Negative Positive
Title: I can't stand Lily Bart.
Review: I realize that we're supposed to sympathize with Lily Bart, the protagonist...but I just find it impossible to really feel sorry for her situation. Other reviewers have claimed that "Lily had no choice" but to end her life. Well, I think that's completely incorrect. She has numerous possibilities to marry Selden--a kind, decent man (in contrast to repulsive ones like Rosedale) who adores her, but she cannot give up the riches of the upper crust in order to do so. Essentially--and this Lily admits to us at points during the book--she's in it for the cash, even if she does finally understand the opportunities she's wasted throughout (strange, for a woman who talks nonstop about "opportunities...") And I think that, even if it's a correct reflection of the time in which she lived, Lily's motives ultimately destroys my sympathy for her as a character. I mean, a woman who complains because she can't have fresh flowers on the luncheon table every day? Come ON, Lily...
Is the review positive or negative? 