Wake-up Call

As Lily returns from Europe in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, she arrives home to some upsetting news. Lily's aunt, Mrs. Peniston suddenly died. A great deal of Mrs. Peniston's family came for funeral arrangements. Also the family discussed the will with Mrs. Peniston's lawyer. When going over the will, the family discovers that Lily has been disinherited by her aunt. Mrs. Peniston was so ashamed in who Lily was that she felt she had no choice but to disinherit her. "No one looked at her, no one seemed aware of her presence; she was probing the very depths of insignificance" (Wharton, 180). Throughout Lily's life, she had always been a part of a significant crowd, and at that moment I feel as though it was difficult for Lily to be viewed as inconsequential among her own family. Lily was only given ten thousand dollars while one of her other family members was given her aunt's estate and inheritance. Mrs. Peniston's death was a wake-up call for Lily to get her life back on the right track. Without the her aunt's inheritance to help her, Lily was going to have to form a great deal of independence.