The House of Mirth tells the story of Lily Bart, aged 29, beautiful, impoverished and in need of a rich husband to safeguard her place in the social elite, and to support her expensive habits - her clothes, her charities and her gambling. Unwilling to marry without both love and money, Lily becomes vulnerable to the kind of gossip and slander which attach to a girl who has been...
The House of Mirth tells the story of Lily Bart, aged 29, beautiful, impoverished and in need of a rich husband to safeguard her place in the social elite, and to support her expensive habits - her clothes, her charities and her gambling. Unwilling to marry without both love and money, Lily becomes vulnerable to the kind of gossip and slander which attach to a girl who has been on the marriage market for too long. Wharton charts the course of Lily's life, providing, along the way, a wider picture of a society in transition, a rapidly changing New York where the old certainties of manners, morals and family have disappeared and the individual has become an expendable commodity.
His words recalled the vision of that other afternoon when they had sat together over his tea-table and talked jestingly of her future. There were moments when that day seemed more remote than other event in her life; and yet she could always re-live it in its minutest.detail. (查看原文)
Lily Bart, a beautiful and unmarried woman, 29-year-old, living in the leisure-class of New York, is eager to marry. Unfortunately, she misses several chances of attaining her goal, some of which have been broken by her own faults, others by other people’s...
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Context Thorstein Veblen - The Theory of the Leisure Class Leisure: non-productive consumption of time 小说中Lily尝试过制帽女工的工作,但最终发现无产阶级的日子她没法过。然而,在Veblen的理论中,Lily曾经的闲暇日子也是基于一种和上层人士的雇佣关系,这也是一种剥...
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20世纪美国文学的最迷人之处在于它呈现出来的精神状态是桎梏了一个世纪以来的the vast majority of people了的,极多理论框架去试图阐释了的,但极少数人ever found a way out了的危机状态。 不过among all these我最relate的一本还是The House of Mirth,并且我认为我周围的女...
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6 有用 白乐寒 2014-10-11 18:55:27
读来有切肤之痛。不喜欢用干巴巴的理论分析它,因为它明明只是社会风俗小说,却直击了生活核心的真实。
1 有用 风挑一点灯 2017-01-27 21:58:18
The author almost held a stoic moral standard for her heroine,elaborately plotting her to the predetermined tragic yet untouching ending.
8 有用 妍娘 2016-10-12 10:10:55
淑女是高级饰品,绅士是赚钱机器,这样的上流社会,存在有什么意义?
0 有用 Serene, Serene 2009-12-12 23:10:33
English version of 長恨歌
1 有用 至尊煎饼果子 2022-08-10 01:40:46
看来大作家也是需要修炼的,光凭这本书没法确定Wharton一流作家的能力和地位。心理描写上时而不必要的冗长和情节转折上的疲软使小说时而更像浪漫故事,而不是一部优秀的人情小说。Wharton认可人是无可逃避无从选择的环境的产物,于是她的笔下就出现了Lily和Seldon这种又高傲又懦弱、想超脱而又反复堕落的在现代眼光看来几近不可解的角色(或者是她认为人的主动性太过有限,既然人只能依照既定的范式思考和... 看来大作家也是需要修炼的,光凭这本书没法确定Wharton一流作家的能力和地位。心理描写上时而不必要的冗长和情节转折上的疲软使小说时而更像浪漫故事,而不是一部优秀的人情小说。Wharton认可人是无可逃避无从选择的环境的产物,于是她的笔下就出现了Lily和Seldon这种又高傲又懦弱、想超脱而又反复堕落的在现代眼光看来几近不可解的角色(或者是她认为人的主动性太过有限,既然人只能依照既定的范式思考和行动)。以及,这是多么女权的一个故事啊,但凡女人的生存空间再大一点,Lily都不至于成为这样的一个人;Wharton对于笔下的男性角色总带着轻蔑,无论腰缠万贯还是饱读诗书,所有男人的勇气加起来还不如女主一个身无分文的毛丫头多 (展开)