Another Sleeping Beauty: Narcissism In The House Of Mirth .

Another Sleeping Beauty: Narcissism in The House of MirthAuthor(s): Joan LidoffSource: American Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 5 (Winter, 1980), pp. 519-539Published by: The Johns Hopkins University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2712411Accessed: 11-05-2015 20:25 UTCYour use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at s.jspJSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.The Johns Hopkins University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to AmericanQuarterly.http://www.jstor.orgThis content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

ANOTHER SLEEPING BEAUTY:NARCISSISM INTHE HOUSE OF MIRTHJOAN LIDOFFUniversityof Texas at AustinDESPITETHEPRESENTRENEWALOF INTERESTINThe House of Mirth,reminiscentof the enthusiasmthat greetedits publicationin 1905,criticismhas not yetexplainedthe singlemostpowerfulaspectof thenovel:theextraordinaryappeal of itsheroine,Lily Bart.Lily somehowexceeds the boundsof criticaldefinitionas she does the intentionsofEdithWharton'snarrativestructure.She is one ofthemostcompellingofthe femalespirits-Emma Bovary,Anna Karenina,MaggieTulliver,Edna Pontellier-strugglingto forgetheirowndestinies,whom,as rgyofTheHouse ofMirth2and acknowledgedLily's "mysteriousappeal.'3 "Lily Bartis byfarthemostvividofMrs. Wharton'sheroines,"writesLouis Auchincloss.4"Simplyas anexampleofimaginativeportraiture,"IrvingHowe proclaims,sheis "one5ofthetriumphsofAmericanwriting."To EdithWharton,victimofdestructionLilyis an inevitableby declaredintentwas to ilI Diana Trilling,"The Liberated Heroine," Times LiterarySupplement, 13 (Oct. 1978),1163-67.2Patricia Spacks, The Female Imagination (New York: Knopf, 1975). She writes,"TheHouse of Mirthhas the energyof a parable" (241). Gary Lindbergdetectsin Lily "psychicenergiesthatare unmalleableto social forms." See Lindberg,Edith Whartonand theNovelof Manners (Charlottesville:Univ. Press of Virginia,1975), 122.3R. W. B. Lewis, ed., The House of Mirth(New York: New York Univ. Press, 1977),vi.This is the text of Wharton'snovel used here. All page numbers,indicatedin parenthesesafterquotationsfromThe House of Mirth,are to thisedition.4Wharton, The House of Mirth(New York: New AmericanLibrary, 1964), Afterword,343.5Irving Howe, ed., EdithWharton:A CollectionofCriticalEssays (Englewood Cliffs,N. J.:Prentice-Hall,1962), 125.This content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

520American 6Lilyis "a captureddryadsubduedto esea foamofthisdeterministicworldwitha powerthatfarexceedsherroleas a thepathosofherfailure,judgmentfadesintolove,"7 andreadersdo regularlyfallinlove withLily.Lilycharmsthereaderas shedoes theothercharactersin the novel(and as she has hercreator).We are bewitchedby thebeautyof hergraceand vitalityof spiritas well as herappearance.Irrationally,we wishwithherfora princeto transportherfromher troubledpovertyto the paradiseof wealthand securityshecraves;we concurin heryearningto livehappilyeverafter.These fairy-taleexpectationsare generatedbytheemotionalstructureof the plot; theyare thwartedby thatsame structure.Lily dies at thenovel'send,destroyedby thetyrannyof socialmanners;butshe is firstthevictimof thelimitationsof Wharton'sfictiveworld.RichardChasehas declaredthat"wheneveritturnsoutto be a brilliantand memorablebook, the American novel of manners will also be a romance."8 TheHouse of Mirth,I wish to argue,is primarilya romanceof identity.Thoughitpurportsto be a novelof socialrealism(whichGaryLindbergconvincinglyplaces in thetraditionof thenovelof manners),it is controlledby a deeperunderlyingdynamic.Beforethe societythe dplotseek.Atthesametime,Lilyderives6 In ABackward Glance Whartonwritesof The House of Mirth: "The problem. . .howto extractfromsucha subject. . a societyofirresponsiblepleasureseekers. anydeeperbearingthanthepeoplecomposingsucha societycouldguess?Theanswerwasthata onlies initspowerofdebasingpeopleand ideals.The answer,in short,was myheroine,LilyBart"(207). Whartonhereestablishesa confusionbetweentragedyand determinismthatplaguescriticismof thenovelin an unresolveddebateaboutLily'sstatureas a tragicheroine.AllofWharton'scharacterslivein an essentiallydeterministicuniverse.Withouta bilitynecessaryfortragedyis hardlypossible.Yet thefeelingthatLily is a tragiccharacterkeepsIn bothIrvingHowe's and EdmundWilson'scriticism,re-emerging.the iceto EdithWharton"(1941)inTheWoundand theBow (NewYork:OxfordUniv.Press,1947).ButR. W. B. LewisstatesblanklythatLily"is nota tic,BlakeNevius,writes,"we aredeceivingourselvesifwe tryto accountforthecompellinginterestof TheHouse of Mirthby thenatureorintensityof the moral conflict." See Nevius, Edith Wharton:A Study of Her Fiction(Berkeley:Univ.ofCaliforniaPress,1953).7 Howe, ed., EdithWharton,127.8 RichardChase,The AmericanNovel and Its Tradition(New York:Doubleday,1957),160.This content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Narcissism in The House of alfromherextraordinarytaps.the romanceformmakesits externalworldout of itsTraditionally,withhero'sinnerworld.9It populatesa hero'sjourneyof self-discoverywhichhe mustlearnto conaspectsofhimselfrepresentingtokenfiguresand accept.ReadingTheHouse ofMirthas a romance,we see thefrontconflictsLily encountersas internal:the othercharactersappear sandfeelings.conflicts.whichshe resolves,or failsto resolve,thesedevelopmentalan endinginwhichtheresolution:permitsThe romanceformgenerallyina vityinby es,dissonancesare ckedintheregressiveunableto movetowardsintegration;herfictivewhichin turnmirrorsnarcissism,emotionalstateof primaryby a fusionofstageis characterizedworld.This earlydevelopmentalaspectsoftheand desireswiththeoutsideworld.Difficultone's feelingsselfare projectedontoothersso d.In ceand narcissismare alike; bitsand thusreintegration,allows forrecognitionself-knowledge.betweenfantasyand realityis notclear.thedistinctionIn onmimeticbeatoherplotto acknowledgeaggressivedrivesinabilitying as realism:a persistentresultsin a twithinWharton's narrativeframeworkof the dynamicsof moralof fantasy.Whartoncausality with the psychologicaldeterminismprovides many cues which encourage readingher novel of socialrealismas a romance.Lily's allegoricalprogressfromhouse to housedown the social scale invitesus to read in romance's allegorizing,suggestivenames: Lily andmode, as do the cehero(ine),LilyisRosedale,Bellomont,9 See Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949; rpt. 57).Princeton(Princeton:This content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

522American Quarterlyan orphan,powerlessand alone in herquest foridentity.None of thesecondaryfiguresare realOtherswithwhomitwouldbe possibleforherto have a significantrelationship.Silentspaces betweencharactersremainunbridgeablebecause thecharactersthemselvesare thesimplisticprojectionsof unintegratedfragmentsof n'sfictionoperatesfroma narcissisticfantasyis impossibleand isolationwhileit createsa worldin whichcommunioninevitable.In his introductionto the GothamLibraryeditionof The House ofR.B.inMirth, W. Lewis notesthatthedramain thehumanencountersthisnovelis unrealized-artfully,he says,suppressed.Butitis thedramaofthenovelas a wholethatis inadequatelyrealized.Emotionalconnectionsare notmade,feelingsand eventsare stoppedshortofcompletion.Lilyis anotherSleepingBeauty,slumberingina dormantpresexualstatefromwhichshe isstate,butitselfsuffersthesamefrustrations.A dynamicofrepressionanimates,and de-animates,thisfiction.The firstbook of TheHouse ofMirthis consistentlypowerful;the scenes in Book II set up to mirrorscenesofemotionalforceinBook I withSeldenat Bellomontis hlacksall ofthecolorandappealoftheand thefirst.Her visitto theworkinggirlNettieStrutherand herinfant,deathscenethatconcludesthenovel,are bothstocksentimentalpiecesclimaxor resolution.Even sofLily'scharacterdoomher,sheis damnedto chicworldfromwhichWhartonhas constructedhernovel.This is thereal locus of ,however,Lilyderivesherpotencyas a characterthe veryemotionalconfigurationwhichdooms her. In heAge ofInnocence,Whartonmorebalancedwaythefeelingsshe releaseswithLilyBart;butno singlein thatnovelhas quiteLily's sthepotentemotionalsourcesfromwhichLily is drawn.Lily is describedby a consistentpatternof metaphorsof unrestrainedand sensualdelightthatbelongto theuniversalfantasyofgratificationEden and appealwiththeforceoflostparadise.10 ElizabethAmmons,in "'Fairy-TaleLove' and The Reef' American Literature,47(1975),615-28,observesa similaruse offairy-talemotifsto andsexualrepression.This content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Narcissism in The House of yofwishfulfillment.Sheis presentedtous cushionedinpleasure:"Her wholebeingdialatedinan atmosphereof luxury;it was thebackgroundshe required,theonlyclimateshe couldbreathein" (23). Havinga totallysustainingenvironment,where"everythingin her surroundingsministeredto feelingsofease andamenity"(37),is nota luxuryforLilybuta necessity.Herlifeisnourished,likean infant's,by an amnioticbathof sensualsatisfactions.Her imagesare fluid:"She was likea water-plantin thefluxofthetides,and today the whole currentof her mood was carryingher towardLawrenceSelden"(51). thefreespiritquiveredforflight. . ." anda " senseofbuoyancy. herfeet"(62). Lily's characteristicmotionis thegracefulswingoffreeflight;shelivesnotin an earthboundworldofgravity,butin an unboundedfantasyworld,freefromtheweightofcause andeffect.Theverbswhichregularlydescribeher are: "glow," "throb," "dialate," "dazzle,' "kindle,"" shine," " delight,"" quiver," " swing,9"" soar,9" ''flow," thatadmitsofno channeling.Lilyis "buoyant,""charming,"''radiant,"" vivid," " intoxicating,""delicious,""elegant,""clear," "exhilarating";thisis theauraofherpresence.Beingwealthyis anothermetaphorforthissafeand harmoniouslifeof perfectand lether"soar intothatempyreanofsecurity[where]shewouldbe ionsoftherelativelypoor" (47). In thisworldofwealth,sunlight"caresses" thefurniture,roomsafforda viewof"freeundulationsofa park"(37). In thisEden,one's beautyis sufficientmagicto makeall one's desiresautomatiAndLilyis beautiful.callymaterialize.Whartonrepeatedlyuses chiaroscurolightingto oundofdrabness(moraland physiofherher.feelsthat"the dinginesscal) ed"(32). The firstviewwe haveofLilyis throughSelden'seyes; he sees heramongthe throngsat the trainstationand wonders,the"Was it possiblethatshe belongedto thesamerace?The hewas" (3). (Seldontoohas featurestheofbelongingto a morespecializedrace.") Lily explicitlyarticulatesrace . . . withall sortsofperceptionthat she is "a creatureof a differentsensationsand ,existenceof" (46).This content downloaded from 128.83.205.78 on Mon, 11 May 2015 20:25:57 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions