More than any other chapter in The House of Mirth, Chapter XIV reveals that the novel was written in a serial format. This style is evidenced by the nonlinear presentation of the chapter, in which Wharton backs up time in order to fill the reader in on the thoughts and feelings of Gerty and Selden as they evolve after the Brys’ dinner party. The reader can then understand what is happening to Selden and Gerty prior to and during Lily’s fateful visit with Trenor.
Gerty previously had enjoyed life and romance only secondhand. Her newfound love for Selden and her charitable disposition prompt her to share her good fortune with others. Gerty believes that her love for Selden is reciprocal because of his frequent visits, and that the two have attained a higher degree of sympathy through their mutual affection for Lily.
Gerty’s drawing Lily into her charitable work at the Girls Club, and Lily’s participation, serves as a foreshadowing of Lily’s future economic plight. The narrator regards Lily as learning to view the economically disadvantaged as individuals rather than en masse.
The narrator uses Van Alstyne to point out the values of old-money New York socialites in two passages. In the first, he sums up the social values of the day regarding unmarried attractive women: “When a girl’s as good-looking as that [Lily] she’d better marry; then no questions are asked. In our imperfectly organized society there is no provision as yet for the young woman who claims privileges of marriage without assuming its obligations.” The second instance occurs when Van Alstyne accompanies Selden after leaving Carry’s house. He points out the differences of architecture between old money, like the Trenors’ home, and new money, like the Brys’ estate. He disparages the ostentatious nature of the Brys’ home and compliments the Trenors’ more austere Corinthian style.
