Chapters 9-10

The despair that Lily feels during the most part of these chapters of Wharton's The House of Mirth is almost tangible...it was a pretty depressing section to read!  She clearly feels as though her life is going no where, and her aunt's dwelling seems to her more of a tomb than a home. 

I didn't really understand the letter ordeal that Mrs. Haffen had used to blackmail Lily in a way.  Even keeping in mind that she thought the letters were between Selden and Lily, what did she think the big scandal was of one single woman writing letters to another single man?  However, on another note, they turned out to be numerous letters from a married woman to a single man.  It begs the question: why was Bertha Dorset writing so many letters to Selden?  What were they concerning?  Is she being unfaithful?

Rosedale is thrust into a slightly clearer light in these chapters, and he seems to be a sneaky, oily snake.  At one point he said to Miss Bart, in regards to Mr. Trenor, that he "'wasn't thinking of Mrs. Trenor-- they say Gus doesn't always, you know'" (Wharton, 92).  His meeting with Lily only made her more insecure about her ties with the Trenor family.  What could he gain by making her feel threatened by him and his knowledge?  I think he knows, as I too suspect, that Mr. Trenor would very much like to have Lily to himself.