The House of Mirth

Beautiful but fortuneless socialite Lily Bart is on her way to a week-long house party at the country home of her wealthy friend Judy. At the train station, Lily bumps into attorney Lawrence Selden, an acquaintance who invites her to his apartment for her two-hour train wait. Lily hesitates but finally agrees. Upon leaving Selden’s apartment building, Lily encounters another acquaintance, Simon Rosedale. Attempting to cover the appearance of an impropriety, Lily lies by saying she has been visiting her dressmaker. Rosedale, the building’s owner, knows that no dressmaker lives in his apartments. Later in the week, Selden appears at Judy’s party. He has just ended an affair with the married and vindictive Bertha Dorset, also at the party. Lily has made clear that she thinks of Selden only as a friend, but he falls in love with her even though she has said she would never marry a man without wealth. Noticing Selden's interest in Lily, Bertha sabotages Lily's budding romance with the wealthy Percy Gryce by telling him salacious and scandalous rumors of Lily's gambling and love affairs. Later, Lily loses a large sum playing bridge. Judy’s husband Gus is a skilled stockbroker. Judy is not particularly jealous of his occasional flirtations with other women unless he begins spending money on them. Lily flirts with Gus to persuade him to play the stock market for her. Believing that Gus is buying and selling stocks with her cash, Lily accepts several large checks from him. Gus later makes clear that he expects romantic attention in exchange for his financial expertise. To avoid being alone with Gus, Lily accompanies him to the opera and on afternoon walks. Their friends notice and start talking. Lily’s cousin Grace tells their wealthy aunt Julia about Lily’s gambling debts and possible inappropriate relationship with Gus. This sows seeds of doubt and discomfort in Julia. Meanwhile, the housekeeper of Selden's apartment building sells Lily a package of love letters written by Bertha to Selden, who had carelessly torn them in two and thrown them in the garbage. Instead of blackmailing Bertha with the letters, Lily accepts her offer to distract her husband while Bertha pursues a new love interest, a young married man named Ned. At a party, Selden leads Lily out to a garden, where he tells her he loves her, and the two kiss. However, Lily makes clear that nothing can come of it. The next day, Lily receives an invitation to Judy’s house in the city. However, the late-evening visit turns out to be a ruse by Judy’s husband, Gus, to get Lily alone. Gus demands from Lily the attention he thinks he has paid for. Pleading naiveté, Lily promises to pay back the money. She flees the house and catches a cab, unaware that Selden sees her leaving. He knows that Judy is out of town and Gus is alone in the house. Selden concludes that the rumors of Lily's involvement with Gus are true. The next day, Lily tells her aunt Julia that she has lost money playing bridge and asks for help paying the debt. Julia refuses. Lily’s money troubles begin causing her to lose sleep. She starts taking the narcotic chloral to help her rest. Rosedale, very wealthy and smitten with Lily, proposes a mutually beneficial marriage. Lily, feeling trapped and disgraced, asks for time to consider his offer. Soon afterward, Lily accepts an invitation from Bertha to join her and her husband George on a Mediterranean cruise. Bertha intends for Lily to keep George distracted while she continues her affair with Ned. Later, to divert suspicion, Bertha insinuates that Lily is having an affair with George. The scandal ruins Lily's reputation. Her friends abandon her, and her aunt Julia disinherits her. Rosedale reappears and suggests Lily use Bertha’s love letters to expose her affair with Selden. For the sake of Selden's reputation, Lily refuses and burns the letters. By this time, Lily is regularly using chloral to help her sleep. One night after taking the narcotic, she awakens. Forgetting that she has already taken a dose, she takes another. The next morning, Selden arrives to propose marriage but finds that Lily has died of an accidental overdose.