Introducing...

     As I began reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton, I was introduced to Selden and Lily Bart.  They are acquaintances and Selden seems to be very interested in Lily.  While reading I come to realize that Lily is a beautiful young woman who is always dressed to perfection.  However, she keeps claiming she is poor and has to marry a man with money.  Then I learn that she feels that she has to live up to her friends and other people and that she dresses fancy because she is expected to. She says that "the clothes are the background, the frame, if you like: they don't make success, but they are a part of it" (Wharton, 8). Her appearance means the most to her because she believes that it is the only way that she can find a man.  However, I believe that she is seeking to find a man who loves her for more than her appearance.  Also, she seems upset by the fact that men get to choose whether they marry but a woman must, and I believe that Lily is a dynamic character because she is going to change throughout the novel.  I think that she will learn many lessons and qualities about herself and others as the novel moves forward.  She is stuck in this thought that money and appearance means everything to men and others, but I suspect that those thoughts will soon change.