{"id":111,"date":"2019-05-09T07:09:16","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T07:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp05.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=111"},"modified":"2019-05-09T11:10:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-09T11:10:53","slug":"edith-wharton-the-age-of-innocence","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp05\/chapter\/edith-wharton-the-age-of-innocence\/","title":{"rendered":"Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

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Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, short story writer and designer. She was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider's view of Americans privileged classes with a brilliant natural wit to write humorous incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature. Her protagonist are most often tragic heroes or heroines and portrayed as intelligent and emotional people who want more out of life. Wharton's protagonist challenge social taboos but are unable to overcome the barriers of social convention. Wharton's personal experiences opinions and passions influenced her\u00a0 writings.<\/p>\r\n

PLOT SYNOPSIS:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The age of innocence centers on an upper class couples impending marriage, and the introduction of the bride\u2019s cousin plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870's New York society, it never develops into an outright condemnation of the institution. The novel is noted for Wharton's attention to detail and its accurate portrayal of now the 19th century East Coast American Upper class lived.<\/p>\r\n

PLOT SUMMARY:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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New land Archer, gentle man lawyer and heir to one of New York city's best families, is happily anticipating a highly desirable marriage to the sheltered and beautiful May Welland yet he finds reason to doubt his choice of bride after the appearance of counters Ellen Olenska, May's exotic and beautiful 30 years old cousin. Ellen has returned to New York from Europe after scandalously separating herself from a bad marriage to a Polish count. At first Ellen's arrival and its potential taint on the reputation of his bride to be's family disturb Newland but he becomes increasingly intrigued by the wordily Ellen who flouts New York society's fastidious rules. As Newland's admiration for the counters growth so does his doubt about marrying May a perfect product of Old New York society his match with May no longer seems the ideal fate he had imagined.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Ellen's decision to divorce count Olenski causes a social crisis for the other members of her family who are terrified of a scandal and disgrace. Living apart can be tolerated but divorce is unacceptable. To save the Welland family's reputation a law partner of Newland asks him to dissuade Countess Olenska from divorcing the count. He succeeds but in the process he comes to care for her, afraid of falling in love with Ellen, Newland begs May to accelerate their wedding date.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Newland tells Ellen he loves her, Ellen corresponds but is horrified that their love will aggrieve May. She agrees to remain in America, separated but still married to Count Olenski, only if they do not sexually consummate their love. Newland and May marry. He tries unsuccessfully to forget Ellen. His society marriage is loveless and the social life he once found absorbing has become empty and joyless. Though Ellen lives in Washington, and has and has remained distant he is unable to cease loving her. Their paths cross while head May is in New port, Rhode Island. Newland discovers that Count Olenski wishes Ellen to return to him, but she refused although her\u00a0family wants her to reconcile with her husband and return to Europe, frustrated by her spirit of fierce independence the family has cut off her money as the Count had already gone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Newland desperately seeks a way to leave May and be with Ellen obsessed with how to finally possess her. Despairing of ever making Ellen his wife, he urges her to become his mistress. Then Ellen is recalled to New York to care for her sick grandmother, who accepts her decision to remain separated and agrees to reinstate her allowance. Back in New York and under renewed pressure from Newland, Ellen relents and agrees to consummate their relationship. However then Newland discovers that Ellen has decided to return to Europe. Newland makes up his mind to abandon May announces that she and Newland are throwing a farewell party for Ellen. That night after the party Newland resolves to tell May that he is leaving her for Ellen. She interrupts him to announce that she is pregnant! And she reveals that she has also told Ellen about her pregnancy two weeks earlier. Despite not being sure of it at that time. The implication is that she did so because she suspected the affair. Newland guesses that this is Ellen's reason for returning to Europe. Hopelessly trapped Newland decides not to follow Ellen, surrendering his love for the sake of his children, remaining in a loveless marriage to May.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

26 years later after May's death, Newland and his son are in-Paris. The son learning that his mother's cousin lives there has arranged to visit Ellen in her Paris apartment. Newland is stunned at the prospect of seeing Ellen again. On arriving outside the apartment building Newland sends up his son alone to meet Ellen and he waits outside. Watching the balcony of her apartment. Newland considers going up but in the end decides not to he walks back to his hotel without seeing her.<\/p>\r\n

PLOT OVERVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Newland Archer couldn't be more pleased with his recent engagement to the beautiful debutante May Welland. However his world comes tumbling down with the advent of a sensational Ellen Olenska, May's cousin from Europe. She has abandoned her husband in Poland and returns to shock the staid New York aristocracy with her revealing clothes carefree manners and rumors of adultery. Because the Countess family headed by the powerful Mrs. Manson Mingott gave chosen to reintroduce her into a good society, Archer and May feel it necessary to befriend her. As archer comes to know the Countess better he begins to appreciate her unconventional views on New York society. Meanwhile Archer becomes increasingly disillusioned with his new fianc\u00e9e. He begins to see her as the manufactured product of her class, polite, innocent and utterly devoid of personal opinion and sense of self. The Countess Olenska soon announces her intention of divorcing her husband while Archer supports her desire for freedom, he feels compelled to act on behalf of the Mingott family and persuade Ellen to remain married. At a friend's cottage near Hudson Archer realizes that he is in love with her. HE abruptly leaves the next day for Florida where he is reunited with May and her parents, who are there in vacation. There he urges May to shorten their engagement, May becomes suspicious and asks him if his urgency to get married is prompted by the fear that he is marrying the wrong person., But archer reassures her of his love, back in New York Archer calls on Ellen and admits that he truly loves her, but just then a telegram arrives from May announcing that her parents have pushed forward the wedding date.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

After their wedding and honeymoon in Europe, Archer and May settle down to married life in New York. Over time Archer's memory of Ellen fades away to wistful image but now on\u00a0 vacation at Newport he is reunited with her and Ellen promises not to return to Europe as long as she and Newland so not act upon their love for each other. Back in New York, Archer learns that Count Olenski wants his wife to return to him and that Ellen has refused. After the stroke of her grandmother, Ellen returns to New York to case for her. She and Archer agree to consummate\u00a0their affair. But suddenly, Ellen announces her intention to return to Europe. May throws a farewell party for Ellen, and offer the guests leave May announces to Archer that she is pregnant and that she has spoken to Ellen about it two weeks earlier.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Twenty five years pass, in that time the Archer have had three children and May has died from pneumonia. Now Archer's son convinces him to travel to France. There they arrange to visit the Countess Olenska but at the last moment, Archer returns without meeting Ellen.<\/p>\r\n

A CRITICAL EVALUATION:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Edith Wharton\u2019s Age of Innocence is probably one of her most successful books because it offers an inside look at a subject the author knew very well i.e. New York society during the 1870\u2019s. That was her milieu and her imagination has grasped the atmosphere of an aristocratic society of New York as its inhabitants move about in their world of subtleties, innuendos and subject adherence to the dictates of a fashionable society.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Wharton\u2019s most successful theme was the plight of the young and innocent in a world that was most complicated than that for which they were prepared. Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska found the society of New York intricate and demanding and as such to be an impediment to their personal searches for happiness and some degree of freedom. The Age of Innocence is a careful blending of a\u00a0 nostalgiafor the 1870\u2019s\u00a0 with a\u00a0 subtle\u00a0 but\u00a0\u00a0 nevertheless\u00a0\u00a0 inescapable\u00a0\u00a0 criticism\u00a0 of\u00a0 its\u00a0 genteel\u00a0 hypocritses\u00a0 and\u00a0 clever\u00a0 evasions. The\u00a0 novel\u2019s\u00a0 city\u00a0 is\u00a0 the\u00a0 \u201cOld\u00a0 New\u00a0 York\u201d,\u00a0 of the\u00a0 second\u00a0 half\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 19th\u00a0 century,\u00a0 comprising\u00a0 of\u00a0 affluent\u00a0 families\u00a0 who\u00a0 descended\u00a0 from earlier settlers and revolutionaries. Presided over by well \u2013 off lawyers , bankers , businessmen and their\u00a0 fashionable\u00a0 families , and\u00a0 their\u00a0 fashionable\u00a0 wives , the\u00a0 community\u00a0 was situated in Lower Manhattan, in areas such as Lafayette street or Washington square .<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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The social lives of these old New Yorkers was governed by church - going dinner parties , and balls\u00a0 in\u00a0 individual\u00a0 homes\u00a0 and\u00a0 ritual\u00a0 attendance\u00a0 at\u00a0 the\u00a0 Academy\u00a0 of\u00a0 Music\u2019\u00a0 a luxurious\u00a0 Opera\u00a0 House, in the elite part\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 city . Children\u00a0 were\u00a0 reared\u00a0 to a\u00a0 strict\u00a0 standard of\u00a0 morals\u00a0 and\u00a0 manners,\u00a0 which\u00a0 allowed\u00a0 little\u00a0 independence\u00a0 or\u00a0 originality.\u00a0 Although narrow minded and exclusive, this society lived well, with the women attired in impeccable dresses, jewels and elaborate hair styles\u00a0 and\u00a0 the\u00a0 men\u00a0 exuding\u00a0 an\u00a0 aura\u00a0 of affluence and entitlement. Fearful of innovation or\u00a0 change\u00a0 , this\u00a0 dignified\u00a0 society\u00a0 was\u00a0 engaged in forestalling the future tenements and secured their power by encouraging\u00a0 conservative views and marriages\u00a0 only\u00a0 within their\u00a0 established\u00a0 social\u00a0 set. The\u00a0 powerful\u00a0 effect\u00a0 of this\u00a0 established\u00a0 place\u00a0 is\u00a0 overwhelming\u00a0 and\u00a0 individuals\u00a0 were\u00a0 often\u00a0 defeated\u00a0 in their efforts to overcome its influence on their personal lives and choices. For\u00a0 example ,\u00a0 Archer\u2019s passion for Ellen Olenska is \u201cstifled. \u201c In fact\u00a0 , in\u00a0 actuality\u00a0 hidden\u00a0 and\u00a0 stifled\u00a0 passion can be even more intense\u00a0 than\u00a0 that\u00a0 which\u00a0 can\u00a0 be\u00a0 easily\u00a0 exhibited.\u00a0 There\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 certain draw to the characters\u00a0 when\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 is ,\u00a0 quite\u00a0 literally unable\u00a0 to\u00a0 convey\u00a0 or\u00a0 keep\u00a0 away from Ellen. The novel is full end up proving both the positive aspects of\u00a0 living\u00a0 a life within the absolute control of the society\u00a0 as well as\u00a0 the\u00a0 negative\u00a0 aspects\u00a0 of\u00a0 living\u00a0 a life within society\u2019s grasp. At the\u00a0 end\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 novel, Archer\u2019s\u00a0 whole\u00a0 future\u00a0 seemed\u00a0 suddenly\u00a0 to be unrolled before him and slipping down\u00a0 to\u00a0 endless\u00a0 emptiness; he\u00a0 beholds\u00a0 a dwindling\u00a0 figure of a man to whom nothing was to ever happen.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Edith Wharton\u2019s novel The Age of\u00a0 Innocence\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 story\u00a0 of\u00a0 unrequited love with Newland\u00a0 Archer\u2019s\u00a0 decades\u2019\u00a0 long\u00a0 passion\u00a0 for\u00a0 Ellen\u00a0 driving\u00a0 the\u00a0 narrative forward through societal, personal and professional transmutations, that affect the\u00a0characters along the way. From the\u00a0 beginning of\u00a0 the\u00a0 novel, Wharton\u00a0 makes it clear\u00a0 that\u00a0 Archer is apparently not suited to his life as a representative of the socially elite. Archer therefore, is only going through the motions. He\u00a0 appreciates the\u00a0 quality\u00a0 of\u00a0 life\u00a0 as\u00a0 one\u00a0 of\u00a0 New York\u2019s high standards. But he is bored by the stultifying atmosphere\u00a0 in\u00a0 which\u00a0 proper ladies and gentlemen live. \u201c He was at heart\u00a0 a\u00a0 Dilettante ,\u201d\u00a0 meaning that\u00a0 his\u00a0 interest\u00a0 in\u00a0 society is only\u00a0 \u201cskin \u2013 deep\u201d.\u00a0 And\u00a0 so\u00a0 Newland\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 muddles\u00a0 along\u00a0 in the life\u00a0 to which\u00a0 he has been thrust into by virtue of pre- destination. His circumstances are inflexible and precisely this lack of self control rules over his life.\u00a0 He\u00a0 dutifully\u00a0 attends\u00a0 Law\u00a0 school\u00a0 ,\u00a0 marries, has children and attends social events and the Opera with a\u00a0 dogged\u00a0 regularity that\u00a0 befits one being groomed for success. Due to his ironical circumstances , however, he is condemned\u00a0 to\u00a0 live\u00a0 through\u00a0 a\u00a0 loveless\u00a0 marriage\u00a0 and\u00a0 it\u00a0 is\u00a0 so\u00a0 because\u00a0 he\u00a0 is\u00a0 unable\u00a0 to\u00a0 break the fetters that invincibly bind him to an\u00a0 organized\u00a0 society\u00a0 and\u00a0 hollow\u00a0 words\u00a0 of\u00a0 honour. Apart from the fact that he has lost\u00a0 Ellen\u00a0 forever , he\u00a0 also\u00a0 cannot\u00a0 accept\u00a0 that the\u00a0 years have\u00a0 inalterably\u00a0 transformed\u00a0 all\u00a0 those\u00a0 concerned. He\u00a0 prefers\u00a0 to\u00a0 remember\u00a0 Ellen as\u00a0 she had been but not as she is now.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Conclusively, the fact\u00a0 remains\u00a0 that\u00a0 Newland\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 is\u00a0 so\u00a0 concerned\u00a0 about respectability and appearance, that it traps\u00a0 him\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 era\u2019s\u00a0 social\u00a0 conventions,\u00a0 although Archer repeatedly claims\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 unconventional\u00a0 and\u00a0 a\u00a0 free\u00a0 thinker. Yet he has\u00a0 grown up internalizing the very conventions he pretends to despise. May Welland, the woman destined to be his wife, is the product of these artificial\u00a0 social\u00a0 norms\u00a0 and\u00a0 although\u00a0 he\u00a0 feels that she is intellectually incompatible and unsuitable, he cannot bring himself\u00a0 to\u00a0 abandon her\u00a0 for the unconventional Ellen. Ellen herself is trapped in the era\u2019s cult of respectability , as\u00a0even in New York she is constantly challenged by the rumors about her\u00a0 first\u00a0 disastrous\u00a0 marriage in Europe and rumors running strife of an improper affair with her\u00a0 husband\u2019s\u00a0 secretary. Because of this personal turmoil , she eventually\u00a0 returns\u00a0 to\u00a0 Europe, basically\u00a0 because she finds it impossible to build a new life for herself in America.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Newland may keenly feel the hypocrisy of Old New York but he is not exempt from it himself. The most notable example of his double standards comes with his ideas on women. In Book 1, he remarks privately that he wishes that May would learn to think independently despite the upbringing that taught her never to question authority. Yet he also feels a proud sense of passion over May. On a broader scale Archer claims that women should be granted the same rights as men and should not be censured by having private relationships. Yet he also makes a judgment distinction between the women on loved and the women one pitied.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Archer can also be remarkably naive, while he is astute to the complex authority the Mingott family wields he underestimates its cleverness. While he feels he can defy the family's powerful solidarity by contraindicating their opinions Archer realizes with s start in Book 2 that he had simply been excluded from consultation. He is also naive in the sense that he feels that he is somehow exceptional to the usual codes and judgment of good society. He quixotically hopes that somehow Ellen and he can form a relationship that will defy the usual dreary terms of adultery. It is Ellen who must keep Archer's feet planted to the ground.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

One of the themes central to the Age of Innocence is the struggle between the individual and the group. Newland Archer has been raised into a world where manners and moral codes dictate how the individual will act and in some cases ever think. At many points throughout the Book both\u00a0Archer and Ellen Olenska are expected to sacrifice their desires and opinions in order not to upset the established order of things. In the Age of Innocence this established order most often takes its most concrete form as the family. One of the individual's foremost duties is to promote and protect the solidarity of his tightly knit group of bloods and marital relationship. In the second chapter his initial unwillingness to associate with the scandal garnering Countess Olesnka to enter the Mingott family's opera box in order to support their decision to bring the Countess out in public. Later, in the novel, when Ellen wishes o reclaim her freedom by divorcing her philandering husband she is discouraged from this action because the family fears unpleasant gossip. And of course Ellen and Archer's decision not to consummate their love is based largely on their fear of hurting the family.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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Ostensibly this duty to the family and to society ensures that each individual will behave accordingly to a strict code of morality, However Wharton is quick to demonstrate how easy it is find loopholes in this code. Hypocrisy runs rampant in Old New York city. For example Larry Lefferts who self righteously proclaims himself to be a pillar of moral rectitude is also one of the biggest philanderers in the novel. The upstanding families who so eagerly attend Julius Beaufort's balls and depend on his lavish hospitality are the same people who continually disdain his \"Commonness\" and who will mercilessly exile him following his business collapse.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

This profound sense of irony leads, inevitably to the question of Wharton's choice of title. To what extent is the era of Old New York Truly an age of Innocence? For this doubtless, a decay lurking beneath the surface of this gilded cage. Yet along with it there is the purity of May Welland a character brought up to remain innocent of the corruption that surrounds her. Archer too for all his passion and discontent is naively innocent in believing that a love affair with Ellen could escape being branded by society as anything other than a common act of adultery. And on a larger level, Old New York itself is an innocent society one so immersed in the minutae of its\u00a0social codes that it could not begin to imagine the chaos and destruction that would come with the 20th cent. In these ways, Wharton's title is neither purely earnest non purely ironic.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nDo You KNOW?<\/strong>\r\n

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  1. Newland Archer is the story's main protagonist successful lawyer living with his mother and sister in New York engaged to May Welland.<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Mrs. Manson Mingott : The matriarch of the powerful Mingott family and grandmother of Ellen Olenska and May. She has ensured her family's social position through her shrewdness and force of character. She controls the money.<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Mrs Augusta Welland: May's mother and daughter of Mrs Manson Mingott.<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. May Welland: Newland Archers fianc\u00e9e, then wife. Raised to be a perfect wife and mother. She follows and perfectly obeys all of society's customs. Mostly she is the shallow and uninteresting woman that New York society requires.<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Ellen Olenska: She is May's cousin and Mrs. Manson's grand daughter . She became a countess by marrying a polish count Olenski. A European nobleman.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
    you can view video on Edith Wharton: The Age of Innocence<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>","rendered":"
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    Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

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    Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, short story writer and designer. She was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton combined her insider’s view of Americans privileged classes with a brilliant natural wit to write humorous incisive novels and short stories of social and psychological insight.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for literature. Her protagonist are most often tragic heroes or heroines and portrayed as intelligent and emotional people who want more out of life. Wharton’s protagonist challenge social taboos but are unable to overcome the barriers of social convention. Wharton’s personal experiences opinions and passions influenced her\u00a0 writings.<\/p>\n

    PLOT SYNOPSIS:<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The age of innocence centers on an upper class couples impending marriage, and the introduction of the bride\u2019s cousin plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870’s New York society, it never develops into an outright condemnation of the institution. The novel is noted for Wharton’s attention to detail and its accurate portrayal of now the 19th century East Coast American Upper class lived.<\/p>\n

    PLOT SUMMARY:<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    New land Archer, gentle man lawyer and heir to one of New York city’s best families, is happily anticipating a highly desirable marriage to the sheltered and beautiful May Welland yet he finds reason to doubt his choice of bride after the appearance of counters Ellen Olenska, May’s exotic and beautiful 30 years old cousin. Ellen has returned to New York from Europe after scandalously separating herself from a bad marriage to a Polish count. At first Ellen’s arrival and its potential taint on the reputation of his bride to be’s family disturb Newland but he becomes increasingly intrigued by the wordily Ellen who flouts New York society’s fastidious rules. As Newland’s admiration for the counters growth so does his doubt about marrying May a perfect product of Old New York society his match with May no longer seems the ideal fate he had imagined.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Ellen’s decision to divorce count Olenski causes a social crisis for the other members of her family who are terrified of a scandal and disgrace. Living apart can be tolerated but divorce is unacceptable. To save the Welland family’s reputation a law partner of Newland asks him to dissuade Countess Olenska from divorcing the count. He succeeds but in the process he comes to care for her, afraid of falling in love with Ellen, Newland begs May to accelerate their wedding date.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Newland tells Ellen he loves her, Ellen corresponds but is horrified that their love will aggrieve May. She agrees to remain in America, separated but still married to Count Olenski, only if they do not sexually consummate their love. Newland and May marry. He tries unsuccessfully to forget Ellen. His society marriage is loveless and the social life he once found absorbing has become empty and joyless. Though Ellen lives in Washington, and has and has remained distant he is unable to cease loving her. Their paths cross while head May is in New port, Rhode Island. Newland discovers that Count Olenski wishes Ellen to return to him, but she refused although her\u00a0family wants her to reconcile with her husband and return to Europe, frustrated by her spirit of fierce independence the family has cut off her money as the Count had already gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    Newland desperately seeks a way to leave May and be with Ellen obsessed with how to finally possess her. Despairing of ever making Ellen his wife, he urges her to become his mistress. Then Ellen is recalled to New York to care for her sick grandmother, who accepts her decision to remain separated and agrees to reinstate her allowance. Back in New York and under renewed pressure from Newland, Ellen relents and agrees to consummate their relationship. However then Newland discovers that Ellen has decided to return to Europe. Newland makes up his mind to abandon May announces that she and Newland are throwing a farewell party for Ellen. That night after the party Newland resolves to tell May that he is leaving her for Ellen. She interrupts him to announce that she is pregnant! And she reveals that she has also told Ellen about her pregnancy two weeks earlier. Despite not being sure of it at that time. The implication is that she did so because she suspected the affair. Newland guesses that this is Ellen’s reason for returning to Europe. Hopelessly trapped Newland decides not to follow Ellen, surrendering his love for the sake of his children, remaining in a loveless marriage to May.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    26 years later after May’s death, Newland and his son are in-Paris. The son learning that his mother’s cousin lives there has arranged to visit Ellen in her Paris apartment. Newland is stunned at the prospect of seeing Ellen again. On arriving outside the apartment building Newland sends up his son alone to meet Ellen and he waits outside. Watching the balcony of her apartment. Newland considers going up but in the end decides not to he walks back to his hotel without seeing her.<\/p>\n

    PLOT OVERVIEW:<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Newland Archer couldn’t be more pleased with his recent engagement to the beautiful debutante May Welland. However his world comes tumbling down with the advent of a sensational Ellen Olenska, May’s cousin from Europe. She has abandoned her husband in Poland and returns to shock the staid New York aristocracy with her revealing clothes carefree manners and rumors of adultery. Because the Countess family headed by the powerful Mrs. Manson Mingott gave chosen to reintroduce her into a good society, Archer and May feel it necessary to befriend her. As archer comes to know the Countess better he begins to appreciate her unconventional views on New York society. Meanwhile Archer becomes increasingly disillusioned with his new fianc\u00e9e. He begins to see her as the manufactured product of her class, polite, innocent and utterly devoid of personal opinion and sense of self. The Countess Olenska soon announces her intention of divorcing her husband while Archer supports her desire for freedom, he feels compelled to act on behalf of the Mingott family and persuade Ellen to remain married. At a friend’s cottage near Hudson Archer realizes that he is in love with her. HE abruptly leaves the next day for Florida where he is reunited with May and her parents, who are there in vacation. There he urges May to shorten their engagement, May becomes suspicious and asks him if his urgency to get married is prompted by the fear that he is marrying the wrong person., But archer reassures her of his love, back in New York Archer calls on Ellen and admits that he truly loves her, but just then a telegram arrives from May announcing that her parents have pushed forward the wedding date.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    After their wedding and honeymoon in Europe, Archer and May settle down to married life in New York. Over time Archer’s memory of Ellen fades away to wistful image but now on\u00a0 vacation at Newport he is reunited with her and Ellen promises not to return to Europe as long as she and Newland so not act upon their love for each other. Back in New York, Archer learns that Count Olenski wants his wife to return to him and that Ellen has refused. After the stroke of her grandmother, Ellen returns to New York to case for her. She and Archer agree to consummate\u00a0their affair. But suddenly, Ellen announces her intention to return to Europe. May throws a farewell party for Ellen, and offer the guests leave May announces to Archer that she is pregnant and that she has spoken to Ellen about it two weeks earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Twenty five years pass, in that time the Archer have had three children and May has died from pneumonia. Now Archer’s son convinces him to travel to France. There they arrange to visit the Countess Olenska but at the last moment, Archer returns without meeting Ellen.<\/p>\n

    A CRITICAL EVALUATION:<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Edith Wharton\u2019s Age of Innocence is probably one of her most successful books because it offers an inside look at a subject the author knew very well i.e. New York society during the 1870\u2019s. That was her milieu and her imagination has grasped the atmosphere of an aristocratic society of New York as its inhabitants move about in their world of subtleties, innuendos and subject adherence to the dictates of a fashionable society.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Wharton\u2019s most successful theme was the plight of the young and innocent in a world that was most complicated than that for which they were prepared. Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska found the society of New York intricate and demanding and as such to be an impediment to their personal searches for happiness and some degree of freedom. The Age of Innocence is a careful blending of a\u00a0 nostalgiafor the 1870\u2019s\u00a0 with a\u00a0 subtle\u00a0 but\u00a0\u00a0 nevertheless\u00a0\u00a0 inescapable\u00a0\u00a0 criticism\u00a0 of\u00a0 its\u00a0 genteel\u00a0 hypocritses\u00a0 and\u00a0 clever\u00a0 evasions. The\u00a0 novel\u2019s\u00a0 city\u00a0 is\u00a0 the\u00a0 \u201cOld\u00a0 New\u00a0 York\u201d,\u00a0 of the\u00a0 second\u00a0 half\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 19th\u00a0 century,\u00a0 comprising\u00a0 of\u00a0 affluent\u00a0 families\u00a0 who\u00a0 descended\u00a0 from earlier settlers and revolutionaries. Presided over by well \u2013 off lawyers , bankers , businessmen and their\u00a0 fashionable\u00a0 families , and\u00a0 their\u00a0 fashionable\u00a0 wives , the\u00a0 community\u00a0 was situated in Lower Manhattan, in areas such as Lafayette street or Washington square .<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    The social lives of these old New Yorkers was governed by church – going dinner parties , and balls\u00a0 in\u00a0 individual\u00a0 homes\u00a0 and\u00a0 ritual\u00a0 attendance\u00a0 at\u00a0 the\u00a0 Academy\u00a0 of\u00a0 Music\u2019\u00a0 a luxurious\u00a0 Opera\u00a0 House, in the elite part\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 city . Children\u00a0 were\u00a0 reared\u00a0 to a\u00a0 strict\u00a0 standard of\u00a0 morals\u00a0 and\u00a0 manners,\u00a0 which\u00a0 allowed\u00a0 little\u00a0 independence\u00a0 or\u00a0 originality.\u00a0 Although narrow minded and exclusive, this society lived well, with the women attired in impeccable dresses, jewels and elaborate hair styles\u00a0 and\u00a0 the\u00a0 men\u00a0 exuding\u00a0 an\u00a0 aura\u00a0 of affluence and entitlement. Fearful of innovation or\u00a0 change\u00a0 , this\u00a0 dignified\u00a0 society\u00a0 was\u00a0 engaged in forestalling the future tenements and secured their power by encouraging\u00a0 conservative views and marriages\u00a0 only\u00a0 within their\u00a0 established\u00a0 social\u00a0 set. The\u00a0 powerful\u00a0 effect\u00a0 of this\u00a0 established\u00a0 place\u00a0 is\u00a0 overwhelming\u00a0 and\u00a0 individuals\u00a0 were\u00a0 often\u00a0 defeated\u00a0 in their efforts to overcome its influence on their personal lives and choices. For\u00a0 example ,\u00a0 Archer\u2019s passion for Ellen Olenska is \u201cstifled. \u201c In fact\u00a0 , in\u00a0 actuality\u00a0 hidden\u00a0 and\u00a0 stifled\u00a0 passion can be even more intense\u00a0 than\u00a0 that\u00a0 which\u00a0 can\u00a0 be\u00a0 easily\u00a0 exhibited.\u00a0 There\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 certain draw to the characters\u00a0 when\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 is ,\u00a0 quite\u00a0 literally unable\u00a0 to\u00a0 convey\u00a0 or\u00a0 keep\u00a0 away from Ellen. The novel is full end up proving both the positive aspects of\u00a0 living\u00a0 a life within the absolute control of the society\u00a0 as well as\u00a0 the\u00a0 negative\u00a0 aspects\u00a0 of\u00a0 living\u00a0 a life within society\u2019s grasp. At the\u00a0 end\u00a0 of\u00a0 the\u00a0 novel, Archer\u2019s\u00a0 whole\u00a0 future\u00a0 seemed\u00a0 suddenly\u00a0 to be unrolled before him and slipping down\u00a0 to\u00a0 endless\u00a0 emptiness; he\u00a0 beholds\u00a0 a dwindling\u00a0 figure of a man to whom nothing was to ever happen.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Edith Wharton\u2019s novel The Age of\u00a0 Innocence\u00a0 is\u00a0 a\u00a0 story\u00a0 of\u00a0 unrequited love with Newland\u00a0 Archer\u2019s\u00a0 decades\u2019\u00a0 long\u00a0 passion\u00a0 for\u00a0 Ellen\u00a0 driving\u00a0 the\u00a0 narrative forward through societal, personal and professional transmutations, that affect the\u00a0characters along the way. From the\u00a0 beginning of\u00a0 the\u00a0 novel, Wharton\u00a0 makes it clear\u00a0 that\u00a0 Archer is apparently not suited to his life as a representative of the socially elite. Archer therefore, is only going through the motions. He\u00a0 appreciates the\u00a0 quality\u00a0 of\u00a0 life\u00a0 as\u00a0 one\u00a0 of\u00a0 New York\u2019s high standards. But he is bored by the stultifying atmosphere\u00a0 in\u00a0 which\u00a0 proper ladies and gentlemen live. \u201c He was at heart\u00a0 a\u00a0 Dilettante ,\u201d\u00a0 meaning that\u00a0 his\u00a0 interest\u00a0 in\u00a0 society is only\u00a0 \u201cskin \u2013 deep\u201d.\u00a0 And\u00a0 so\u00a0 Newland\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 muddles\u00a0 along\u00a0 in the life\u00a0 to which\u00a0 he has been thrust into by virtue of pre- destination. His circumstances are inflexible and precisely this lack of self control rules over his life.\u00a0 He\u00a0 dutifully\u00a0 attends\u00a0 Law\u00a0 school\u00a0 ,\u00a0 marries, has children and attends social events and the Opera with a\u00a0 dogged\u00a0 regularity that\u00a0 befits one being groomed for success. Due to his ironical circumstances , however, he is condemned\u00a0 to\u00a0 live\u00a0 through\u00a0 a\u00a0 loveless\u00a0 marriage\u00a0 and\u00a0 it\u00a0 is\u00a0 so\u00a0 because\u00a0 he\u00a0 is\u00a0 unable\u00a0 to\u00a0 break the fetters that invincibly bind him to an\u00a0 organized\u00a0 society\u00a0 and\u00a0 hollow\u00a0 words\u00a0 of\u00a0 honour. Apart from the fact that he has lost\u00a0 Ellen\u00a0 forever , he\u00a0 also\u00a0 cannot\u00a0 accept\u00a0 that the\u00a0 years have\u00a0 inalterably\u00a0 transformed\u00a0 all\u00a0 those\u00a0 concerned. He\u00a0 prefers\u00a0 to\u00a0 remember\u00a0 Ellen as\u00a0 she had been but not as she is now.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Conclusively, the fact\u00a0 remains\u00a0 that\u00a0 Newland\u00a0 Archer\u00a0 is\u00a0 so\u00a0 concerned\u00a0 about respectability and appearance, that it traps\u00a0 him\u00a0 in\u00a0 the\u00a0 era\u2019s\u00a0 social\u00a0 conventions,\u00a0 although Archer repeatedly claims\u00a0 to\u00a0 be\u00a0 unconventional\u00a0 and\u00a0 a\u00a0 free\u00a0 thinker. Yet he has\u00a0 grown up internalizing the very conventions he pretends to despise. May Welland, the woman destined to be his wife, is the product of these artificial\u00a0 social\u00a0 norms\u00a0 and\u00a0 although\u00a0 he\u00a0 feels that she is intellectually incompatible and unsuitable, he cannot bring himself\u00a0 to\u00a0 abandon her\u00a0 for the unconventional Ellen. Ellen herself is trapped in the era\u2019s cult of respectability , as\u00a0even in New York she is constantly challenged by the rumors about her\u00a0 first\u00a0 disastrous\u00a0 marriage in Europe and rumors running strife of an improper affair with her\u00a0 husband\u2019s\u00a0 secretary. Because of this personal turmoil , she eventually\u00a0 returns\u00a0 to\u00a0 Europe, basically\u00a0 because she finds it impossible to build a new life for herself in America.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Newland may keenly feel the hypocrisy of Old New York but he is not exempt from it himself. The most notable example of his double standards comes with his ideas on women. In Book 1, he remarks privately that he wishes that May would learn to think independently despite the upbringing that taught her never to question authority. Yet he also feels a proud sense of passion over May. On a broader scale Archer claims that women should be granted the same rights as men and should not be censured by having private relationships. Yet he also makes a judgment distinction between the women on loved and the women one pitied.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Archer can also be remarkably naive, while he is astute to the complex authority the Mingott family wields he underestimates its cleverness. While he feels he can defy the family’s powerful solidarity by contraindicating their opinions Archer realizes with s start in Book 2 that he had simply been excluded from consultation. He is also naive in the sense that he feels that he is somehow exceptional to the usual codes and judgment of good society. He quixotically hopes that somehow Ellen and he can form a relationship that will defy the usual dreary terms of adultery. It is Ellen who must keep Archer’s feet planted to the ground.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    One of the themes central to the Age of Innocence is the struggle between the individual and the group. Newland Archer has been raised into a world where manners and moral codes dictate how the individual will act and in some cases ever think. At many points throughout the Book both\u00a0Archer and Ellen Olenska are expected to sacrifice their desires and opinions in order not to upset the established order of things. In the Age of Innocence this established order most often takes its most concrete form as the family. One of the individual’s foremost duties is to promote and protect the solidarity of his tightly knit group of bloods and marital relationship. In the second chapter his initial unwillingness to associate with the scandal garnering Countess Olesnka to enter the Mingott family’s opera box in order to support their decision to bring the Countess out in public. Later, in the novel, when Ellen wishes o reclaim her freedom by divorcing her philandering husband she is discouraged from this action because the family fears unpleasant gossip. And of course Ellen and Archer’s decision not to consummate their love is based largely on their fear of hurting the family.<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    \n

    Ostensibly this duty to the family and to society ensures that each individual will behave accordingly to a strict code of morality, However Wharton is quick to demonstrate how easy it is find loopholes in this code. Hypocrisy runs rampant in Old New York city. For example Larry Lefferts who self righteously proclaims himself to be a pillar of moral rectitude is also one of the biggest philanderers in the novel. The upstanding families who so eagerly attend Julius Beaufort’s balls and depend on his lavish hospitality are the same people who continually disdain his “Commonness” and who will mercilessly exile him following his business collapse.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    This profound sense of irony leads, inevitably to the question of Wharton’s choice of title. To what extent is the era of Old New York Truly an age of Innocence? For this doubtless, a decay lurking beneath the surface of this gilded cage. Yet along with it there is the purity of May Welland a character brought up to remain innocent of the corruption that surrounds her. Archer too for all his passion and discontent is naively innocent in believing that a love affair with Ellen could escape being branded by society as anything other than a common act of adultery. And on a larger level, Old New York itself is an innocent society one so immersed in the minutae of its\u00a0social codes that it could not begin to imagine the chaos and destruction that would come with the 20th cent. In these ways, Wharton’s title is neither purely earnest non purely ironic.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    Do You KNOW?<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Newland Archer is the story’s main protagonist successful lawyer living with his mother and sister in New York engaged to May Welland.<\/li>\n
    2. Mrs. Manson Mingott : The matriarch of the powerful Mingott family and grandmother of Ellen Olenska and May. She has ensured her family’s social position through her shrewdness and force of character. She controls the money.<\/li>\n
    3. Mrs Augusta Welland: May’s mother and daughter of Mrs Manson Mingott.<\/li>\n
    4. May Welland: Newland Archers fianc\u00e9e, then wife. Raised to be a perfect wife and mother. She follows and perfectly obeys all of society’s customs. Mostly she is the shallow and uninteresting woman that New York society requires.<\/li>\n
    5. Ellen Olenska: She is May’s cousin and Mrs. Manson’s grand daughter . She became a countess by marrying a polish count Olenski. A European nobleman.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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