The House of Mirth
by Edith Wharton
Book One: Chapter X

In The House of Mirth, Mr. Rosedale is the character most like a villain. He is willing to do whatever it takes and use people to get what he wants. However, most of the people in Lily's group dislike him because he is a Jew and they think he is beneath them. They also dislike him because his manners are not as good as those who were raised in society. He doesn't understand all the rules and for that many people ignore him and malign him behind his back.
When there are problems in the stock market, Rosedale makes it out with double what he had before. He decides that what he needs next is a wife who will increase his social standing. In this way he is like Lily. They both want spouses to change their circumstances and try to get what they want by planning and maneuvering until they get it.
Rosedale decides "Miss Bart herself possessed precisely the complementary qualities needed to round off his social personality." This begins his plotting in regards to Lily and puts him opposite her as the antagonist of the book.