Newland Archer desires to be a free soul in old New York, differing from those around him. May Welland’s actions and naivety help Newland realize he wants to break away from the norm of society. Ellen Olenska arrives in New York to stay with family during her divorce with a Polish Count. Ellen and Newland are formally introduced by May, beginning Ellen and Newland’s odious relationship. Ellen offers a fresh change to Newland’s monotonous lifestyle; she shows Newland the excitement of going against the moral code. After Ellen’s arrival, Newland briefly believes he wants to be with someone who is not like women from New York, and when given the chance to be with Ellen, Newland turns it down, showing he is truly an old-fashioned man at heart.
Newland loathes the monotonous conversations with May and repetitiveness of his job. Newland respects and loves May with all his heart, but when she begins to call him original, Newland realizes she was always “going to say the right thing” (Age of Innocence 22) because she was simply giving the replies “instinct and tradition” have taught her (Age of Innocence 72). Cynthia Griffin Wolff, in her article entitled “Edith Wharton”, declares that the small world of New York was “suffocating” and “stifled spontaneous expressions of emotion” (3). Also, Newland lived in a kind of “hieroglyphic world” where what someone actually wanted to say was never said or thought, but just “represented by a set of arbitrary signs” (Age of Innocence 40).
While listening to his mother and sister gossip about Ellen, Newland begins to realize women should be able to do anything they please, meaning they should be able to speak their minds. Mrs. Archer and her daughter discuss the upcoming divorce of Ellen, hopeful...
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...and because once before she asked Newland to give up “the thing [he] most wanted”: Ellen (Age of Innocence 302). When it comes time to see Ellen, Newland stays on the street, feeling that it would be more real there “than if [he] went up” (Age of Innocence 306). Newland watched Ellen’s room while sitting on a bench, then, a moment later, a servant came and “drew up the awnings, and closed the shutters” and as if it were the signal Newland had waited for, he “got up slowly and walked back alone to his hotel” (Age of Innocence 307). It was as if the drawing of the awnings and the closing of the shutters was a sense of closure to Newland.
The Age of Innocence could be classified as a Bildungsroman because in the novel, Newland Archer grows from “adolescence to manhood” (“Edith Wharton” 14). Newland Archer is simply a follower at heart despite what he thinks or does.
Ethan Frome, the main character, portrays a weak character. He illustrates his weakness as a person in many ways. It starts off with him marrying his wife that he didn’t marry for the right reasons, then wanting her dead, so he can be with Mattie, the love of his life, and because Zeena is self-willed. He then agrees to partake in the very most thing that demonstrates how weak and desperate he really becomes. He has many difficulties and things he has to overcome and stand up to that he can’t find the courage and strength to do so and because of this becomes a weak character.
The following morning, Wharton, who runs in similar business circles as his wife’s second husband, finds himself having slightly strained conversations with Varick, the second husband. The author uses words such as “stammered,” and “hastily” to describe the initial conversation between the two men (225). His day continues and he finds himself trying to
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
In Edith Warton’s novel, The Age of Innocence the main character Newland Archer has a complex personality that is filled with hidden desires and ideas; some of these ideas are controversial in the society that he lives in. The arrival of Ellen Olenska and the harsh realization of living in a boring society help expose these unseen traits.
Silence has been described as "a category of intelligence of the twentieth century," a response to the modern experience of "alienation from reason, society, and history." Silence has also been designated a feminist issue, one not confined to any historical moment but "a form of imposed repression" which enforces the traditional view of the "appropriate condition for women” (Hurvitz). Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence, a novel poised between the American Victorian and modern eras which examines the potential for women's freedom and independence through a male center of consciousness, encourages a close analysis of its many silences.
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth presents an interesting study of the social construction of subjectivity. The Victorian society which Wharton's characters inhabit is defined by a rigid structure of morals and manners in which one's identity is determined by apparent conformity with or transgression of social norms. What is conspicuous about this brand of social identification is its decidedly linguistic nature. In this context, behaviors themselves are rendered as text, and the incessant social appraisal in which the characters of the novel participate is a process of deciphering this script of behavior. People's actions here are read, as it were, according to the unique social grammar of this society. The novel's treatment of this conception of social reading is brought to the fore through its devaluing of written texts in favor of legible behaviors.
Edith Wharton was the author of The Age of Innocence, a novel published in 1920. In the book, many topics were considered, such as divorce, the empowerment of women, and the lifestyle of the wealthy. The inspiration for these motifs occurred throughout her life. Although Edith Wharton’s work was not well-received, the topics included in her writings held many truths about upper-class society in the late 1800s; therefore, Edith Wharton was influenced by her past and societal experiences.
... when his son learns a story of his relations with Ellen and speaks to him about it many years after (Wharton 41). The lesson that he learns is that society is very concerned with the affairs of its members and even his wife had heard the rumors about the two cousins. While May was busy upholding her traditional role as faithful wife, she also was acting within social norms and ignoring his infatuation with her cousin Ellen, and allowing a facade of a strong marriage to continue. The violence presented in this book, while not as obvious as that in The Piano or Medea, is no less intense. May's innocent look but underlying manipulation of Archer's feelings towards her and his feelings of obligation demonstrate a great struggle between the "innocent" May Welland who looks "blankly at blankness" and the "fiery beauty" of Ellen, and both of their desires for Archer.
On January 24, 1862, Edith Wharton was born to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander in New York City. Wharton’s family were decedents of English and Dutch colonists who had made fortunes in shipping, selling and banking. Wharton, the youngest and only girl of 3 children, spoke 3 languages and was taught by a series of governesses. Because Wharton was taught only with the intention to provide her with the proper social skills needed to become a good wife, she began to read books from her father’s library, especially western culture books. At the age of 18 Edith Wharton feel in love with Walter Berry, but could not truly pursue the relationship because Berry was not from the same social class as Wharton, which in Old New York, was not socially allowed. However, in 1885 at the age of 23, Wharton married Edward Wharton who was 12 years older then her. Edward Wharton was a gentlemen and a sportsman from a well-established family in Philadelphia. Edward shared her love of travel and was acceptable in eyes of Edith’s parents. From the late 1880’s to 1902 Edward Wharton suffered from acute depression and at this time they stopped traveling and lived exclusively at “the Mount” – the home Edith Wharton designed in Lenox, Massachusetts. Edward Wharton’s depressed really put a strain on their relationship and in 1913 Edith Wharton divorced Edward Wharton. After the divorce Edith returned to writing, at this time she wrote a lot of books that often dealt with divorce, unhappy marriages, and free-spirited people who are trapped by social pressure.
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.
In her lifetime, Edith Wharton experienced the restraining nature of societal expectations against her attempts to establish her individual identity, in both her sexuality and publication of her written works. Wharton specifically has an excellent opportunity to criticize the expectations placed on American women during the Realist era because she emigrated to France and experienced a radically different system to that of America’s. This enabled her to more clearly contemplate how society limited and impacted the personal development of women without Wharton being restricted by her knowledge of solely the American social system. The struggle with societal expectations establishes itself in her novella Summer, in which Charity Royall faces the
In New York, however, Cocoa finds herself amongst a group of people who seem distant and interested in only themselves. Stemming from many different backgrounds, the people of New York are always in a rush and "moving, moving, moving ---and to where?" (19). No one knows for sure. Just like the subways, racism in New York moved underground, and Cocoa experiences it as she desperately searches for a job. After having lived in New York for seven years, Cocoa still has not found a suitable mate. Only when she meets George does she start believing again in the goodness and sincerity possessed by some. George is t...
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.
Edith Wharton, was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in literature, she wrote a lot of stories that focused on marriage. Many of her stories are set in the high society world of America in the 1900’s. An example of this, is the short story she wrote called “The Other Two” which takes place in 1904 in New York. “The Other Two” discuss the concepts divorce in the early 1900’s and adaptive behavior which is based on Darwin’s theory of “Survival of the fittest”.
Along with remarriage and the responsibility of a daughter, Henchard also adopts a work associate. Donald Farfrae, a young Scottish man, is appointed manager of Henchard’s dwindling corn business. In this point of the novel, the character development of Michael Henchard is proved through every outwardly observable aspect. Henchard holds postion of mayor, rekindles his marriage, and gains a friend. Alas this prosperity for Michael Henchard is not permanent. Although the managing skills of Donald Farfrae allow for a revival of Henchard’s corn business, Farfrae’s interest in becoming mayor drive the two apart. Henchard displays immense insecurity as he reverts to old habits and dismisses his colleague, Farfrae, despite the tremendous help he has provided Henchard with both his business as well as his well-being. This tendency is not odd though, Henchard also disowns his daughter, Elizabeth-Jane, for a similar reason. When Henchard is given the upsetting news of his daughter’s biological origins, he can no longer tolerate her presence in his household. Feeling as if he holds no importance in Elizabeth-Jane’s life, he lets insecurity and self-pity take control. Although Elizabeth-Jane was all Henchard had left after his wife’s death, the thought of caring for another man’s daughter was too much for Henchard to bear. Elizabeth-Jane eventually slipped out of Henchard’s life just as she had before that night at the furmity