The House of Mirth - Edith Wharton
Chapter X

"'You don't want to increase the dose, you know,'" (Wharton, 305). In this case, the famous last words. At this point in the novel, I believe that Lily has already made her decision. She realizes that she will not ever settle on a husband and thinks that therefore she cannot find happiness. I believe she can't make the decision to marry because she doesn't believe that being married will bring her any happiness besides the happiness money can bring. Every marriage she has witnessed is unhappy: her parents suffered through a cold and loveless relationship, her society friends hire young wanna-bes to entertain their dull, rich husbands, and she just ended a stint covering for Bertha Dorset's affair. Wharton introduces Lily's addiction to sleeping pills in this chapter, adding another struggle to her already floundering life. A hopeless mood slips through this chapter and leaves the reader wondering exactly how Lily will deal with these changes in her life, as she has hit rock bottom. And where will Seldon reappear? He always seems to come to her rescue, but now, he is nowhere to be found as Lily faces some of the darkest times in her short life.