable for orchards. Most of the wealthy families in The House of Mirth own or rent private properties in cities like Tuxedo, Rhinebeck, Peekskill and elsewhere. These regions are called “upstate” New York. In Wharton's time, towns and cities in upstate New York were connected by unpaved roads that were not always well maintained in the winter. The physical difficulty of moving from one semi-rural building to another to obtain food and supplies, and the inconsistent electrical andcommunications that can be disrupted by bad weather even to the present day, were a major reason why wealthy people tended to migrate back to the city in October instead of simply traveling for social events. But during the summer estates such as the Trenor residence at Bellomont near Rhinebeck were a welcome refuge from the heat. New York state is known for beautiful fall foliage in October, with lots of gold, orange, and red leaves that tend to change colors in mid to late October. The timing of Van Osburgh's wedding, mid-to-late October, would coincide with the peak colors of fall leaves. Also in upstate New York is Adirondack Park, declared “forever wild” in 1894, after being declared a state forest preserve in 1885. It represents an area about the size of Vermont. This is where the Gormers and some of the other characters in the novel have a "camp" in the summer or during the Thanksgiving holiday in November. However, there is an element of physical risk: winter storms can arrive at any time, at which point unpaved roads would become impassable except by sled. Another earthly paradise found in The House of Mirth is Monaco, which Lily visits as part of a Faustian Pact with George and Bertha Dorset. Known for its casinos and luxury accommodations, its capital Monte Carlo is located near the French Riviera on a strip of land along the southern part of France that also includes Nice, Cannes and parts of Provence. Monte Carlo has a deep-water port and a tropical Mediterranean climate. In mid-April, when the second half of the novel begins, you can expect to see cactus flowers in bloom. The seasons of the year are more discreet than in New York: in winter it is never that cold, but summers are also cooler. The French Riviera is therefore a very popular place among wealthy New Yorkers in spring and summer, although the social "season" in the area is dictated more by the tourist habits of upper-class London. There, the social season has always ended earlier than in New York due to differences in climate and customs: the British elite in the early 1900s tended to visit the city in March and April. So, in mid-April, when Lawrence Selden meets Lily Bart and her fashionable friends in Monaco, the local social season comes to an end. Entertainment such as the water show in Nice is still organised, but it is fewer and further apart than it was a few weeks ago. Given that it is the seasons that push Edith Wharton's characters to escape the elements of one area by migrating to another, it is perhaps inevitable that the climate also drives the plot of the story. The novel begins in early September, the hottest part of the New York summer, when Lily meets her acquaintance Lawrence Selden and spontaneously accepts an invitation to visit him alone for tea in his apartment. Lily is about to escape the oppressive heat of the city because she has been invited to an exclusive week-long party at Bellomont, Gus and Judy Trenor's estate in upstate New York. The contrast between the temperate and comfortable social "paradise" of Bellomont with the uncomfortable heat of Manhattan in summer can be read as a clumsy analogy to Heaven and Hell, with less privileged people like the Jew Simon Rosedale condemned to remain in hot August weather as the worthiest social elites manage to escape the heat. Yet Wharton turns the analogy on its head: ironically it is in Bellomont where temptation and sin are most easily accessible. In New York, Lily would be free from the temptation to overspend, gamble, and engage in the kind of conduct that will ultimately destroy herreputation and will cost her what would otherwise have been a comfortable inheritance. But in Bellomont she gambles almost all the money she spends and falls into debt with her host, Gus Trenor, who she manipulates into giving her the money. This is a pivotal decision for Lily, because it sets her on the path to self-destruction. During her walk with Lawrence Selden, when Lily enjoys the opportunity to simply be herself, she encounters a piece of "lingering summer": a meadow with scattered trees, asters and brambles, sugar maples, orchards with fruit, and oaks.[iii ] The fruit, most likely apples given the location and time of year, is ripening on the tree. Lily herself is more than ripe for marriage, having been in society for a full eleven years without finding a husband.[iv] Yet Wharton indicates that the loose leaves were drawn to the ground just as Lily and Lawrence are drawn to each other .[ v] Wharton describes mossy boulders and September “mist,” a feature of the landscape that presents itself later in the novel on a similar walk. The mist symbolizes confusion. Although Lily begins the novel quite confident in her ability to snare a rich young bachelor named Percy Gryce, her long walk with Lawrence shows her that other options exist. Therefore he gets confused about what he really wants and sabotages himself. As a direct result of spending so much time with Lawrence, Lily loses her grip on Percy. Not only does it irritate Lawrence's former lover, Bertha Dorset, but it creates an opportunity for Bertha to poison Percy's attitude towards Lily with a selective revelation of some of Lily's past. Through the first half of the novel, Lily experiences an increasing physical thrill in the environment. air that parallels society's gradual metaphorical chill towards him. The social cooling is mainly due to his decisions and conduct, particularly his refusal to conform to the increasingly narrow social norms available to him and also his decision to do socially unacceptable things such as visiting a single man's apartment, playing gambling for money and taking loans. money from men to pay off his gambling debts. But there are moments of respite. The next appearance of time in the novel occurs a few weeks later, when Lily actually invites herself as a guest to another of Judy's parties. The weather in Bellomont this time is unpleasant, with cold and rain keeping revelers indoors. Yet Lily's social reception is also cold, both from Judy - who responds via telegraph to Lily's handwritten note - and from her guests. In the weeks following her departure from the first party, Lily has been conspicuously absent from Bellomont. She is trying to avoid Gus, whom she has manipulated into investing on her behalf by pretending to be receptive to her romantic advances. Judy, who as Lily later realizes is fully aware of Gus's financial indiscretion towards her, is unimpressed because Lily took money from her husband (implying the exchange of sexual favors) immediately after Judy explicitly told her not to do it. To repay Gus, Lily was seen working with him, Simon Rosedale, and a pair of social fighters named Wellington and Louisa Bry, and the infamous Carry Fisher, whose two divorces and habit of socializing with people not exactly respectable. make her useful to many but admired by few.[vi] Although Judy, Gus's wife, is initially friendly and pleased that Lily is becoming good friends with her husband, when it becomes apparent that Lily is receiving money from Gus, her attitude he grows cold towards Lily. She allows Bellomont's other guests to tease her incessantly about her new habit of socializingwith people she previously considered beneath her.[vii]At Van Osburgh's wedding in October, the changing leaves parallel the changing and declining leaves of Lily. social options. Despite her status as an unmarried woman and cousin of the groom, Lily does not offer herself as a bridesmaid mainly because she does not want to invite comparison with younger, richer and more eligible girls. Among them, unbeknownst to Lily, is young Evie Van Osburgh. Evie, who had been introduced to Percy through Bertha Dorset in retaliation for Lily's interference in Bertha's relationship with Lawrence, caught Percy's attention. Although Lily harbors the idea that she can win him back somehow, her hopes are dashed at the wedding: Percy proposes to Evie, who accepts.[viii] Gus Trenor, meanwhile, is becoming more vocal in his pursuit Lily's romantic, and has no qualms about discussing their financial relationships in public. But despite clear evidence that her strategy isn't working, she clings to it just as a changing leaf clings to the branch that once nourished it. Lily, at age twenty-nine, is still strikingly attractive but still unmarried and without financial resources due to missed marriage opportunities in her youth. Stunned by subtle criticism from her peers and concerned about Gus Trenor's increasingly insistent demands for attention, Lily accepts an invitation to spend Thanksgiving with the Brys at a camp in the Adirondacks. There, her hosts treat her with the deference that her hereditary social status demands, even though for all practical purposes they are much richer than Aunt Julia. This is an interesting distinction: the sizable inheritance that Lily expects from her aunt Julia is a path for her to financial well-being and social respectability, but it will not bring her into the ranks of the super-rich. Instead of nurturing her relationship with her Aunt Julia to secure her inheritance, Lily despises the old woman's company whenever possible. Lily thinks this is the pursuit of "an opportunity",[ix] yet in her search for the two birds in the bush she inadvertently neglects the bird in her hand. Wharton describes the Adirondack camp climate as “invigorating.” Lily returns from camp energized, strong and full of a confidence that turns out to be misplaced. This is the first time Wharton allows her description of time to be more in tune with Lily's mistaken beliefs than the reality she faces. The gradual crumbling of Lily's social world occurs during the winter, when the cold New York climate is relieved. from the joy inside. In the artificially heated environment of the Brys' general entertainment, Lily scandalizes her family by appearing in diaphanous dresses that leave little to the imagination. The warmth, like the warmth of her audience's reaction to her appearance as Mrs. Lloyd, is artificial: people start gossiping about her even before the party ends.[x] During this time, the warmth and support available to Lily only exist indoors in artificial environments. Outside, the winter that symbolizes the predictable consequences of Lily's decisions approaches inexorably. Most of the novel's episodes coincide with the end of the seasons. This is significant, because the end of a season is a time of literal and metaphorical transition. Bellomont's party takes place at the end of summer and parallels the end of the "summer" of Lily's youth. Lily's key decision to shift her social circle for financial reasons to include people she previously deemed unworthy, and to compromise her money standards, comes as autumn fades into winter. But when the consequences of hisimprovidents manifest themselves and she begins to feel trapped and trapped by debt to Gus Trenor, Lily makes a Faustian bargain with Bertha Dorset to escape to a more temperate climate. Unlike the progression of the seasons, which is relentless, Lily does not move gracefully into any of the opportunities presented to her. His decisions are discontinuous and almost random. She rejects the idea of ​​marrying Lawrence Selden because she wants to marry for money,[xi] and sabotages her marriage to Percy Gryce and rejects Simon Rosedale because she wants to marry for love.[xii] Instead of compromising and finding emotional satisfaction. or material comfort through marriage, and instead of maturing into a slightly more scandalous Carry Fisher-style version of herself, Lily clings to an inappropriate and outdated self-image of the young, marriageable girl she was once raised to be. The novel opens in Monaco in mid-April.[xiii] There, Wharton describes mid-April in Monaco, with exuberant flowers, azure seas, fiery rays of cactus flowers, and soft shadows. The temperate Mediterranean climate is a welcome relief from the New York winter, yet the peace implicit in the good weather is artificial. Lily is in extreme danger. By agreeing to get on the Dorsets' yacht, Lily has tacitly agreed to serve as a distraction so that Bertha's husband does not notice her ongoing affair. But instead of focusing on her distractor duties, Lily becomes absorbed in her social successes and neglects her primary duty. George Dorset notices that he has been cheated on by his wife and, to protect herself, Bertha publicly accuses Lily of adultery with George and kicks her off the yacht. The resulting scandal reaches New York before Lily. So the clear sunlight, purple waters, olive trees and eucalyptus offer no permanent refuge, not even in the "luxurious shade" of the aft deck where Lily finds Bertha having tea with a distinguished guest as part of a plot to accuse Lily of an affair. with George to cover up her indiscretion with Ned Silverton.[xiv]Immediately after the dinner where Bertha orders Lily off the yacht in front of a tabloid reporter, the weather is gusty and cloudy. Reality is finally settling in for Lily, and she is finally aware of her situation. She is separated from her home by the Atlantic Ocean, in a country where her protectors are more interested in their entertainment than her well-being. Although her cousin Jack Stepney and his new wife Gwen Van Osburgh provide her with shelter for the night, Jack orders Lawrence to put Lily on the very first ship back to New York. Lily rebels, preferring to travel to Paris and then London with her worldly friends. This decision spells her downfall: in her absence, her aunt Julia changes her will to provide Lily with little more money than she needs to pay off her debts. When Lily returns to New York her shutters are down. The windows were covered not only to protect from the oppressive June sun[xv] but also as part of a funeral custom. Aunt Julia is dead, Lily is effectively disinherited, except for an almost negligible sum that she needs to repay her debt to Gus Trenor. It will take several months for her to inherit it, and the drawn shutters parallel the rejection Lily experiences from her cousin Grace, who has inherited most of Aunt Julia's estate and who is financially able to take out a loan to front of it. Grace refuses to enable Lily's prodigality by borrowing money to protect her from the consequences of her decision to ask Gus for a loan. Lily escapes New York to spend a "leafy" Sunday on the porch with the Gormers. As a result of the intervention of her friend Carry Fisher, Lily accompanies theGormer heads to Alaska for an extended vacation from reality.[xvi] Serving as social secretary for the Gormers, Lily provides herself with food, clothing, and shelter for several months while maintaining a modicum of social status. But in November, when summer is over and autumn is well established, it becomes obvious that his refuge with the Gormers cannot last. Lily has not socially rehabilitated herself, so she cannot engineer the Gormers' rise in society and collect compensation for it like Carry does. Indeed, instead of climbing into society, the Gormers have created a local social scene focused primarily on themselves. Through them, Lily finds herself hanging out with less respectable and sometimes even shady characters with whom she otherwise wouldn't have spoken. Yet when Bertha Dorset rushes to “discover” her, Mattie Gormer shows an appreciation for “proper” society and a desire for recognition and acceptance. Bertha provides it, but at a price: she pushes Mattie to break off ties with Lily.[xvii]Carry Fisher intervenes again, saving Lily from homelessness by hosting her in a luxurious rented country house paid for by the Brys. There, during the November “mist” that heralds the onset of winter, Lily takes another momentous walk in a rocky valley above a lake with Simon Rosedale. Rosedale, who by this point has replaced Lawrence Selden as Lily's main suitor, loves Lily for her own sake, but does not wish to harm his own social progress by associating with her unless she can rehabilitate herself socially. She has the means to do so: a series of letters from Bertha to Lawrence, which Rosedale ensured fell into Lily's hands. Lily is then in a position to either blackmail Bertha into behaving well, or ensure that the Dorsets divorce and marry the wealthy George Dorset in Bertha's place. Although Lily is now ready to marry Rosedale, she is not yet willing to blackmail Bertha to regain her social position. The “harsh winter sunlight”[xviii] described by Wharton in the city contrasts with the exaggerated warmth and brightness of the hotel suite inhabited by gold-digging Mrs. Norma Hatch. Lily agrees to be his social secretary, a job that Carry Fisher found and passed on to her despite not knowing Mrs. Hatch. Lily begins to organize Mrs. Hatch's life and family, but finds herself surrounded by a rich but disreputable crowd. Her situation ends in fiasco: Mrs. Hatch almost succeeds in marrying the young and impressionable Freddy Van Osburgh. The young man is saved from the discrepancy not by Lily but by Simon Rosedale and the old man Ned Van Alstyne, who is distantly related to Lily, who has lent her money in the past and who, together with Lawrence Selden, saw her leave. At Gus Trenor's house late at night on an evening when Judy was known to be out of town. Lily survives the social season because Carry finds her a job at a milliner's shop, where she can't cut hats for a living. The sweetness of April's spring is ironic, since Lily is fired early instead of in May. The guesthouse where he lives is not decorated with flowers but with dry pampas grass. Desperate, Lily finally decides to visit Bertha during a cold rain. After meeting Nettie Struther, a poor woman who was once inspired by Lily and who changed her life partly thanks to the love of a good man, Lily changes her mind. Instead of blackmailing Bertha, he visits Lawrence one last time and destroys the incriminating letters. That night he receives his inheritance payment, uses it to pay off his debts, and then dies in his sleep from an overdose of his sleeping pill. In the morning, Lawrence goes to visit Lily again but finds her dead. Outside, the spring weather outside her lowered window shutter is bright, sunny and pleasant. 2, 14.