Problem
In finishing The House of Mirth, we need to measure the denouement: there are two possible ways to measure if the novel can be considered a tragedy or a comedy:
a) If Lily took the sleeping drug accidently (as Selden and the doctors believe) after paying her debts, then we would have to argue that the novel ends as a tragedy, because Lily, while achieving her secondary goals, does not live to enjoy her victory.
b) If Lily takes the overdose specifically (committing suicide) after paying her debts, then we might argue that the novel ends as a tragic-comedy, because Lily achieves her secondary goals of making restitution for her mistakes, and kills herself to spite friends like Selden, Judy, Gus, Rosedale, even Bertha, never having to succumb to marry anyone for the sake of society.
What evidence can you find to support one or the other of these readings? How do you measure the denouement of The House of Mirth?