Edith Wharton
Selden Lawrence is my favorite character in the novel, but he is not as active a participant in the overall plot as Rosedale is, so I will do him justice by devoting this post to him. When Sim Rosedale first came in the first chapter of the novel, I did not particularly liked him. He was annoying, pushy, flaunty, and seemed determined to gain Miss Bart's affection by butting into her life. I was immediately displeased and kind of cast him aside because I did not think he would turn out to be an important character, but he is. In chapter 7 of Book II, I grew to really like Rosedale [not as much as Selden, but almost] when he suggested Lily begin putting the letters she bought from the maid to good use by blackmailing Bertha Dorset. I never like her, and this seemed like a good proposition that would benefit nearly all parties involved, especially Lily and Rosedale. However, Lily rejected his proposal of marriage after she was back on good terms with Bertha Dorset and basically the entire society of people who had cast her off. I wish she would have taken him up on the offer because she would have been back in her prominent position in society, but I understand that she did not want Selden to be burdened by any of her decisions. "She seemed suddenly to see her action as he would see it--and the fact of his own connection with it, the fact that, to attain her end, she must trade on his name, and profit by a secret of his past, chilled her blood with shame" (Wharton, page 247).
Sim Rosedale, on the more technical side of study, is definitely a round, dynamic character because he displays multiple aspects of his personality and maturity throughout the novel. He is somewhat nosy and bothersome in the beginning but actually changes with his prowess in society and comes to really care for Lily and want her to change her position by regaining friendships from her old life. His most significant actions in the novel are his personal offer of marriage to Lily and his business offer to help her pay off her debts to Trenor; unfortunately for him, she rejects his proposal of marriage yet again. So as Rosedale changed in the novel, I grew, as a reader, to really like him and his role in the overall plot line of The House of Mirth.
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