The Age of Innocence vs. The House of Mirth

By spring-copper1982

I just wrapped up The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and I read House of Mirth last year, so I’ve been side-by-side comparing them. I did enjoy Age of Innocence, but House of Mirth really grabbed me. With Age of Innocence it feels like you’re mostly living inside Newland’s head, like you get most of the story through his thoughts and what’s going on with him. House of Mirth feels like you get a lot more into Lily though—both her inner thoughts and how she comes across when she’s with other people. They both sort of deal with the same conflict: people trying to do what’s best for their social/financial situation versus what would actually make them happy. Neither of them really wants to go off-script, but the fallout looks way different. Newland ends up with something stable and secure, while Lily’s life falls apart pretty hard. They both made some really rough choices, but I found myself feeling more for Lily. I’m not totally sure why yet—maybe because I felt like I understood her better, or maybe just because her situation was so much worse. Newland came off to me as kind of the more reckless one, even though he wanted both a wife and a lover and didn’t want to deal with any consequences socially. Anyway, I’ll probably be thinking about both for a while, but House of Mirth is the one that won me over. Anyone else have a clear favorite between the two?