--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why must a girl pay so dearly for her…" description: "\"“Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape,\" Lily muses as she contemplates the prospect of being bored all afternoon by Percy Grice, dull but..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg" --- # Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape," Lily… ![“Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape," Lily muses as she contemplates the prospect of being bored all afternoon by Percy Grice, dull but undeniably rich, "on the bare chance that he might ultimately do her the honor of boring her for life?” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg) > ““Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape," Lily muses as she contemplates the prospect of being bored all afternoon by Percy Grice, dull but undeniably rich, "on the bare chance that he might ultimately do her the honor of boring her for life?”” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A woman faces high social costs for seeking personal freedom, reflecting societal constraints on women. **In simple terms:** Women pay dearly for independence. Key Takeaway Question societal expectations of women. Themes gender freedom societal pressure class independence Mood reflective empathetic Type literary feminist When to use this quote - courtship - career choices - social gatherings - personal reflection Key Concepts feminist critique social economics personal agency Questions to Reflect On - What sacrifices are women expected to make? - How can one balance duty and desire? A Different Perspective Societal norms may limit options. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boring life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring-life/) ## Related quotes > [“He had a confused sense that she must have cost a great deal to make, that a great many dull and ugly people must,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-had-a-confused-sense-that-she-must-have-cost-a-great-deal-to-make/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Katerina Lvovna lived a boring life in the rich house of her father-in-law during the five years of marriage to her unaffectionate husband; but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-leskov/katerina-lvovna-lived-a-boring-life-in-the-rich-house-of-her-father/) Nikolai Leskov > [I hated singing, I hated being on stage; I hated being in the Cranberries. I was constantly crying. I was going insane. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-o-riordan/i-hated-singing-i-hated-being-on-stage-i-hated-being-in-the/) [Dolores O'Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-o-riordan/) > [“Top 10 Deathbed Regrets: 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life other people expected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/top-10-deathbed-regrets-1-i-wish-i-d-had-the-courage-to-live-a-life/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I live a boring life, but it's perfect for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-daly/i-live-a-boring-life-but-it-s-perfect-for-me/) [John Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-daly/) > [“There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/there-are-a-lot-of-things-i-wish-i-would-have-done-instead-of-just/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [What's the best thing you can do for your writing? Construct a boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/what-s-the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-your-writing-construct-a-boring/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [The feeling that was born that night, how could i describe it?Words like love or lust just don't seem right. I may call it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-yazawa/the-feeling-that-was-born-that-night-how-could-i-describe-it-words/) [Ai Yazawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-yazawa/) > [Spending practically every minute of your day on pure survival is an absolutely boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/spending-practically-every-minute-of-your-day-on-pure-survival-is-an/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [The only thing worse than dying is living a boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/the-only-thing-worse-than-dying-is-living-a-boring-life/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [Life's a paradox. What you want, you don't get; what you get, you don't enjoy; what you enjoy isn't permanent; what is permanent, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-a-paradox-what-you-want-you-don-t-get-what-you-get-you-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boring life...same schedule...same office... same mondays,same tuesdays, same wednesdays, same thursdays, same fridays, same saturdays and same sundays...same 2009, same 2010, same 2011, same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raja-navreet-singh-julka/boring-life-same-schedule-same-office-same-mondays-same-tuesdays-same/) Raja Navreet Singh Julka > [Don't live a dull boring life. Spice it up. You don't have too much of it left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/don-t-live-a-dull-boring-life-spice-it-up-you-don-t-have-too-much-of/) RVM > [This is all about the awesome TILLU!! (: If u know this kidd then u know ur not living a boring life... some might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/death-calls-her-name/this-is-all-about-the-awesome-tillu-if-u-know-this-kidd-then-u-know/) Death Calls Her Name > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Boring life quotes > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [This is all about the awesome TILLU!! (: If u know this kidd then u know ur not living a boring life... some might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/death-calls-her-name/this-is-all-about-the-awesome-tillu-if-u-know-this-kidd-then-u-know/) Death Calls Her Name > [Don't live a dull boring life. Spice it up. You don't have too much of it left.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rvm/don-t-live-a-dull-boring-life-spice-it-up-you-don-t-have-too-much-of/) RVM > [Boring life...same schedule...same office... same mondays,same tuesdays, same wednesdays, same thursdays, same fridays, same saturdays and same sundays...same 2009, same 2010, same 2011, same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raja-navreet-singh-julka/boring-life-same-schedule-same-office-same-mondays-same-tuesdays-same/) Raja Navreet Singh Julka > [Life's a paradox. What you want, you don't get; what you get, you don't enjoy; what you enjoy isn't permanent; what is permanent, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-s-a-paradox-what-you-want-you-don-t-get-what-you-get-you-don-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only thing worse than dying is living a boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-driscoll/the-only-thing-worse-than-dying-is-living-a-boring-life/) [Mark Driscoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-driscoll/) > [Spending practically every minute of your day on pure survival is an absolutely boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/spending-practically-every-minute-of-your-day-on-pure-survival-is-an/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [The feeling that was born that night, how could i describe it?Words like love or lust just don't seem right. I may call it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-yazawa/the-feeling-that-was-born-that-night-how-could-i-describe-it-words/) [Ai Yazawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-yazawa/) > [What's the best thing you can do for your writing? Construct a boring life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/what-s-the-best-thing-you-can-do-for-your-writing-construct-a-boring/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [“There are a lot of things I wish I would have done, instead of just sitting around and complaining about having a boring life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/there-are-a-lot-of-things-i-wish-i-would-have-done-instead-of-just/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) > [I live a boring life, but it's perfect for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-daly/i-live-a-boring-life-but-it-s-perfect-for-me/) [John Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-daly/) > [“Top 10 Deathbed Regrets: 1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life other people expected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/top-10-deathbed-regrets-1-i-wish-i-d-had-the-courage-to-live-a-life/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [I hated singing, I hated being on stage; I hated being in the Cranberries. I was constantly crying. I was going insane. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-o-riordan/i-hated-singing-i-hated-being-on-stage-i-hated-being-in-the/) [Dolores O'Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-o-riordan/) > [“Katerina Lvovna lived a boring life in the rich house of her father-in-law during the five years of marriage to her unaffectionate husband; but,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-leskov/katerina-lvovna-lived-a-boring-life-in-the-rich-house-of-her-father/) Nikolai Leskov > [God doesn’t want us to live timid, shy, weak, wimpy, fearful, boring lives. He wants us to be bold, con dent and courageous, unafraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/god-doesn-t-want-us-to-live-timid-shy-weak-wimpy-fearful-boring-lives/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) [Browse all 99 Boring life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boring-life/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape,\" Lily muses as she contemplates the prospect of being bored all afternoon by Percy Grice, dull but undeniably rich, \"on the bare chance that he might ultimately do her the honor of boring her for life?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Wharton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-least-escape-lily-muses-as-she/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boring life" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-least-escape-lily-muses-as-she/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f52/edith-wharton-512_boring-life_why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-le_1577631.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape,\" Lily muses as she contemplates the prospect of being…” — Edith Wharton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Edith Wharton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Why must a girl pay so...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-least-escape-lily-muses-as-she/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/why-must-a-girl-pay-so-dearly-for-her-least-escape-lily-muses-as-she/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```