Lily Bart is a woman with "game." Her coquettish nature and employment of tools of flirtation makes it seem as if men wouldn't be able to avoid falling into her trap. Today, it is always men who have the reputation of being "players." Flirting is a game. It is a give or take game about letting the opposite sex know you like them, but not letting them know you like them as much as you do. It is about curiosity and mystery. It is exciting, but at the same time confusing. Apparently this game has been around for a long time. Lily Bart has an amazing sense of interpreting people and knowing how to manipulate them.

"She began to cut the pages of a novel, tranquilly studying her prey through downcast lashes while she organized a method of attack. Something in his attitude of conscious absorption told her that he was aware of her presence: no one had ever been quite so engrossed in an evening paper!" (16).

Lily Bart calls Mr. Percy Gryce her "prey." Long before the twenty first century of "players" and "ballers" (thank you to the Rap/R&B industry) Lily Bart herself recognizes that getting what you want requires manipulation and deception. She is an amazing reader of people as well. Bart can tell that Gryce has seen her and is shy because of the way he is reading his newspaper. His excessive interest stems from not the article itself, but the fact that he is afraid to look up and see her. The way humans communicate is fascinating. Wouldn't it be so much easier to just walk up to someone you like and say, "Hey, I like you?"