House of Mirth

Gilded Age tragedy

*The House of Mirth* is a 1905 novel by Edith Wharton about a woman's decline in New York high society.

The title comes from Ecclesiastes: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth." The phrase captures the novel's critique of shallow wealth-worship.

She's teaching *The House of Mirth* this semester.

Gilded AgeLate 1800s American prosperity
New YorkNortheastern metropolis and state
societyOrganized communal human existence
scandalDisgraceful public affair
fallen womanMorally disgraced female

Edith Wharton · drawing room · ballroom · card table · wealth · ruin · beauty · marriage · spinster · desperation · opulence · downfall · chloral · sleeping draught · cruel fate · lost innocence · debt · gossip

Opposites

narrative tone and outcome

House of Mirthcomedy

Work meant to amuse

Pride and Prejudice · Emma · happily ever after · romantic comedy · comic novel

treatment of society and class

House of Mirthsocial satire

Humor exposing societal absurdities

Vanity Fair · Great Gatsby · Working Girl · Cinderella story

title irony (mirth vs. sorrow)

House of Mirthhouse of mourning

vale of tears · tragedy

Family

house, houses, housed, housing, housekeeper, housekeeping, household, mirth, mirthful

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Timeless · Concrete · Rated PG