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Definition of Tone
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical... read full definition
The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical... read full definition
Tone
Explanation and Analysis:
The tone of The House of Mirth is sarcastic, restrained and erudite. It is sometimes lighthearted, but more often the attitude of the work is pessimistic and serious.
The narrator consistently speaks from the third-person limited point of view. A limited narrator—although they can and do describe other people—focuses mostly on one character. Wharton’s narrator in this novel is mainly concerned with the rise and fall of the protagonist Lily Bart. This perspective allows the reader to have deep insight into Lily’s thoughts and emotions while maintaining something of a sense of mystery about those of other people. For the most part, the reader learns what Lily thinks long before the motivations of others are revealed. This mirrors the novel's attention to the results of gossip and the telling of partial truths. For the most part, the narrator is wry and objective, speaking in a tone that’s almost like a social study. The acute detailing of social interactions and manners adds to this sense: Wharton puts 20th-century American aristocrats under an unflinching microscope.
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