Wharton provides important details about Lily’s past. Her family was once relatively well off, but a combination of economic downturns and financial mismanagement led to eventual bankruptcy. Lily, always beautiful, was told by her mother that the family’s fortunes would be regained through her physical attractiveness.
The reader learns the details of Lily’s youth, a life of money, European travel, and servants. Lily’s mother is remembered as young and vivacious, while her father is seen as middle-aged, tired, and bald, even though he was only two years older than his wife. It is revealed that he struggled mightily to provide for his wife’s extravagant lifestyle. The father is demonized by his wife and society at large for not consistently earning enough money to keep his family in the comforts to which it had been accustomed. His wife, however, is admired as a “wonderful manager” of money who always seemed to create the illusion that the Bart family possessed more wealth than it actually did. Any protest from Mr. Bart would result in a reproach from his wife that it would be considered “living like a pig” if her demands were not met.
Mrs. Bart’s view of money overshadows any love she might have felt for Mr. Bart. This is revealed when Wharton relates that he “no longer counted” to his wife, and that “he had become extinct when he ceased to fulfill his purpose.” Mrs. Bart’s mercenary attitude toward her husband is summed up when she tells Lily, “You are sorry for him now—but you will feel differently when you see what he has done to us.” Lily harbors hopes of marrying into wealth, yet considers herself better than her mother because she believes that her refined cultural tastes will serve as valued cultural enhancements—a belief Wharton belittles when she reveals that Lily’s sense of culture is limited to pictures, flowers, and sentimental novels.
