The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth

The House of Mirth is a movie that takes place in the early 20th century or better known as la belle Ð"©poque. In this time period it was all about acceptable behavior, money, fashion and beauty. In the movie, a young woman named Lily Bart had the choice of marry to a wealthy man and have a better place in the upper class society or marry for love and lose her place in society.

First, in this time period behavior for women was stricter and the rules were more demanding than today's. A perfect example of this is shown in the movie The House of Mirth. The main character Lily Bard was a woman who liked to smoke cigarettes and loved to gamble. These habits were a weapon against her and were considered improper behavior for a woman in her upper class society.

Money was another important factor in this Ð"©poque. People respected you because of who you were and how much money you had. Lily kept her upper class society place because of her aunt. She gave her everything that she needed while she was alive. Lily loses her friends when they find out that she did not have any money because she had invested all her money and lost it. She ended up living in a cheap apartment by herself.

Last, fashion and beauty were another factor that affected La Bella Ð"‰poque. At the beginning of the 20th century women had to dress very conservative. The dresses that they wore were long, it covered their necks and they were extravagance. Women were considered beautiful if they had a tiny waist. In the film Lily had the attention of a lot of gentlemen because she was beautiful. She wore vivid color dresses. When she went to parties she was the center of attention. A lot of wealthy guys approached her and wanted to be with her.

In conclusion, The House of Mirth is a movie that reflects a lot of the La Bella Ð"‰poque characteristics. Is a perfect visual example of what happened in those days.