Chapters XI & XII
I am going to be honest. When I first picked up Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, I read about eight to ten pages an hour. I was often lost in her long descriptive sentences-by the I would reach the period at the end, I would forget who or what the sentence was even discussing! However, as I have read on, my patience has grown, and I have grown to appreciate (more) the style of Wharton. I am especially thankful, however, for her occasional use of metaphors, which help me to create better create a mental picture of a scene as well as understand the mindset of her characters. I have, thus far, found two examples of metaphors that proved to be quite helpful.
When referring to Jack Stepeney's taste in women:
"His own taste was in the line of less solid and more highly-seasoned diet; but hunger makes any fare platable, and there has been times when Mr. Stpeney had been reduced to a crust" (Wharton, 37-38).
When referring to the general loss of excess money among members of society due to hardships in the economy:
"But society, amused for a while at playing Cinderella, soon wearied of the hearthside role, and welcomed the Fairy Godmother in the shape of any magician pwerful enough to turn the shrunken pumpkin back agin into the golden coach" (Wharton, 98).
These metaphors paint fantastically vivid images for the reader! Though both are rather complex in senetence structure, they made understanding the issues at hand so much easier. My hat goes off to you, Edith Wharton. Nicely done.
Sidenote: I am so excited about the developing love between Selden and Miss Bart. I wanted to tear my hair out when she ran away after they kissed, however. I mean, come on!!
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