Chapters 11-12

I'm starting to have more pity for Lily as time goes on and people keep getting false ideas about her and her actions.  I can also relate, in a way, to her relationship (or lack there of) wish her aunt.  There are several members of my extended family that, were it not for the similar blood running through our veins, I would have absolutely no attatchment to or relationship with them.  I know how Lily feels to have more of an awkward acquaintance than a loving aunt.

Up until this point in the book, Lily had boasted about her ability to control people with her confidence in her ways.  That's why I was shocked when I came across the bit of Wharton's The House of Mirth when it is admitted that Lily "had grown more sensitive to criticism and less confident in her power of disarming it" (Wharton, 106).  Lily is a fragile and vulnerable young woman as it is.  She can't afford to loose her sense of confidence, that will surely only set her up for failure in the future.

I can only imagine Lily's frustration at the rumors being spread.  It's being said that immoral and dishonest actions are transpiring between herself and Mr. Trenor, and this news is quickly and quietly making its way throughout her group of acquaintances.  I'm sure this will lead to more troubles for her.