Edith Wharton House of Mirth
May 25, 2010 4:41 PM Subscribe
Edith Wharton, House of Mirth Interpretation
For an informal book club I'm reading House of Mirth. The following question arose:
Book 1, chapter 4 (5th page into chapter 4 in a pdf version), Mrs Trenor says:
"Lily! -- PERCY Do you mean to say you've actually done it?"
What was Mrs. Trenor suggesting, that they had sex? Or something more subtle in this tail end of the victorian age?
It's here
Thanks
For an informal book club I'm reading House of Mirth. The following question arose:
Book 1, chapter 4 (5th page into chapter 4 in a pdf version), Mrs Trenor says:
"Lily! -- PERCY Do you mean to say you've actually done it?"
What was Mrs. Trenor suggesting, that they had sex? Or something more subtle in this tail end of the victorian age?
It's here
Thanks
I don't think that Edith Wharton was that pedestrian. I think the suggestion was that Lily had managed to snag Percy into a marriage proposal. Lily knew that the only way she could survive in the style to which she had become accustomed was to get a rich husband and Percy fit the bill very nicely.
posted by Leezie at 4:55 PM on May 25, 2010
posted by Leezie at 4:55 PM on May 25, 2010
You could imagine that Trenor is suggesting Lily has used sex in order to blackmail a proposal, but that would be a distant secondary to the actual proposal.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:18 PM on May 25, 2010
posted by Lesser Shrew at 5:18 PM on May 25, 2010
Good lord, no. The whole point is to get Percy to marry her, and as you'll discover (minor spoilers), Percy is horrified even by minor vices; he'd never marry a woman who wasn't very proper.
posted by nicwolff at 5:53 PM on May 25, 2010
posted by nicwolff at 5:53 PM on May 25, 2010
It isn't about Percy, it's about Trenor.
I don't happen to take that view, but it is out there and can be considered ironic.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:29 PM on May 25, 2010
I don't happen to take that view, but it is out there and can be considered ironic.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 6:29 PM on May 25, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks very much everyone.
Sex didn't make sense to me but I couldn't think of the alternative (old math guy, not old literature guy). And maybe in our era "done it" has taken on a too specific meaning.
posted by Kevin S at 7:22 PM on May 25, 2010
Sex didn't make sense to me but I couldn't think of the alternative (old math guy, not old literature guy). And maybe in our era "done it" has taken on a too specific meaning.
posted by Kevin S at 7:22 PM on May 25, 2010
Yeah, Judy is asking Lily if she's "landed" Percy Gryce for certain (i.e. become engaged to him.)
posted by Ouisch at 8:35 PM on May 25, 2010
posted by Ouisch at 8:35 PM on May 25, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Colonel_Chappy at 4:54 PM on May 25, 2010