Discuss the ways in which women are constructed in any two texts on the course.

        In her essay, Barbara Hochman also argues that one of the ways Lily is constructed is as a failure. She describes the novel as a text that ‘exemplifies the ‘naturalist’ plot of individual decline’. Even though this is a plausible assertion, I think it is a superficial presentation of a complex text.

        First of all, it could be argued that even though Lily declines socially, she ascends in terms of morality. By dividing the novel into two books the reader is able to compare the events in each text. Wharton’s method of using the street to draw the reader’s mind back to the first book reminds the reader of how Lily was. As a result the structure enables the reader to chart her progress through the text more efficiently and direct parallels can be made between Book One and Book Two that show Lily’s decline or ascent. For instance, whereas in the beginning of the text she shrewdly and cunningly used Gus Trenor for money (pp. 99-104), in Book Two she is unable to take Rosedale’s offer of a loan (p. 318). This shows how Lily has changed. She is constructed as a moral woman who has learned from her experiences and re-constructed herself accordingly. Even though her refusal of Rosedale could be described as the catalyst for her destruction she chooses morality and loyalty to her friend over creating social scandal that she herself admits would overthrow the order of the New York social elite (p. 123). The book is not wholly about ‘individual decline’. By arguing that the text is just about decline Hochman focuses exclusively on the way Lily is constructed in a social context. However, taking into account her moral improvement, the novel could also be read as a construction of someone whose social decline aids her moral ascent.

        In Sister Carrie Dreiser uses Broadway as a way to construct women. Firstly, the Broadway landscape is used to construct women as a form of entertainment (p. 323). The street showcases female beauty and fashion. The women on Broadway are constructed as entertainment because men come to the street to ‘gaze and admire’ the parade of New York beauties (p. 323). Secondly, the Broadway setting is a way to construct women as performers. Like the entertainers on the stage in the theatres that line the streets of Broadway the women who walk along Broadway create an artificial persona through the manipulation of their appearance. Similar to the way the actors in the Broadway theatres do this through the use of scripts and direction, the women walking on the street also construct themselves using these methods. The script is that the women are to look beautiful and fashionable. Fashion is the reason Mrs Vance wants to ‘see and be seen’ (p.323). It dictates the way she constructs herself like a director instructs an actor on how to perform. Thirdly, women are constructed as being objects for the male gaze. In the analogy of the streets of Broadway as an entertainment venue it is men who are presented as being the audience. Therefore, women are constructed as entertainment for men and objects for them to look at.

        In an essay by Blanche H. Gelfant she discusses the way in which department stores contributed to the construction of women. She focuses on the effect that glass windows had upon women. Gelfant argues that the glass windows of a department store are not just a part of the building. They are there as a tool to encourage consumption. The glass windows mean that there is no barrier between the contents of the store and society. Because of the transparency of the glass the shop and its contents are on constant display. The goods of the store are accessible to everyone who walks past the store, regardless of class or financial status. Because of their accessibility the store’s contents educate passers-by on what is desirable.

        Gelfant’s suggestion of the way in which department stores construct women is used in Dreiser’s Sister Carrie. Dreiser describes how Carrie realises ‘in a dim way how much the city held-wealth, fashion, ease’ (p. 23). In this scene Carrie has just left the department store. She sees her ‘more fortunate sisters of the city’ (p. 23) wearing items that the store has made Carrie desire. These women elbow and ignore her suggesting that because they are better dressed than Carrie they believe themselves to be superior to her. Conversely, because Carrie is not a consumer she is not worth attention. The well-dressed women make Carrie think about what the city has to offer. The things she aspires to are connected with comfort, luxury and glamour, three things that are associated with superficiality and materialism.

        Firstly, the store constructs female desire. It reveals to Carrie ‘slippers and stockings[…]delicately frilled skirts and petticoats, the laces, ribbons, hair combs, purses’ (p. 22). Carrie never mentions these objects before she enters the department store. After she leaves they become things that she longs to have. Therefore, the store is used to construct her as a person of desire and a consumer.  Secondly, the department store constructs female envy. She envies the women who can afford what she desires. Their beautiful clothes construct them as superior to women such as Carrie ‘with shortcomings of dress’ (p. 23). Thirdly, the department stores are used in the construction of women as they help construct female ambition. Carrie buys into the way in which the women who elbow and ignore her construct themselves as figures of fashion, beauty and wealth. Her envy of these women constructs her ambition to acquire what these women have. Even though she cannot afford what the well-dressed women have she uses them as a source of inspiration and an example of the life that she aspires to lead.

        In an essay by Blanch H. Gelfant she writes:

Carrie begins to want what she sees other women have- their clothes and something more incorporated in contemporary definitions of consumerism: the self that is delineated by acquisition.

The idea of consumerism presented is that people believe that the self can be bought. In relation to Carrie it is possible to suggest that she believes she can construct an identity for herself by buying into the images of the women she sees. Therefore, because Gelfant cites that Carrie wants what she sees on other women, it could be argued that women are constructed as advertisements.

        Like Gelfant, Dreiser uses advertisements as a way to construct women. Mrs Vance says to Carrie:

Oh dear have you seen the new shirts at Altman’s? They have some of the loveliest patterns. I saw one there that would look stunning on you.

(p. 327)

The style of Mrs Vance’s speech presents her as someone who is trying to sell something. He uses adjectives that are complimentary and conjure up a flattering picture for Carrie of herself. She is presented, as saying there is ‘one’ garment. This implies that the item is unique. This could be argued to be a tactic used by advertisers to make a product more desirable. Dreiser uses the personal pronoun ‘you’ and the adjective ‘stunning’. This creates an image for Carrie of herself in the shirt-waist.

        Mrs Vance is constructed as an advertiser of fashion. She constructs what Carrie should desire. She also creates the way Carrie should look and what she should wear in order to look ‘stunning’. Mrs Vance’s presentation as an advertisement of fashion, beauty and the wealthy and glamorous way of life that is equated with the two is confirmed when Carrie asks Hurstwood for money to buy clothes shortly after Mrs Vance’s speech. Before this point Carrie has not asked anyone to buy things for her. When she was with Drouet she was given clothes and persuaded to get them. After Mrs Vance’s speech Dreiser describes how Carrie ‘began to suggest one thing and another[…]Carrie’s wants were expanding’ (p. 328). This shows how Mrs Vance Mrs Vance has helped to construct Carrie as a consumer.  

        The use of women as advertisements also shows how other people construct women in order to promote a certain image or identity. After she becomes a celebrity Mr Withers approaches her (p. 450). He offers her the chance to stay in the luxurious ‘Wellington’ apartments. The reason she is offered a place to live in ‘The Wellington’ is because she is famous (p. 451). Mr Withers uses Carrie as an advertisement for the property. If Carrie stays in the apartments the property becomes connected with Carrie’s celebrity. She becomes the face of ‘The Wellington’. Even though she is glamorous Carrie is not wealthy enough to afford to stay in Mr Withers property. Mr Withers constructs her as a wealthy woman by offering her reduced rates so she can create the illusion of ‘The Wellington’ as a place were the rich, glamorous and famous reside, even though in reality the famous and glamorous Carrie Madenda is not really rich enough to be there. Gelfant’s idea of how people believed the self could be bought is evident here. Carrie helps to advertise ‘The Wellington’ as the home of the rich and famous. Mr Withers constructs her in this way to attract the people who believe that consumption will make them as glamorous and wealthy as the celebrities who also call ‘The Wellington’ their home.

        In contrast to Dreiser it could be argued that Wharton constructs her story of womanhood as an advert for her female readers of the perils of being an ornamental woman who relies on the marriage market as her salvation. This could be possible considering that Beer describes how ‘the novel looks at the marriage market in transition’. In her essay Beer suggests that the period in which Wharton was writing was a time of change. Women like Lily Bart could not rely on marrying into wealth anymore. The marriage market was changing and Lily is an advert to women of what happens if they do not adapt to this changing market and culture. Wharton herself made the transition from a member of aristocratic old New York to an independent woman. She ‘made the expected marriage’ that ended in divorce. It could be argued that Wharton escaped Lily’s fate because she broke away from tradition and constructed her own identity. For instance, she became the first professional writer in her family. It could be argued that Lily is the best advert for Wharton as an author (the naturalist structure used in The House of Mirth is described as showing how

Wharton wanted to seek ‘authorial status beyond the confines of women writing’), and as a woman, who re-constructed her identity after having her behaviour and image constructed for her by her family and society.

        The use of other characters is another way in which Dreiser and Wharton construct women. In the second book of Wharton’s House of Mirth the author uses Carrie Fisher to construct Lily’s discontent at the prospect of marrying into wealth. She says:

“Sometimes” she added “I think it’s just flightiness and sometimes I thinks it’s because at heart she despises the things she’s trying for”.

(p. 207)

The use of ‘flightiness’ implies that she is indecisive. Throughout the text Lily is presented as being unsure of who she is and what she wants. She seems caught between behaving in accordance with convention and her own desires. This is shown when she says to Selden about a woman never being able to live in an apartment like his and how she wishes she could have a flat of her own (p. 25). Selden uses Gerty as an example of a woman who has what Lily wants. However, Lily is unimpressed by Gerty. She uses the fact that Gerty is not marriageable as a reason why she is not an example of a woman in like Lily. Lily seems to desire the way of life Gerty has in terms of independence whilst at the same time wanting the prestige of being the wife of a Percy Gryce millionaire. Fisher also constructs Lily as discontented with her life. It could be argued that Lily contrives her behaviour to make sure she never has to get married and become a full member of the social elite New York set. Her dislike of this world and reluctance to become a part of it is shown when she is described as not wanting to sit at the tea table with the other New York wives because they represent her future, which she appears to want to prolong being a part of (p. 67). It could be argued that Carrie Fisher constructs Lily as someone whose behaviour is constructed for her, and someone who is forced to do things she does not want to do. As a result she contrives her behaviour to avoid having to live the life that has been constructed for her by society and convention.

        To a certain extent Fisher constructs Lily as someone who is independent and slightly rebellious. She has rules of conduct that she knows she should adhere too but she is presented as not wanting to behave in accordance to rules. She rebels and acts independently by avoiding marriage and commitment, for instance, by having an affair with the stepson of her royal fiancé (p. 207).  

In contrast, Wharton uses male characters to construct women as being decorative and ornamental objects to improve the perception of men. Rosedale comments that:

[…]it was becoming more and more clear to him that Miss Bart herself possessed precisely the complimentary qualities needed to round off his social personality.

(p. 141)

Rosedale is in the process of trying to penetrate the New York elite. Lily Bart is constructed as his way to gain access to this world. Therefore, one way in which Wharton uses the male characters in her novel is to construct women as ornamental and decorative objects to improve the social appearance of men.

        In Sister Carrie Minnie is used as a way to construct Carrie as a tool of industry. Minnie constructs Carrie as a worker (p. 32). This is stark contrast to the way Nettie Struther constructs Lily as an illusory unreal image of Wharton’s heroine as a generous almost angelic figure who is Nettie’s saviour and inspiration (pp. 332-5). This is shown in the way she implies that Lily will be the model of womanhood upon which she will use to raise her daughter in an attempt to construct her like Lily (p. 335). In contrast, Minnie’s construction of Carrie is deeply rooted in the realistic industrial world of Chicago. Minnie knows what resources are required for her family’s survival. She constructs Carrie in terms of how she will contribute to that. Therefore, Minnie is a way for Dreiser to construct women as contributors to family life and the world of commerce and industry. Carrie is figured in the world of work and not the home.

        Whereas Minnie constructs Carrie in terms of how she can affect the domestic sphere through participation in industry and labour, Ames constructs Carrie as someone who can influence the world through the use of her art (p. 486). He argues that through the use of drama Carrie can influence society. He praises her voice and constructs it as something that is valuable to her. Its value lies in the fact that it can express Carrie’s inner feelings. Whereas, Hurstwood and Drouet present Carrie as a prize, Ames is the first man to focus on Carrie’s mind. Rather than just construct her as a beautiful woman he presents her as a talented woman capable of changing the world. Ames is used to construct Carrie as something other than a beautiful woman. She is constructed as a woman of intellect and talent capable of helping people rather than giving them false hope, which she does on her billboards and at ‘The Wellington’.

         I will now look at the way Dreiser and Wharton present women’s construction of the self. One of the methods Dreiser uses to do this is through the use of the mirror. The first time Dreiser presents Carrie looking into the mirror she is described as being ‘convinced […]of a few things’ (p. 76). The mirror is a source of affirmation for Carrie. She believes she is beautiful and standing in front of the mirror shows her that her thoughts about her beauty are true. This suggests how women construct their own identity in terms of beauty. Furthermore, Carrie describes feeling powerful as a result of her reflection. Before this point Carrie desired fashionable clothes but was too poor to buy them. Therefore, even though she has always been beautiful she has never been as finely adorned as now. She is seeing for the first time, how fashion compliments her beauty. The effect is a feeling of power and her construction of herself as being a powerful woman because of her appearance.

        Another way in which Dreiser’s heroine constructs herself is through the use of the theatre. The theatre eventually becomes her source of economic freedom and independence, which is something that she constructs herself as wanting when she verbalises her sub-conscious and reveals how her choice of Drouet and a existence of material dependence over a life of work and independence breeds feelings of failure within Carrie (pp. 89-90). She describes how the theatre gives her access to ‘the chamber of diamonds and delight’ (p. 177). All the images of wealth and status in the theatre are constructs. It could be suggested that Dreiser uses the theatre and Carrie’s argument that it is real to show how she lives in a dream world. Her life has been illusory. For instance, whereas Minnie constructs Carrie’s future to be centred on labour yet she is whisked away by an affluent stranger she met on the train. Her entrance into the world of theatre is based on the illusion that she is Drouet’s friend Carrie Madenda, even though she is the even more illusory Carrie Drouet, who is really Carrie Meeber, who is herself a fiction. Carrie has no experience of reality at this point and she does not have the experience to make the distinction between reality and fantasy. Her life becomes rooted in fantasy as she embarks on a career as an actress.

        Lily changes her mind so frequently over the way she feels she is perceived and the way she wants be perceived that it is difficult to find examples of Lily’s construction of herself. In Wharton’s novel Lily has avoided being constructed in one way. She has allowed others to construct her and speculate whether their construction is the ‘real Lily Bart’, such as in the tableaux vivant scene (pp. 153-5). Wharton’s concealment of the word on Lily’s mute lips means that Lily, even in death, does not construct herself (p. 348). She lets the readers speculate and come up with their own constructions of what the word is and how that word reveals whom the real Lily is. However, the mysterious word also enables Lily to reclaim some control over her sense of self. She has been a character that is constructed by others. By keeping the word private she makes sure that she is constructed as a mystery and therefore, something indefinable. Lily is the only person able to define herself, and her death means this can never occur. In my opinion, the only time Lily constructs herself is in death. She becomes a figure of mystery and intrigue and this construction can never be altered.

        Hook surmises that late nineteenth and early twentieth century New York is the:

Heartless, pitiless and cruelly unconcerned about the fate of the unfortunate individual […]the winner takes all and the lose is left to his fate.

The post-twentieth century societies depicted in Sister Carrie and House of Mirth reward those who are able to adapt to a more independent, self-sufficient way of life. Carrie is able to reconstruct herself as she progresses in society. This is in contrast to Lily, who allows other people to impose their constructions of her upon her but fails to construct an identity for herself. Ultimately the constructions of Carrie and Lily are founded on illusions. They are the perceptions and ideas of other characters, which are imposed upon the female leads of Wharton and Dreiser’s novels. Even Carrie’s construction of herself is based on illusion. Ironically, the only construction of a character that is rooted in reality is Lily. Death is a tragically real ending for Wharton’s heroine. However, Wharton’s use of the mysterious word at the novel’s conclusion constructs Lily as still being alive, her legacy being a construct based on the mystery of the unspoken word and the imaginings and fantasies of the reader over what the word is.

WORD COUNT: 4375

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

• Dreiser, Theodore. Sister Carrie (London : Penguin Twentieth Century Classics, 1994).
• Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth (Middlesex : Penguin Modern Classics, 1979).

Secondary Sources

• Beer, Janet. Edith Wharton (Devon : Northcote House Publishing, 2002).
• Gelfant, Blanche H., ‘What more can Carrie want? Naturalistic ways of consuming women’, in The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London, ed. Donald Pizer (Cambridge : Cambridge Univeristy Press, 1995) pp. 178-210.
• Hook, Andrew. American Literature in Context III (London : Methuen, 1983).
• Hochman, Barbara, ‘The Awakening and The House of Mirth: Plotting Experience and Experiencing Plot’, in The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London, ed. Donald Pizer (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995) pp. 211-35.
• Trilling, Diane, ‘Introduction’, in The Cambridge Companion to Edith Wharton, ed. Millicent Bell (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995) pp. 1-14.
• The Cambridge Companion to Edith Wharton, ed. Millicent Bell (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995).
• The Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism: Howells to London, ed. Donald Pizer (Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995).

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