# of Words: 223

The House of Mirth was printed in 1905 by Edith Wharton, a well-known author in the famous and wealthy New York family. Wharton, in most of her novels, investigates and exposes the opulent society where she dwelt. She understood the intricacies of high society such as the back of her hands, and wealthy New York society is indeed the popular topic of House of Mirth.

The novel follows Lily Bart, a beautiful young lady on the search for a wealthy husband, as she navigates the social landscape and suffers tragically in its pre-pregnancy palms.

In the time of its publication, House of Mirth was critically and commercially a fantastic success. But, it was condemned by some as overly-critical of society's elite -- and by "a few" we imply, obviously, "society's elite" themselves. Ouch.

The novel firmly established Edith Wharton as a significant author, also paved the way for later novels, such as The Age of Innocence, where she received the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Literature. House of Mirth was also seminal as a historical novel in a genre of literature known as "The Novel of Manners." These works explore a particular social system in a particular time, normally elite society sometime around the last half of the 19th century. Wharton was among authors such as Jane Austen and Evelyn Waugh in pioneering this particular genre.

Related Papers

Henry VI, Part 1 William Shakespeare

Does Shakespeare make you feel somewhat nervous? Dude is a fairly major deal, after all. But fear not. It has a lot of the very same things which make George Lucas's cinematic masterpieces crowd pleasers for the ages. Much like Episode 1 of all Star Wars, Henry VI, Part 1 has some significant political intrigue going down, such as betrayal, scheming, plotting, along with lightsaber duels. Alright, not too much on the lightsaber duels--however there really are a great deal of battles and......Read More

The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Junot D’az

This book is such a literary rockstar that we are pretty sure you already know what it is about. The Short Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao made a huge splash when Riverhead books printed it in 2007. It won a bucketload of awards, including the John Sargent Senior First Novel Prize along with the Dayton Literary Peace Prize in Fiction. No, this book kept winning larger and more prestigious awards such as the National Book Critics Circle Award along with the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Considering......Read More

The Age Of Innocence Edith Wharton

All of New York's high society has been gathered for a production of Gounod's opera Faust,such as Newland Archer, recently engaged to fairly May Welland. The appearance of May's cousin, the controversial Countess Olenska, who's--gasp! --separated from her husband, causes a stir in New York society also turns Newland Archer's world upside down. Countess Olenska settles at a bohemian area and leads an unconventional way of life. Remember that unconventional in 1870s New York basically means she......Read More

Related Topics