Edith Wharton
Now, I want to discuss the author as the speaker/narrator of The House of Mirth. Edith Wharton is an omniscient, third-party observer of the story who follows the thoughts and actions of all major characters involved in the plot. In chapters 7 and 8 specifically, Wharton discusses Lily Bart's, Carry Fisher's, Rosedale's, Gerty Farish's, and Selden's. For instance, we learn of Mrs. Fisher's motives with taking Lily under her wings and we also see Lily's reactions to her ideas. Carry wants Lily to get married to either George Dorset or Sim Rosedale, and she finally resolves to marry Rosedale. Unfortunately, he rejects her this time but with an interesting proposal; he would marry her if she blackmailed Bertha with the letters she wrote to Selden. "The only way for you to start fresh is to get Bertha Dorset to back you up, instead of trying to fight her" (Wharton, page 209). I think she should have taken Rosedale up on his offer because it's not like Bertha didn't deserve a little manipulation after what she did to Lily in Europe. I still don't really understand why Bertha publicly snubbed Lily and blamed her for their marital problems in Europe because she obviously did not ruin the Dorsets' marriage. Wharton did, however, retain Bertha's thoughts, so we are left to determine her stream of thoughts and feelings throughout this whole ordeal, which was interesting to the audience.
I personally like this type of narration because it offers the view of every character, and we as the audience are able to know the entire story and how everyone perceives everyone else. This style of writing greatly contrasts with some other books I've read [the Harry Potter series first comes to mind because J. K. Rowling only displays Harry's thoughts and feelings and how he perceives everyone else], but I enjoy the difference.
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