“The squalor, the rawness of this middle part of femininity made him feel how highly specialized it was” (Wharton 6). In the House of Mirth, protagonist Lily Bart spends her entire life trying to escape this idea of ​​squalidness. In her quest to maintain society's approval, she denies her true identity along with any hope of finding true love and is ultimately "erased" by this society (Ammons 348). At the beginning of the novel, Wharton reveals Seldon's thoughts towards Lily Bart. “She was aware that the qualities that distinguished her from the herd of her sex were primarily external: as if a thin layer of beauty and meticulousness had been applied to vulgar clay” (Wharton 7). Wharton builds this physical attraction between Seldon and Lily Bart by letting readers into Seldon's mind and Lily Bart's delicate actions. Seldon “enjoyed Lily Bart; and his course was so far from his orbit that it amused him to be drawn for a moment into the sudden intimacy which his proposal implied” (Wharton 6). Lily's delicate approach combined with her suggestive words towards Seldon reveal Lily's true feeling towards Seldon. “I want to die from tea, but isn't there a quieter place?” (Wharton 6). Lily manages to ensure privacy with Seldon by avoiding as much attention as possible. The insinuation that Seldon and Lily are having an affair would also be particularly damaging to his social standing. When surprised by Mr. Rosedale's appearance, she innately lied only later realizing the true effect of "giving in to a passing impulse" (Wharton 15). Her mistake “would cost her more than she could afford” (Wharton 15). Lily Bart lived in a society where even the slightest mistake could result in grave social consequences... middle of paper... true love for Seldon is felt but never expressed verbally. “In the silence, passed between them the word that made all clear” (Wharton 256). She spends much of her life running away from the idea of ​​loving Seldon, although internally she cared deeply for him. In closing, Seldon's love drew him to Lily: It was this moment of love, this fleeting victory over themselves, that had preserved them from atrophy and extinction; that in her she had reached him in every struggle against the influence of the surrounding environment, and in her she had reached him in every struggle against the influence of the surrounding environment, and in him she had kept alive the faith that now attracted him repentant and reconciled to his side (Wharton 255-56)Lily was tormented by fulfilling society's requirements but in the process became denied true love and, ultimately, her own identity.