When Money Stays, Friends Do Too
Being born into a once well-off family Lily, even though critical of Bertha Dorset is forced to live up to those standards to be a part of that society, while Gerty Farish “being fatally poor and dingy” (p.89) still manages to live a life at her own disposal. Gerty Farish is thus the character living the “ideal” life of independence that Lily craves for herself. As Lily points out,
"It is not always easy to be quite independent and self-respecting when one is poor and lives among rich people" (Wharton 178).
Lily thus being entrapped in the specific expectations of society is forced to be the manipulative woman she accuses Bertha to be, in order to make herself a part of the society. The struggle endured in the process of living up to societal expectations of a universe which eventually was “to leave her out of its calculations” (p.27), costs her her self-respect and freedom of being herself, besides all the money she lost in bridge, that is. All of her struggle however, only led her to be a "doomed victim" of the upper-class society and its shallow perceptions. The loss of her reputation was the first big step to Lily's "doomedness". This loss results in the loss of her so-called "friends" like Bertha Dorset and the others, as expected of them being members of a society where everything and everyone is measured in monetary values.
Gerty, on the other hand, is portrayed to be free from the entrapment of the societal expectations because she does not meet the upper-class standards. Thus allowing her to live an independent life in her own free will. Sadly, despite being the poor and dingy person Gerty may be, she is the only person who tries to support Lily in any possible way.
The shallowness of the relationship of Lily with the other upper-class members is a contrast to her relationship with Gerty. While Gerty's "dinginess" allows her to stay by Lily at all situations, Bertha and the others are not only lost as soon as Lily loses her reputation but also are the contributors to Lily's loss, a loss of money and reputation, that eventually leads to the loss of her life. As is depicted in the illustration, the loss of her reputation is set against a background of women talking behind her back. A strong depiction of the way society pits women against one another.
Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. Penguin Classics, 1986.
