The relationship between the ideal and reality is often depicted in black and white. The ideal can be defined as a conception of something in its perfection, while reality is defined as something that exists independently of the ideas about it. In The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton blurs the relationship between ideals and reality by introducing characters who represent different ideals by emphasizing femininity and beauty, but not allowing them to be absolutely flawless. Wharton embodies ideal women not as those who are "perfect ornaments of jewel-like rarity" (94), but as those who can embrace their imperfections and achieve happiness outside of society's expectations. By analyzing the women that Wharton uses in the novel and specifically focusing on their imperfections and how they present and handle them, one can understand Wharton's notion of the “ideal woman.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay From the beginning of the novel, Mr. Selden, a “detached observer of the [high-class social] scene” (99) , is caught admiring the protagonist, Lily Bart. A 29-year-old unmarried woman, Lily is charming, beautiful and intelligent. During social gatherings, men cannot take their eyes off her radiant beauty and vigor. Lily manipulates her own splendor, using her beauty as a power to conquer her goals: “Her beauty itself was not the simple ephemeral possession that might have been in the hands of inexperience: her ability to enhance it, the care she he put of it, the use he made of it, seemed to give it a sort of permanence. She felt she could trust him to see her through to the end” (50). Despite Lily's flawless beauty, Selden observes that "the qualities that distinguished her from the herd of her sex were mainly external, as if a thin layer of beauty and meticulousness had been applied to vulgar clay" (30). Isn't it ironic that something so perfect can be described as vulgar? Furthermore, Lily is described as an object: “it must have cost a lot to make her, many boring and ugly people must have been sacrificed to produce her” (3). It is clear that Wharton intentionally compares Lily to modeling clay, an object that has no definite shape, but finds form by molding and molding others. This analogy fits Lily perfectly in both her financial situation and her emotional dilemmas. All her decisions are based on how others will perceive her. He lives a life of calculation: adding and subtracting the ideal and reality to make himself more popular. Although Lily is delineated as a character with ideal external beauty, she has imperfections that she tries to hide from the New York society she aspires to join. One of Lily's biggest flaws is her obsessive desire and lust for money. “Lily couldn't remember the time when there was enough money, and in some vague way, her father always seemed responsible for the shortage” (29). She did not come from a wealthy family, but her mother “was famous for the unlimited effects she produced with limited means” (30). In this way, Lily is naturally proud of her mother's attitude and grows to belittle the squalor. After her mother's death, Lily strives to become an upper-middle-class New Yorker. He indulges in gambling and speculates on Wall Street. He buys sophisticated clothes because he believes that “clothes are the backdrop, the frame, for success” (10). For her, money will not only free her from her obligations, but also provide her with the ability to live life the way she wants. His desperate dependence onpleasures of the world of luxury and grace ultimately makes her unfit for survival. When all her money vanishes and her debts consume her, Lily becomes a prisoner of her terrible situation. She is chained to the impulses of those around her, tied to the demands of upper-class circles and a slave to her own impotence to be happy without money. Like clay that can only be molded by human hands, Lily is "inwardly malleable like wax" (54), as her perception of herself is based on her social status and what society thinks of her . Her obsession with money is also the reason Lily continually denies her feelings for Selden and is so willing to marry someone she doesn't love. Early in the novel she openly declares to Selden that “I [Lily] am horribly poor – and very expensive. I must have a large amount of money” (8). Despite the fact that Selden genuinely cares for her and is the only constant throughout the novel, she refuses to marry him because he cannot provide for her financially. Hearing society's emphasis on social stature and money, Lily acts against her true emotions for Selden. She rejects the freedom she feels when she is alone with Selden, this freedom “from everything – from money, from poverty, from comfort and anxiety, from all material accidents” (70). Her lust for money ultimately leads her not only to financial ruin but to expulsion from upper-class society. She is “reduced to the fate of that poor woman from Silverton, who sneaks to employment agencies and tries to sell painted sanitary pads at the Women's Exchanges” (282). Her remaining friends have no hope for her unless she completely detaches herself from old associations. Knowing that she has abandoned all hope of happiness, Lily ultimately achieves a kind of ideal status with her death. He repays the nine thousand dollars he owes Trenor and meets with Selden to confess his mistake in rejecting him. No longer a prisoner to her lust for money and acceptance into upper-class society, she admits to Selden that she is a “coward” and ultimately realizes that she “can never be happy with what once satisfied me.” "(326). Lily ends her life "with this tragic but sweet vision of lost possibilities, which has given her a sense of kinship with all she loves and renounces in the world" (340). Unable to embrace her imperfections and of finding them only in death, does not represent the ideal woman. Another woman that Wharton uses to clarify the concept of “ideal woman” is Bertha Dorset, a character in complete contrast to Lily. It is important to note that The House of Mirth was published in 1905, just after the American Gilded Age. This time period refers to the affluence of the post-Civil War years in America. Between 1870 and 1890 the rich became even richer; There is a growing separation between the extravagant rich and the struggling poor. Bertha Dorset represents the wealthy class that Lily aspires to join because she is married to a man of great wealth. Unfortunately, despite all the riches, ornaments and excesses, he is not happy. Similar to many women in her social circle, she is married to a man she does not love in order to establish and protect her social position. In her pursuit of happiness, she gets involved in countless extramarital affairs with other men. Furthermore, she is described as a “nasty woman” who “enjoys making people miserable” (45). Bertha manipulates Lily into going on a road trip to distract her husband while she pursues her affair with another man. However, when Bertha feels threatened by Lily's success with noble people and fears that her husband will discover her affair.