Commodity Fetishism in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence
Commodity fetishism is a term first coined by Karl Marx in his 1867 economic treatise, Das Kapital. It takes two words, one with a historically economic bent and another with a historically religious bent, and combines them to form a critical term describing post-industrial revolution, capitalist economies. Specifically, this term was used to describe the application of special powers or ideas to products that carried no such inherent value.
In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, old New York society is dissected as if the book were a study in cultural anthropology. One of the critical elements of this society is its emphasis on material items. From Parisian dresses to brand name cigars, this society is particularly interested in what a member owns. A brief examination of how commodities affect the creation an identity and social order in Wharton’s New York will be endeavored. But first, commodity fetishism will be defined more specifically before we can apply Marx’s ideas to the novel. The comprising elements of this term will be examined to create a general understanding of the economic and social ideas that went into its creation.
The term “commodity” is often considered to be synonymous with a “good,” any produced item, such as refined sugar or textiles (Spickard). Although this seems a decent, basic definition, a commodity actually refers to something useful that can be turned to commercial or other advantage. The key point here is that a good fails to be a commodity when it no longer has a commercial advantage. A pile of gold is only a commodity if someone agrees to buy it.
The term “fetish”, despite the prevalent sexual connotations of today, actually has a religious origin. A fetish is any object that is believed to have special or magical powers, often associated with animistic or shamanistic religions. Thus, to make something a fetish is to infuse an inanimate or material object with special powers above and beyond that of its physical self. The concept of commodity fetishism, then, was used by Marx to describe the over-appraisal of commodities in a capitalist economy.
What is Marx saying? How can something be “worth” more than it’s worth? This occurs when the “use value,” the natural capacity to satisfy a human want, of something is of different worth than its “exchange value,” the social capacity to be exchangeable for other commodities (Wenning).
I realized the need of purchasing an iPad, when one of my friends showed me his new device and gave me his positive opinion about the features and characteristics of the tablet. He also “advertised” the benefits of having the specific model these days.
Exploitation of workers is when someone purchases a good for a certain price that is just enough to reproduce the commodity, but not enough to compensate the amount of labor power or stress that the worker must undergo in order to create the product. Marx states
Albert Einstein’s discoveries and theories have had a positively enormous effect on the world. Some of Einstein’s biggest impacting discoveries and theories are the theories of Special and General relativity, the Theory of Relativity, Brownian motion, the discovery of the photon, and Einstein’s creation of the equation E = MC^2. Perhaps Einstein’s most beneficial discovery is his formulation of E = MC^2 which is crucial for space-flight and can help today’s scientist in gathering knowledge about our universe.
The characters in the novel get caught up in a frenzy of hate, scandal, and love. Newland Archer is a wealthy societal man who views his wife, May, as the reason for his unhappiness. In addition, Newland Archer get swept into the scandal and falls in love with Ellen, who he sees as a route to independence. Ellen Olenska, the cousin of May, brings a tornado of scandal to New York and becomes the center of criticism in society. In The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Archer and Ellen describe the desire for freedom in order to portray society as an oppressor.
use-value. For Ricardo (1953, 11-13) scarcity of a commodity can, in the case of something rare such as gold, elevate it above the labor needed to acquire it, but most commodities value is determined by the toil and trouble needed to get them. Ricardo (1953, 15-16) seems to uniformly reject the Aristotelian notion of labor having constant worth, allowing for the exchange of a set amount of goods for another as in the example of houses and shoes present in Nichomachean Ethics [350 B.C.]. Ricardo leaves room for the value of labor to fluctuate on the basis of the scarcity of the commodity, but, and this appears important, he allows for labor to dilute its own value via the use of the productive machinery necessitated in the division of labor introduced by Smith. This insight leaves room for labor to be exploited and immense profit to be made and will lead to the works of Karl Marx and his revolutionary critique of capitalism Capital: A Critique of Political Economy
The "glass ceiling" has held women back from certain positions and opportunities in the workplace. Women are stereotyped as part-time, lower-grade workers with limited opportunities for training and advancement because of this "glass ceiling". How have women managed their careers when confronted by this glass ceiling? It has been difficult; American women have struggled for their role in society since 1848. Women’s roles have changed significantly throughout the past centuries because of their willingness and persistence. Women have contributed to the change pace of their role in the workplace by showing motivation and perseverance.
Hari, J. (2008, June 9). Freedom Next Time, by John Pilger: A hero's blinded eye. The Independent. Retrieved December 26, 2013, from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/freedom-next-time-by-john-pilger-481558.html
Though it is arguably true that tremendous strides have been made for women’s rights, I firmly believe that there is still a discriminatory glass ceiling beyond which women cannot advance due to gender. Women possessing the skills and abilities of their male counterparts are blocked from the innermost circles of power and influence, and promotions to top-level managerial positions achieved by women lag behind the actual increase of women in the workforce. Ann Morrison, who describes the glass ceiling as subtle and transparent, yet strong enough to prevent women from moving up the corporate hierarchy, notes that it “is not simply a barrier for an individual, based on the person’s inability to handle a higher-level job. Rather, the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who are kept from advancing higher because they are women” (Breaking the Glass Ceiling, pp. 13).
Su, Sophia. Glass Ceilings: The Working Woman’s Guide to Overcome Them. 2002. Jobstreet, 1 Aug. 2002,
My research opened my eyes to the struggle of women in the job market. The differences range from how we speak, what we wear, to where our priorities exist in business. One of the first books I came across was Managing Like a Man by Judy Wajcman. The title alone highlights the severe psychological separation of men and women in the workplace. Everyone faces difficulty at some point or another in a working environment. Unfortunately for women, workplace issues can range from not getting along, not keeping the job, or simply not getting the job. ‘Bust through the glass ceiling’ is a term coined in regards to women and the seemingly impossible climb up the ladder of success. Multiple books and studies about women seeking leadership roles give the theory a legitimate hype. The female gender has to fight for their role in the workplace, even when they have more education, more experience, and a newly found focus on equality for women. Extended research is still being done because the issue has not been completely eradicated; even now in the 2000’s.
There is constant talk of the “glass ceiling” and the inequality of women in the work place. When these topics come up, they are often associated with negative connotations and with a radical feminist approach. Instead of pointing out the disparity of American women in the work place, this paper will focus on the advancements women have made, and show that although there still may be a wage gap and glass ceiling, it is not as drastic as it is more often made out to be.
Einstein’s education, life experiences, and “freethinking ability contributed to his success and ability in his life.” Albert Einstein, to this day is still one of the most accomplished and respected mathematician/ inventor in the world. Einstein’s journey was one filled with challenges, discoveries, and many accomplishments. On March 14, 1879, Albert Einstein was born in Wurttemberg, Germany to Jewish parents Hermann, and Pauline Einstein. Shortly after Albert’s birth, his father and mother eagerly collected their personal belongings as well as their new baby boy and moved to the Kingdom of Munich, now Germany. Following his families move to Munich, in November of 1881 Einstein’s parents gave birth to a little girl, with such a delicate sweet face. They named her Maria, who was soon to become Albert’s new little angelic best friend.
The glass ceiling is a metaphor combining the words glass and ceiling to define an invisible barrier that block women, as well as minorities, from advancing to higher positions due to their gender and/or race. In other words, it does not allow women and minorities to climb up the corporate ladder. Glass is supposed to represent the invisible barrier, and ceiling represents higher position (corporate). Ceiling may also represent a limit to what a woman/minority can achieve. It is also theorized that the more advanced a women/minority achieves, the higher the disadvantages [Boyd, K.], creating more problems in the workplace such as bullying and sexual harassment. It has definitely set women and minorities back from reaching their true potentials and has not only caused mental and internal damage to the person but has also affected them financially. Currently, women make 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, according to President Obama in his State of the Union address.
Women face discrimination in the workplace. Discrimination is defined as a behavioral activity is exhibited in how people treat members of other groups and in the decisions they make about others. In chapter 3 Race and Ethnicity in the United States discusses how discrimination not only effects positions in companies it also affects pay rates. Income is drastically different when it comes to men and women and only gets worse for women who are minorities. These women have broken through the glass ceiling in their corporations. “In 1991 the Glass Ceiling Commission was formed to help women and minorities, fight their derrepresentation in the workplace”. With this article and with research that is being done women are starting to break the glass ceiling that is holding them down. Women account for only 2.2% of Fortune 500 companies CEO roles. The number is shockingly low, less than 15 companies have women CEO’s in the 500 companies we look at that best fit our country’s
Although, many women can work in today’s society, they still face what is called “the glass ceiling effect, however, other people believe that there is no such thing as the glass ceiling effect.