Blog 4- Lily & Selden's Early On Relationship

Towards the end of chapter 5 and into chapter 6 of The House Of Mirth by Edith Wharton, Lily Bart and Selden deepen their relationship. As the story has developed, I've noticed Miss Bart more conscious of Selden's existence and more appreciative to the fact that he's always been around for her. His following her out to the garden on the path to church show Selden's devotion to Lily and her safety. I believed Miss Bart would be too blind sighted to notice Selden's generosity or even to take him up on the offer to go on an afternoon stroll. I was lead to the assumption that Miss Bart wouldn't let her friendship with Lawrence Selden to deepen because of her earlier regard of him in chapter 5: "...wished that he possessed the other qualities needful to fix her attention;but till now she had been too busy with her own affairs to regard him as more than one of the pleasant accessories of life," (Wharton,43). . Lily's lack of appreciation to those always at her service, show through in her treatment to Selden. To my surprise though, she sits on a rock with Lawrence at her feet, thoughts rushing through her head of her growing feelings for him. "Was it love, she wondered," (Wharton,51)..? And after having spent an entire afternoon in Selden's company, " 'Do you want to marry me,' " (Wharton,58)? Is Lily Bart in love with Lawrence Selden, or in love with the idea of being in love?