Naturalism in the House of Mirth Challenging the rigid deterministic confines of literary naturalism, which holds that "the human being is simply a phenomenon in a universe of material phenomena" (Gerard 418 ), Edith Wharton creates in The House of Mirth a novel that irrefutably presents the human creature as subject to a naturalistic destiny but which conveys an impending sense of hope that one can triumph over the environment and circumstances if one possesses a certain strength of will or a simple faith in human possibilities. Because of Wharton's slight deviation from naturalistic conventions, there is literary debate among critics about the validity of seeing The House of Mirth as a novel that embodies naturalism. Some arguments hold that naturalism does not play a vital role in the novel due to the fact that such a significant internal conflict is belied in Lily Bart's split being and because Wharton focuses so intently on this conflict, a discordance that seems opposed to the idea naturalistic of inevitability (Gerard, 4 1 0). Indeed, Wharton's works are not as critically concerned with naturalistic themes as are the works of London, Drieser, or Zola. However, it is clear that shades of naturalism, and stronger shades in many situations, are present throughout The House of Mirth. Wharton creates characters who are victims of their environment, controlled by animalistic instinct. The proof of this is found from the first page, when Lawrence Selden gives in to an "impulse of curiosity" (6), until the last page, when Selden realizes that Lily had "reached out to him in every struggle against influence of what surrounds him (255-56). By creating a protagonist... at the center of the card... sting, the human creature also gains strength and draws meaning from his hope, his desire and his faith, thus generating the triumph of the human spirit. Works Cited, Edith Wharton: The House of Mirth, authoritative text with biog and contexts, criticism and essays from five perspectives Martin's, 1993. Gerard, Bonnie Lynn. "From Tea to Chloral: Raising the Dead Lily Bart ". Edith Wharton's House of Mirth." Modern Language Quarterly: A Journal of Literary History 52.1 (1991): 53-70. Pizer, Donald. "The Naturalism of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth." Twentieth Century Literature: An Academic and Critical Book Journal 41.2 (1995): 241-48.