At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the United States was in the transition period from traditional society to modern society. At this stage, the ethical contradictions are highlighted and become one of the most important problems that people can not avoid in social life. In the old New York upper class, women do not need to have any survival skills, they just need to learn how to please men and abide by the ethical norms of high society. Women’s economic independence is an important reason for their subordination to men in social status. This determines the value of women’s life can only exist in the marriage. Therefore, in such a social ethical concept, it is difficult for women to have space to develop their own independent personality, and ultimately can only be the vassal of male. Wharton is in the transition period from traditional society to modern capitalist society, and in the conflict between traditional ethics and modern ethics, which also embodies the status of individual. Wharton captures this conflict in her work, reflecting the ethical choices of individuals in the social transition period. This paper would like to study her first successful novel The House of Mirth, by looking into Bart’s ethical choice in the marriage, to learn about the solidification of the class structure, the money worship of American, the fact that it is difficult for women to be independent from man, and the contradicts of the individual value and collective value.
