Well, I am glad I finally finished Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. With the closing chapters of the story, I realized that Lily Bart is a tragic character. Haunted every night by her desire for a wealthy life and all her problems produced by her pursuits, Lily's death came from this tragic flaw of not being satisfied because it led to her excessive use of chloral (I totally called it). Additionally, her death is all the more tragic because on the night of her death she had finally accepted that all that she needed to be happy was love. To make it all the more sad, both Lily and Selden wanted to see the other in the morning.
In the final paragraphs, I believe that Selden is at peace with Lily's death. He has a profound thought, "He saw that all the conditions of life had conspired to keep them apart...(267)." He looks at the positive in that he had loved her, and at least that was good. I do not think he regrets much, except for his fleeing from her after that night at Bellomont. At least Selden had been bold in professing his love to a woman who he knew had never thought of marrying him beforehand. It is interesting to think of how Lily never got what she wanted until she died.
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