A privileged lifestyle is only legitimate for the privileged people. When an outsider makes amends with insiders, there is a sense the outsider doesn’t belong. As insiders become more aware and attentive to the fact that the person doesn’t belong, acts of cruelty are formed to keep their social class structure balanced. The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton displays these acts of cruelty on a character named Ellen Olenska. She was the granddaughter of Mrs. Manson Mingott, Ellen was adapted to European culture since her upbringing was in Europe. She was married to a Polish nobleman, although their marriage was considered conventional and perfect for her, it was a false assertion. The Count had cheated on Madame Olenska and their marriage was …show more content…
A major effect would be making her weak and pessimistic. Madame Olenska has a cover on her face which is her smile, as she constantly tries to show that she is pleased with her life. However, it is still a cover and it is bound to come off one day. Earlier in the book during her first meetings with her beau Newland Archer she breaks down to him the truth about how she felt about New York. “She lifted her thin black eyebrows. “Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it so straight up and down-- like Fifth Avenue. And with all the cross streets numbered!” She seemed to guess his faint disapproval of this, and added with the rare smile that enchanted her whole face: “If you knew how I like it for just THAT--the straight-up-and-downness, the big honest labels on everything.” The cruelty acts cause Olenska to second guess herself about New York. She question if it is truly this complicated. Was she wrong about thinking it was as simple as walking on Fifth Avenue. Newland doesn’t enjoy the criticism on New York so she added her smile stating she loves New York for the honesty she assumed it had. Newland responds by saying, “Everything may be labelled--but everybody is not.” He says a contradicting statement here since everyone she met has judged and labelled her as an outcast they want demolished including Archers own mother. “There are only two people here who make me feel as if they understood what I mean and could explain things to me: you and Mr. Beaufort.” states Olenska. She couldn’t find someone to confide in, therefore she feels lonely in New York. Along with that she needs help about the regulations that are being put upon her. She finds comfort in Archer and Beaufort and gets judged by society about every move she makes with them. The cruel acts affect her by making her lonely, upsetting her and making her second guess
Analyzing innocence has always been a difficult task, not only due to it’s rapid reevaluation in the face of changing societal values, but also due to the highly private and personal nature of the concept. The differences between how people prioritize different types of innocence - childhood desires, intellectual naivety, sexual purity, criminal guilt, etc. - continually obscures the definition of innocence. This can make it difficult for people to sympathize with others’ loss of purity, simply because their definition of that loss will always be dissimilar to the originally expressed idea. Innocence can never truly be adequately described, simply because another will never be able to precisely decipher the other’s words. It is this challenge, the challenge of verbally depicting the isolationism of the corruption of innocence, that Tim O’Brien attempts to endeavour in his fictionalized memoir, The
Edith Wharton’s brief, yet tragic novella, Ethan Frome, presents a crippled and lonely man – Ethan Frome – who is trapped in a loveless marriage with a hypochondriacal wife, Zenobia “Zeena” Frome. Set during a harsh, “sluggish” winter in Starkfield, Massachusetts, Ethan and his sickly wife live in a dilapidated and “unusually forlorn and stunted” New-England farmhouse (Wharton 18). Due to Zeena’s numerous complications, they employ her cousin to help around the house, a vivacious young girl – Mattie Silver. With Mattie’s presence, Starkfield seems to emerge from its desolateness, and Ethan’s vacant world seems to be awoken from his discontented life and empty marriage. And so begins Ethan’s love adventure – a desperate desire to have Mattie as his own; however, his morals along with his duty to Zeena and his natural streak of honesty hinder him in his ability to realize his own dreams. Throughout this suspenseful and disastrous novella, Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton effectively employs situational irony enabling readers to experience a sudden shock and an unexpected twist of events that ultimately lead to a final tragedy in a living nightmare.
Novels such as “The Age of Innocence”(The Editors of), which discusses a “ picture of upper-class New York society in the 1870s” (The Editors of), strongly relates to Wharton and her background. “The Age of Innocence” is considered Wharton’s “finest work” (The Age Of). The novel is based off Newland Archer and May Welland’s troubled marriage. At first, the married couple live in harmony and joy, however this dramatically changes throughout the book. Once Newland meets “May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, on the run from an unhappy marriage” (The Age of Innocence), Newland immediately falls in love. Society plays a major key role in this book. Therefore, Ellen cannot divorce her husband or make a public announcement of her feelings for Newland. As Newland’s feelings grow deeper for Ellen he feels a strong need to run away with her and live their life together. However, Newland knew that severe consequences would be upheld against him if he were to run away with Ellen. Such as, being disowned from his family. However, he never cared much about the consequences and put Ellen as his main focus. May is a sharp woman and figured out their feelings toward each other and as a result, the day they planned to leave was the day May announced her pregnancy with Newland. The book ends with May and Newland carrying on their unhappy marriage and kids while Ellen and Newland’s relationship is forever
Have you ever pondered about when growing up, where does our childlike innocence go and what happens to us to go through this process? It involves abandoning previous memories that are close to our hearts. As we can see in The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, we listen to what the main character; Holden Caulfield has to say about it. Holden is an average teenager dealing with academic and life problems. He remains untouched over his expulsion from Pencey Prep; rather, he takes the opportunity to take a “vacation.” As he ventures off companionless in New York City, we are able to observe many things about him. We see that Holden habitually states that he is depressed and undoubtedly, wants to preserve the innocence of others.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne does an admirable job of expressing the true nature of his characters. Nowhere in his story is this more obvious than in his portrayal of the children. Children, in their innocence will say or do anything, for unlike adults, they are not constrained by societal expectations. They are oblivious to most manners and politics and therefore, are less reserved than the adults when it comes to questioning things or speaking their mind.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Theme of Innocence & nbsp; & nbsp; Innocence is a time when a person has never done something, it is the first step in the theme of innocence to experience. The second step in the movement from innocence to experience, is experience. This step is what is achieved after a person or thing has done something they have never done before or learns something they have never known before. The theme of growth from innocence to experience occurs many times in the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This process is one of the central themes in the first eleven chapters of this book, because it shows how Scout and Jem change and mature. & nbsp;
If there were one word to tell what the theme of the book was it would be innocence. How we are all innocent at some point, how to try to keep our innocence, and how no one can keep their innocence forever. We all fall from our innocence. Adam and Eve fell from grace and innocence and set the tone for all of our lives. Throughout the whole book Holden is trying to make people keep their innocence and he wants to hold onto it himself. What he needs to learn and does learn through the course of the book is that no one can keep his or her innocence. We all fall at some point, but what we have control over is how hard we fall.
Themes in literary works are central, recurring ideas or messages that allow us to understand more deeply about the characters. It is a perception about life or human nature that is often shared with the reader. In The Catcher in the Rye, there are several themes that can be found in the words and actions of the narrator, Holden Caulfield. The dominating theme in this novel is the preservation of innocence, especially of children. We can see this throughout the novel, as Holden strives to preserve innocence in himself and others.
The end of child innocence is a significant part of transitioning into young adulthood. This is illustrated in “Marigolds,” a short story written by Eugenia Collier, that takes place in a small town trapped in poverty during the Great Depression. The main character Lizabeth is a fourteen-year-old girl who is playing with her brother and neighborhood friends and just being kids when she simultaneously encounters an experience that teach about compassion, which eventually helps her step into adulthood. Through Lizabeth’s childhood experience, Collier portrays that maturity is based on compassion and overcoming the innocence of childhood.
The setting of a novel aids in the portrayal of the central theme of the work. Without a specific place and social environment, the characters are just there, with no reason behind any of their actions. The Age of Influence centers around the Old New York society during the 1870’s. Most of the characters are wealthy upper class citizens with a strict code to follow. The protagonist, Newland Archer, lives in a constant state of fear of being excluded from society for his actions. Archer’s character is affected by standard New York conventions as well as the pressure to uphold his place in society, both of which add to Wharton’s theme of dissatisfaction.
As Newland Archer went back to the club and sat by himself in the stranded library, he continues to thinking about his time with May's cousin Countless Olenska. He also ponders on the thought of her returning back to Europe and "it was clear to him and it grew clearer under close scrutiny, that is he should finally decide on returning to Europe it would be because her old life tempted her, even on the new terms offered. No: she felt herself becoming a temptation to Archer, a temptation to fall away from the standard they had both set up. Her choice would be to say near him as long as he did not ask her to come nearer; and it depend on himself to keep her to just there, safe but selected" (Wharton, 246). The passage describes that both Countless
I really like how the even though mockingbirds has a very little literal connection to the plot it comes to symbolize idea of innocence throughout the book. Examples of innocents that have been injured or destroyed by ‘evil’ are Jem, Tom Robinson, Mr. Raymond, Boo Radley. This connection is made several times in the novel such as when Tom Robinson is shot dead, when Jem is attacked by Mr. Ewells due to drunken rage, Mr. Raymond who has been alienated against for socializing with African Americans, and Boo Radley who was emotionally damaged due to his cruel father. Thus to kill a mockingbird is to destroy innocence. Another example of symbolism in the novel is when Atticus is forced to shot the rabid dog. The dog represents the racism in Maycomb
Two of Edith Wharton’s greatest novels, The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome can be seen to have similarities in the situations the characters go through and themes that are used. Each of these novels has it’s own themes and traits that makes it great, but after examining each novel it is evident thatthere are underlying themes that link the two stories together. Perhaps the most obvious is the weakness that both Ethan Frome and Newland Archer seem to have in there lives. The feeling of being trapped, and wanting that sense of freedom is also an important part of both novels. Of course there are themes and symbolisms within each that contribute to the great differences between the two. In The Age of Innocence, mortality and immortality is one of the greatest aspects or themes; and in Ethan Frome the weakness of Ethan’s character can be seen as one of the main focus’.
The loss of innocence is an occurrence that happens in every life, and it is so easily taken. A traumatic moment is often the thief of innocence, leaving the victim scarred from the experience. Events like these are often the process of paving the road into adulthood, and aid in the metamorphosis of a child to an adult. In “My Father’s Noose” by Grace Talusan, “Dothead” by Amit Majmudar, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, each of the characters do not understand the concept of negligent personages. Once the protagonist knows that society is not composed of perfect people, their character and personality changes, as it forces them to take a look at their own morals. This prepares the protagonist for the lives
In The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, the narrator describes Archer and Ellen’s need for freedom in order to show their desire to escape the abuse of society. Newland Archer wishes death on his wife because he believes if she dies so will societies pressures. And Ellen Olenska rejects Archer’s proposal for freedom to find her own independence. Ellen Olenska rethinks her divorce in order to become less of an outsider