Lily’s Pursuit Of Self: Interpretation Of The House Of Mirth In Lacan’s Subject Theory

Edith Wharton（1862-1937） was a brilliant and prolific American writer whowas the first female winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Edith Wharton held her literarybelief of “Art for life” throughout her literary career. As a keen observer, she depictedthe vivid picture of New York society at the turn of the twentieth century in her works.Her first novel The House of Mirth was a masterpiece and it established her prominentstatus in the history of American literature. Published in1905, it mainly depicted thearistocratic New York societies and became a bestseller soon.The House of Mirth was studied by various scholars with different criticaltheories. Most criticisms focused on Lily’s tragedy from the perspective of feminism.This thesis attempts to adopt Lacan’s subject theory to study Lily, the heroine in thenovel, so as to reveal the significance of human’s psyche development and thedecisive function of the growth environment of an individual.This thesis mainly contains five chapters. The first chapter makes a detailedintroduction about Edith Wharton and her work The House of Mirth, and also tells thewriting purpose, significance and structural plan of this thesis.The second chapter is a systematic literature review of this novel from thedomestic studies to the studies abroad.The third chapter is an introduction about Lacan and his subject theory in detail.The fourth is the discussion part, divided into three sections. The first one makesan analysis of formation of Lily’s self in the Imaginary order. Lily comes to know theoutside world with the help of others: her father and mother. So she forms a mingledself and continues to pursue her ideal self. The second section discusses Lily’sdifficulties in the Symbolic order. She tries her best to pursue her ideal self throughmarriage, friendship and her own career. None of them make Lily approach her idealself under the pressure of the law-of-father. Her refusal of the law-of-father makesher entrap into a horrible situation. The last section reveals Lily’s desire for returningto the Real order, and her final achievement of wholeness through death. The last chapter is a conclusion. The thesis draws a conclusion that Lily’s selfpursuit is actually a struggle of finding her own subjectivity. Lily’s loneliness andfinal death is due to her chaotic self-formation in the mirror stage and her refusal ofthe law-of-father in the Symbolic order. Her return to the Real order is the rebirth ofher new life.