The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-09
EMS OF THE DAY AS SEEN THRU THE EYES OF AUTH
the heart of fools is in the house o

e~HE novel of the year, with the
emphasis on the "The,' is
l. Edith Wharton g The House of
NGirth. Indeed, it may be said to be
''the' novel Of several years. It is a
modern demonstration of the truth of
Solomon IS finding quoted above, as dis
closed in the deterioration of the char
acter and the ultimate fate of young
woman, Lily Bart She is introduced
as Ca lovely apparition,' with ideals
above those of her associates, but still,
tho poor, a worshiper Of the golden
calf with the rest of the jewellers in
the house of mirth. e '.s III.
The life Of the mirthful as por-
! trayed by the author is given with al
most microscopic detail and clearness
so far as the characters are concerned
! The external, material environment is
somewhat neglected, leaving the study,
perhaps, too purely psychological, tho
s the accuracy and vividness of the lat
4 ter go far, to say the least, to offset
1-dereliction in the former. How skill
: full the author is In depicting the life
of which her story treats is seen in
4 the following from the lips of Mrs.
Trenor, whose social secretary has left
her temporarily on the eve of house
! party:
4 It was simply inhuman of Pragg to
go off now. She says her sister is going
! 10 have a baby-as if that were anything
4 to having house party! I'm sure I shall
get most horribly mixed up and there
4 will be some awful rows. When I was
) down at Tuxedo I asked lot of people
for next week. and I'VE mislaid the list
and can't remember who is coming. And
this week is going to be a failure, too
A and Gwen Van Osburgh will go back and
tell her mother how bored people were.
A [ didn't mean to ask the Wetherals-that
vas bunder Of GuS'S. They sapprove
of Carry Fisher, you know. AS if one
4 could help having Carry Fisher! 1t was
i foolish of her to get that second divorce
Garry always overdoes things-but she
said the only way to get penny out Of
4 Fisher was to divorce him and make him
pay alimony. And poor Garry has to
consider every dollar. It's really absurd
i of Alice Wetherall to make such fuss
about meeting her, when thinks of
what society Is coming to. Someone said
the other day that there was a divorce
and case of appendicitis in every fam
j lily one knows. Besides, Garry is the
only one who can keep Gus in good hu-
4
Have, you noticed that all the husbands
4 like, her? All, 1 mean, except her own.
It's rather clever of her to have made a
speciality of devoting herself to dull peo-
0le-the field is such large one, and she
has 1T practically to herself. She finds
compensations. no Doubt know she
borrows money of Gus-but then I'd pay
Ter to keep him in good humor, SO can't
complain, after all.
Verify, few but the "fools' Of the
ancient preacher would care to dwell
with such people.
But it is among such that Lily Bart
lwells and finds Observation-Disclosures
bridge, which she cannot afford but
must play to avoid giving offense
Amid the temptations of such a life
the appearance Of evil' is doubly
dangerous, and, as the result Of a per
'eectly innocent indiscretion, Miss Bart
exposes herself to the attacks of mali
ious gossips. For one caught in the
'pider's web there. is small chance. OF
scape except with outside assistance
nd this, in the case in hand, is de
lined. The meshes tighten about Miss
Bart until she is tempted, at the sug
yestion of "climber,' in order t.
'dfO AOi SClIS W IlchO uS0 VI d weapon
which chance has placed in her hands
against a woman who can reinstate
Ter. She is proof against the tempta
ion, but not without one of those
veakenings of her moral fiber which
mark the progress Of the story an6
show the authors mastery of her art
As the author puts it,
Hitherto her intermittent Impulses O.
assistance had suffioed to maintain he
'elf-respect If she slipped she recovered
Ter footing, and it was only afterwart
hat she was aware Of having recovered
each time on a slightly lower level
She had rejected Rosedales offer with
nut conscious effort; her whole being hat
isen against 1t; and she did not yet per
':eive that, by the mere act Of listening r.
Tim, she had learned to live with idea
which would once have been intolera bl
her:
In showing the spirit of the present
lay vanity fair, its allurements an
is worse than empty returns for it
FACTIONS; in drawing a character o
Tovable qualities and making her
'ictim,, subjectively and obiectivelv, O
hat spirit; in making clear, withou
reaching, the futility and artifcialit
# every life animated by a like spirit
n close analysis; in logical develo1
nent; in lucidity and brilliance O