# The House of Mirth — Character guide

> Key figures in The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.

- [Lily Bart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lily_bart.md): Lily Bart moves through New York and the Riviera on borrowed invitations, borrowing money and admiration in equal measure while her aunt's allowance never quite covers the life she was raised to expect. She is drawn to L
- [Lawrence Selden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lawrence_selden.md): Selden circulates through drawing rooms and Monte Carlo as an amused spectator, prized for his detachment and his knack for seeing through the very society he frequents. His inherited contempt for the sumptuary side of l
- [Simon Rosedale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/simon_rosedale.md): Rosedale collects social capital the way other men collect art, studying the manners of old New York with the diligence of a man who intends to own a piece of it. Lily's casual slights register on him with a precision sh
- [Gerty Farish](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/gerty_farish.md): Gerty lives on the unfashionable edge of the city, spending her days finding work for genteel women whose husbands and brothers have gambled away their futures. She adores Lily without illusions and forgives her without 
- [Bertha Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/bertha_dorset.md): Bertha Dorset rules her set through a mixture of languor and ruthless calculation, keeping her husband in the dark and her rivals off balance. She resents Lily's triumphs, particularly the attention of the Crown Princess
- [Mrs. Peniston](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/mrs_peniston.md): Mrs. Peniston provides Lily with a Fifth Avenue address and a small allowance, but her real currency is respectability, which she guards with the vigilance of a woman who has read every scandal and understood none of the
- [Carry Fisher](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/carry_fisher.md): Carry occupies the precarious ledge between guest and dependent: clever enough to be indispensable at Bellomont, compromised enough that the Wetheralls refuse to meet her. Her specialty is devoting herself to bores, a ni
- [Percy Gryce](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/percy_gryce.md): Gryce arrives at Bellomont trailing Americana collections and a horror of impropriety, exactly the kind of heavy, passive fortune Lily has been trained to pursue. His shyness makes him manageable and his wealth makes him
- [Gus Trenor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/gus_trenor.md): Trenor is Judy's husband, master of Bellomont's stables and dinners, and a man whose conviviality curdles into something more dangerous when he drinks. He believes himself shrewd about women and generous with money, and 
- [George Dorset](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/george_dorset.md): Dorset is the barometer Judy Trenor watches: his sullen manner telegraphs Bertha's next mischief before anyone else sees it. Long-suffering and not especially perceptive, he nonetheless becomes fixated on Lily, drawn to 
- [Judy Trenor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/judy_trenor.md): Judy runs the social machinery that Lily depends on, and she runs it with an eye to amusement rather than affection — fond of dangerous people because they are safer to know. Her letters, her lists, and her grudges deter
- [Grace Stepney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/grace_stepney.md): Grace runs in to sit with Mrs. Peniston when Lily is out, playing bezique and sincerely admiring the purple satin curtains. She is useful in the small ways Lily disdains, and her quiet competence makes her a natural alte
- [Norma Hatch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/norma_hatch.md): A wealthy but vulgar woman from the West who seeks social acceptance.
- [Jack Stepney](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/jack_stepney.md): A society man and cousin to Lily and Grace Stepney.
- [Lord Hubert Dacey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/lord_hubert.md): An English aristocrat who visits New York society.
- [Mrs. Hudson Bart](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/mrs_bart.md): Lily's mother, who raised her to value wealth and social position.
- [Nettie Struther](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/nettie_struther.md): A poor young woman whom Lily once helped, offering kindness in return.
- [Mrs. Wellington Bry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/mrs_wellington_bry.md): A wealthy social climber who hosts lavish parties.
- [Ned Silverton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/ned_silverton.md): A young man of good family but no money, part of the social set.
- [Freddy Van Osburgh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/freddy_van_osburgh.md): A young man from a wealthy family, part of the social circle.
- [Melville Stancy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/melville_stancy.md): A minor character mentioned in social contexts.
- [Duchess of Beltshire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters/duchess_of_beltshire.md): An English duchess visiting New York.

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_house_of_mirth_se/characters