Imagine yourself at a lovely dinner party in New York in the early 20th century and looking closely at some of the wealthiest people the city has to offer. Edith Wharton was able to witness all the arrogance of New York during this time and put those observations into her novel, The House of Mirth. Edith Wharton was born on January 24, 1862 into a prosperous New York family. She lived in an expensive area of ​​New York and was educated mostly by governesses and personal tutors (Olin 72). His family inspired the phrase “Keeping Up with the Joneses” (Lee 22). Edith's personal experiences certainly had a huge impact on her writing. Her high social status, the Gilded Age of America, and her love of nature influenced Edith Wharton to write The House of Mirth. Wharton's noble social background was very influential on her writing. It allowed Wharton to provide an insider perspective on the wealthy people of New York during this period. Due to her first-hand view of society during the Gilded Age, Wharton was able to satirize this society and also reference the tragedies that occur within it. In a letter to Dr. Morgan Dix, rector of Trinity Church in New York, Wharton wrote: "Social conditions as they are just now in our new world, where the sudden possession of money has come without hereditary obligations, or any traditional sense of solidarity between the classes, is a vast and engaging field for the novelist” (Wharton “To Dr. Morgan” 98). and social, must marry... like Gossip Girl and 90210. Without Wharton's novels, people in the twenty-first century would not know what happens in the upper class Works Cited Dwight, Eleanor Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life: Harry N. Abrams,. . 1994. Print. Lee, Hermione. Edith Wharton New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. Print. Olin-Ammentorp, Julie. "Edith Wharton's Challenge to Feminist Criticism." -44. Rpt. in Student Novels. Ed. Davide Galen. vol. 15.Detroit: Gale, 2002. 72-76. Print.Singley, Carol J., ed. A historical guide to Edith Wharton. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.Wharton, Edith. The House of Joy. New York: Vintage Books, 2012. Print.Wharton, Edith. "To Dr. Morgan Dix." The Letters of Edith Wharton. Ed. Nancy Lewis. NewYork: Macmillan Publishing Company, 5 December 1905. 98-100. Press.