In the following essay, Waid traces the publication history of The House of Mirth from its origin as a serial in Scribner's magazine.

In the following essay, Moddelmog examines Wharton's narrative strategy of demonstrating the difficulties inherent in portraying female subjectivity by distancing herself, her other characters, and her readers from Lily's inner life.

In the following essay, Clubbe draws upon Wharton's interest in interior design to discuss her correlation in The House of Mirth between Lily's interior physical environments and the struggling development of her inner life.

In the following essay, Yeazell examines the milieu of appearances and consumption in which Lily must navigate and which ultimately leads to her downfall.

In the following essay, Howard discusses The House of Mirth as a turning point in Wharton's artistic and intellectual development.

In the following essay, Gerard argues that Lily's death provides a break from Wharton's naturalism throughout The House of Mirth to allow for a moment of individual self-determination.

In the following essay, Showalter discusses the “crisis of adulthood” faced by Lily Bart and the nonfictional women upon which her character is based, who had to conform to the social expectation of marrying before the age of thirty or facing personal and economic disaster.

In the following essay, Sapora examines the conflict in The House of Mirth between the image of women as works of art or decorative objects and women's attempts at self-actualization.

In the following essay, Michelson observes the influence on The House of Mirth of the “well-made play.”

In the following essay, Orr discusses the world of The House of Mirth as a contractual milieu.

In the following essay, Dimock examines the ways in which the society of The House of Mirth is based on terms of commerce.

In the following essay, Totten suggests that Lily's one genuine moment of subjectivity happens when she constructs herself as the aesthetic figure of Mrs. Lloyd.

In the following essay, Restuccia argues that part of Wharton's feminist position in The House of Mirth resembles later “humanist feminism” in its emphasis on the positive effects of femininity.

In the following review, Meynell finds Wharton's moral stance lacking in The House of Mirth.

In the following essay, Loney examines Wharton's dramatization for the stage of The House of Mirth and posits reasons for the play's failure with audiences.

In the following essay, Barnett posits that in The House of Mirth society functions as a character rather than simply a setting against which the story is told.

In the following essay, Dixon discusses how Wharton's use of “contrasting angles of vision” as a literary technique reflects her ideological perspective concerning the role of the individual within society, and uses this technique to evaluate the underlying ethical and social framework of American society in her novel The House of Mirth.

In the following essay, Davidson discusses the options for women, particularly of Lily's class, in early-twentieth-century American society.

In the following essay, Ammentorp finds that Wharton's male characters in The House of Mirth suffer nearly as much as the women because of their society's expectations.

In the following essay, Pizer examines The House of Mirth for its elements of literary naturalism as well as Wharton's apparent ambivalence to this possible interpretation at the end of the novel.

In the following essay, Riegel points out anti-Semitism in The House of Mirth, but notes that Wharton herself does not take an explicit stance in the novel.