I began to feel excessive grief in these chapters of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. As Lily was speaking to Selden, I could hardly keep myself from feeling that passion with her. There was much symbolism in these chapters. Lily's plan was to leave her good side, the side Selden had always known. The side she knew he had once and always loved.
"There is someone I must say goodbye to...the Lily Bart you knew. I have kept her with me all this time,, but now we are going to prt, and I have brought her back to you-I am going to leave her here. When I go out presently she will not go with me. I shall like to think that she has stayed with you-and she'll be no trouble, she'll take up no room" (Wharton, pg251).
This quote almost made me cry. She clearly came back to Selden to tell him how much she appreciated and loved him. I feel like she is leaving the side of her to him that she always wanted to become. The side that she could have become with him and with his marriage. However, for whatever reason she felt it was too late to follow this dream. I think her plan was going to be to somehow get married, maybe even to Rosedale if she could. I don't think she even wanted to do this all. Lily's process of clearing her name and clearing her debt seemed to include clearing her mind of her forsaken love to Selden. As she softly kissed him goodbye, I knew at that moment she symbolically said goodbye to the rest of her happiness.
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