The House of Mirth: Blog 3
Edith Wharton

     So far in the book, I am somewhat confused about all of the characters. So many have been introduced in these first four chapters that I am having trouble keeping straight who is who and how each character is related to another. I also have no idea what man or men Lily Bart seems to be going after as a potential husband because she has interacted with so many men thus far. Hopefully, as the story goes on, it will become clear who every character is.
     While talking about one character, Carry Fisher (who I really do not know who she is at all), Mrs. Trenor said something that surprised me. She said, "someone said the other day that there was a divorce and a case of appendicitis in every family one knows" (Wharton, 32). I found this shocking,because my thoughts on the early 1900's are that divorces were very rare and looked down upon in society. I never would have believed them to be so common. I feel this very much relates to our society today, since the divorce rate is now 50 percent. While I do not believe the divorce rate in the time of this book was anywhere near what it is now, I still find it shocking that Mrs, Trenor would say they were so common. This actually makes me feel better about our society today. While I am still ashamed of the number of divorces that take place, it makes me feel a bit better knowing this did not begin happening as all-of-the-sudden as I had previously thought.