The House of Mirth (Blog 7)

By: Edith Wharton

To me, saying that chapter 14 got very interesting is an understatement.  I actually stopped at page 126 to write this post, as I felt that this chapter would offer a lot to absorb.  If Wharton had dropped hints of Gerty Farish's infatuation to her cousin Lawrence Selden, I definitely did not pick up on them.  Gerty apparently holds very strong feelings for Selden, and she is optimistic that he feels the same way about her.  "Yet Selden's manner at the Brys' had brought the flutter of wings so close that they seemed to be beating in her own heart" (Wharton, 122).  I found this quote to be strange because it is describing the feeling Gerty experiences due to her love for Selden.  Thinking about him gives her butterflies, and I find this to be extremely disturbing since they are cousins.  Meanwhile, Selden is obsessed with Lily Bart, and he consistently imagines his future with her.  Gerty recognizes Selden's love for Lily, but she believes that it is possible for him to love both women.  I don't think that Selden is in love with Gerty.  "Over the little dinner (and here, again, the effects were wonderful) he told her she ought to marry-he was in a mood to pair off the whole world" (Wharton, 126).  I think that Selden is so content with his situation with Lily that he wants to see his cousin feeling the same way.  It seems like Selden is "in a mood to pair off the whole world" because he wants everyone to experience the happiness he is feeling now that he is in love.  I think that he has Gerty's best interest at heart; however, I do not think that he is in love with her.  I am curious to find out how Gerty reacts to Selden's potential rejection of her love.  Moreover, I am even more interested to find out if my prediction of Selden rejecting her love is even correct.

I had to laugh while reading this section because it reminded me

of this scene from the movie "Valentine's Day."  Maybe the man meant

to say that Lily's high-class society celebrates "love your cousin day,"

instead of Indiana!