Representation of Manners :: essays research papers

Representation of MannersThe refreshing of manners is a novel that focuses on the customs, values, and mindset of a fact class or throng of people who are situated in a specific diachronic context (Bowers and Brothers 5). The context tends to be one in which behavior has been systematise and language itself has become formulated, resulting in a suppressing or regulating of private expression. Often, this type of novel details a conflict between the single(a)s desires and the ethical, moral, economic, or interpersonal mandates of company (Bowers and Brothers 5). The dwelling of gratification by Edith Wharton is a novel of manners concerned with the subtle nuances of behavior and standards of rightness portrayed by the upper-class of New York in the late 1890s. In the novel, Wharton uses the genre to depict Lily Barts struggle to maintain individuality while conforming to societys expectations.The novel of manners positive in the 19th century as authors explored the plac e of women in society and the social effect of marriage (Bowers and Brothers 4). These authors wanted to show in particular the problems that come with marriage as well as with the problems of conforming to society. The domain of a function of the novel of manners was perceived as a adult females world, viewed from a womans perspective (Bowers and Brothers 4).The genre developed quaternion specific conventions in the 19th century. Out of the four, three of the conventions are equal in The House of Mirth. One of the conventions was that the protagonist of the novel was usually a single woman looking to get married. The second convention dealt with the womans understanding of the socio-economic class within the novel. This was an important factor because it persistent whom the woman would marry. The third convention found in The House of Mirth was the novel ending with the marriage or death of the protagonist, the case of Lily Bart, death. The House Mirth portrays all these conve ntions in the novel but instead of Lily conforming to society, Lily attempts to develop her own self-identity and independence.Lily Bart, the protagonist of The House of Mirth, was an unmarried 29 division old woman who desired to be a social mastery or to get as much as one could out of action (Wharton 81). Her mission was to marry a relatively wealthy man, thereby ensuring her fiscal stability and a place in the higher levels of New York society.