"House of Mirth" and the Illusory Realm

         In many of the stories we have read thus far there exists a prevalent thematic element of the illusory realm of what wealth can bring.  The unobtainable elite status that some so desperately desire is represented in the intangibility of their methods for trying to gain it;  their place in this world only exists in their minds.
          In the House of Mirth this struggle to grasp high status is especially obvious in the character of Lily Bart, who has fallen from grace.  Her solutions are not fruitful and she finds solace in sleep but not reality.  Lily has such an extreme dread of poverty and discomfort that she steals Ms.Hatch's prescription sleeping drops so that she can get some rest in the night instead of lying awake worrying about the future.  These nights of "artificial comfort" are symbolic of the artificiality of the world she wants to be a part of.  The aspects of life that she finds soothing are not genuine, much like her medicine induced sleep.  What is interesting is her willingness to "cheat" her way into sleep by taking a drug, but her incapability of cheating her way back into high society by exposing the wickedness of Mrs.Dorset with the proof of the letters.  Perhaps she realizes that conning her way back into the world she once knew will not give her the satisfaction she needs in life, just as inducing slumber with drugs does not truly cure her insomnia; it is only putting a band-aid on the problem.
          This same type of illusory realm also exists in The 30,000 Dollar Bequest.  Alek and Sally both conjure a perfect image of the life-style they can have when they inherit a fortune.  They get so caught up in this illusion that they lose sight of their family and even themselves.  In thinking that this money will be the catalyst that brings them ultimate happiness, they a blind to the parts of life that truly make them happy.  Both characters have a warped sense of reality in the face of vast riches.  Alek grows particularly fond of investing and stocks, seeing this as a way to accumulate more wealth.  However, this gambling with money in stocks and trade is also an illusion.  They invest money they do not have and risk losing it all.  The bonds are not tangible, there is little to prove they are truly there, making the whole concept of wealth and money a rather precarious imaginative product.
          Silas Lapham's misfortunes corroborate the perilous nature of the market, and how unstable such an elusive form of currency is.  In The Rise of Silas Lapham he loses himself in trying to fit in with high society, throws large sums of money into the labyrinth of the stock market, and generally attempts to embody an identity which makes him and his family miserable.  Overall, all of these characters express the false comforts that society takes in luxury, and how little tranquility it really gives their lives because money has no real value except for what communities decide to stamp on it.  This value is in fact a man-made construct and provides nothing of true worth.