Beautiful, Scandalous Lily

When I started reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, I immediately took note of Lily's ability to manipulate men. Selden, the man whom Lily is with in the beginning of the book, has fallen easily for Lily's flirtatious actions. "The provocation in her eyes increased his amusement- he had now supposed she would waste her powder on such small game..." (Wharton, 5). This quote illustrates the ways that Lily is able to toy with men's feelings about her. Lily is able to be subtle as she goes about her flirtatious ways with men. I believe that Lily's ways of easily associating with men will only become more prevalent throuhgout the book. Wharton could possibly be noting Lily's beauty to hint at the fact that it could be used for scandalous purposes with particular men later on in the novel. As Lily did with both Selden and Mr. Gryce in the first few chapters, she saw things she wanted, and set out to pursue them. She was able to use her beauty in her favor to intrigue the men. I believe that Lily's beauty is her weapon of choice.