The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton

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Recommended: Education in Victorian Britain

Image is considered everything even in today’s society, because a person only gets to give a first impression one time when they meet someone new. One mistake can either ruin the persons reputation or have them viewed in a horrible fashion for the rest of there time with that particular group. A person is to dress their best, be their best, to show society that they are indeed the best. For example in the book May dresses up to meet Mrs. Carfry even though the party is not as formal as she suspected, because she did not want to appear as a savage. Even though Newland explains to her that it will be a small event she is determined to show them how much better she could be then them. It is to show her power, wealth, and also status in society. In society there are rules that must be followed for if they are broken the aristocrats shall look down upon them, and Wharton shows the rules from start to finish. In the begging Newland cannot arrive on time for it is improper and towards the end he cannot be with the Countess Olenska for she is not who society has deemed him acceptable to be with. Wharton focuses her novel on a period in time which society plays a key role in the community of New York’s citizen’s lives; it is also the ending period of the high New York class citizens due to the fact of the change coming into the northern states. Edith Wharton shows throughout the novel experiences from her own life as well as how women were beginning to change not only in there roles in society but in there right’s, she also uses the literary element of symbolism to express hidden meanings behind the characters traits as well as how they are to be viewed.

Through out the novel Edith puts her own experiences from life into...

... middle of paper ...

...y in there roles in society but in there right’s, she also uses the literary element of symbolism to express hidden meanings behind the characters traits as well as how they are viewed among the rest of the New York aristocrats.

Works Cited

Bloom , Harold . Modern Critics View Edith Wharton . New York : Chelsea House, 1986. Print.

"Edith Wharton." - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss.. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013.

"Flowers & Flower Meaning." Meaning of Gardenias. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013.

McDowell, Margaret . Edith Wharton . United States : Twayne Publishers , 1990. Print.

Novels for Students. United States: Gale Research, 2001. Print.

Wharton, Edith . The Age of Innocence. New York: Barnes & Noble , 2004. Print.

"Women's Rights Movements." Women's Rights Movements. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Dec. 2013.

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