This paper examines how although Edith Wharton chooses a female protagonist and presents issues sympathetic to the unique
vulnerabilities of women, "The House of Mirth" applies itself far better as a social commentary than as a feminist manifesto. In particular, it looks at how while the society within the novel- that of New York during the Gilded Age- victimizes Lily Bart and drives her to her death, it does not discriminate by gender as to who bears responsibility. It discusses how Wharton shows us, through Lily's carefully constructed
relationships with men; her vacant, unsatisfying relationships with women and also through her dramatic death scene a neutral, unmotivated narration that bears no resemblance whatsoever to feminist
propaganda.