Lily Bart lived in the upper reaches of New York society. She loves beautiful things and extravagance. However, throughout the House of Joy, Lily plays a game. She wants to be virtuous, stay in the social circle, and have the money to meet the demands of her so-called friends. She becomes so involved in social life that she loses any chance of enriching herself through virtue or true love. She inevitably misses her chances: from Percy to her dear aunt to her indecision towards men and marriage. In the end, she can't get what she believes is satisfying for her, so she drags herself into endless sleep. Edith Wharton wrote House of Mirth during the realist movement. Realism in Wharton's writings is influenced by Darwinism. When rumors spread about Lily and George's conquests, Lily's reputation is shattered. Even though she survived thanks to her bankruptcy, gossip stops her existence. The past will always haunt her. When Lily decides to keep her morals intact and not crush George's wife Bertha by exposing Bertha's escapades with the man Lily dreams of, readers know she is doomed to unhappiness. More than Darwinism, Wharton's writings correlate with Lamarkism, which is quite interesting in its own right. . Wharton justifies Lily's death because, in her final moments of life, Lily recognizes that she never had "a real relationship with life" (248). In Lily's epiphany, Wharton exposes Lily's separation from the higher city life she once desired and the hand that is extended to her. Through Lily, Wharton critiques this society's traditional paths and disillusionment with happiness as well as the inevitable downfall and destruction of Lily's society. Wharton blames New York society for Lily's fate. Lily is not destroyed by culture...... middle of paper...... it's not about wealth and class. He is the only one who knows all its facets. Selden is the last point of view the reader witnesses in this novel. His point of view helps the reader conclude that his death is the right thing to happen in his context. Either way, nothing could happen the way Lily wanted. Nothing could happen the way Selden wanted. “[T]he conditions of life had conspired to separate them” (267). His death marks the end of Lily and Selden's disjointed love. The ending of the novel does what it's supposed to do. This solves the problems. Everything is “all made clear” (268). Works Cited Wharton, Edith. The house of joy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905. Kindle. Kim, Sharon. “Lamarckism and the construction of transcendence in “The House of Joy”.” Studies in the Novel 38.2 (2006): 187. Biographical Reference Bank (HW Wilson). Internet. March 18. 2014.