The House of Mirth Book 2, Chapters 9 and 10

The House of Mirth
Edith Wharton

So, stupid me, I didn't really recognize that this scene between Miss Bart and Gus Trenor alone at his house was the climax of the novel.  I guess I kept waiting for something a little more exciting to happen, and when it didn't, I did an overview of the middle of the novel and realized my mistake.  I usually do have a little more trouble deciding on the climax of longer novels, especially those written over a hundred years ago, as was the case with The House of Mirth.  Anyway, the second half of the book made a little more sense after I corrected my mistake, but I still don't see why Trenor did not pursue Lily any longer after she left for Europe, and even when she arrived back in America.  He seemed pretty persistent before this meeting with Lily, and then after it, nothing...  Book II contains the falling action and resolution of the novel--Lily's fall from good graces in society, her new job, and eventual death without ever marrying Lawrence Selden.
      The structure of the novel is pretty simple and straightforward.  It contains 29 chapters, each consisting of smaller sections with breaks in the passages to allow for tone and point of view shifts.  Fifteen chapters make up the slightly longer Book I, which makes sense as it contains the climax, and Book II has the remaining fourteen chapters.  A common pattern throughout the novel is a description of many different characters in each chapter.  Wharton, the omniscient narrator with an objective point of view, relates various events with different characters and leaves out specific scenes so that the audience can make some leaps and bypass any gaps in the plot.  An example of her omniscient narration is "She [Lily] was sure that Gerty knew Selden's feeling for her, and it had never dawned upon her blindness that Gerty's own judgement of him was coloured by emotions far more ardent than her own" (Wharton, page 142).  This sporadic transitioning from one scene to the next is sometimes pretty hectic but make for an enjoyable read after one understands just what Wharton wanted to promote.