Sweet Selden and Gross Gus

The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton

Book 1, chap XIII- mid-XIV

Ok, so I haven't exactly read this whole section yet, but I just thought of a wonderful comparison.  So you know how throughout almost the whole book, Lily and Selden have had a spark that no one else has?  And how we all secretly want them to end up together because they actually love each other?  So, Lily isn't necessarily the greatest girl out there: she uses her beauty to her own advantage and primarily wants to get married for money.  But Selden is a great match for her.  Not for the money, but because they fit- they understand each other, they can have real conversations, and they have true feelings for each other.  This complicated relationship reminds me of my favorite Kenny Chesney song, "Come Over."  The quote goes like this: "Forget about your friends, you know they're gonna say we're bad for each other, but we ain't good for anyone else."  I feel like it pretty well describes Lily and Selden's complicated situation because though they don't seem like a perfect match, they should still end up together.  Even though Lily tries to ignore her feelings for Selden and politely decline his request to see her again, the exhilaration of the previous evening is still on her mind and she can not bear to refuse.  "It would be pleasant to have that sensation again... no one else could give it to her in its fullness; and she could not bear to mar her mood of luxurious retrospective by an act of definite refusal. She took up her pen and wrote hastily: 'Tomorrow at four' " (Wharton, 113).

Now that I have read the rest of the section, another thing has struck me.  This is just my own personal opinion, but Gus Trenor is just downright creepy.  Ever since Lily and Trenor's little ride through the country, he has seemed to have taken a liking to her, and it only gets worse.  Trenor is repeatedly describing as sweaty and fat, unpleasant adjectives.  He likes to speak to Lily in private and touch her arm or hand with his own.  He becomes offended when she won't spend personal time with him, even though he is married.  Now it has come to this: Mr. Trenor has tricked Lily into coming to his house late at night when he is the only other person there.  Their awkward confrontation is so well described that I found myself feeling uncomfortable as well.  I was pleading for Lily to escape from the nasty man, and I pitied her when she was overcome by disgust and fear.  The clip from the movie is not exactly the same as the book, but it accurately conveys the tension and other array of emotions of the confrontation.