Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Edith Wharton was a popular American novelist and short story writer who took birth on January 24, 1862, and died on August 11, 1937. She was the first woman to attain the Pulitzer Prize for literature that she won for her fiction novel The Age of Innocence in 1921.
Her other major works include the novels The House of Mirth (1905), The Custom of the Country (1913), and the short story or the novella, Ethan Frome (1911). The Age of Innocence was published in 1920.
Themes of Age of Innocence
The major theme of the novel is the vanity and hypocrisy of the rich upper-class of American society during the Gilded Age (1870-1900). Another theme of the novel is the difference between sexes. In Wharton’s novel, women are sexually innocent, not expected to have extramarital affairs, and divorce is not considered appropriate. Women may employ the power of duty, loyalty and, motherhood. Duty is the main theme of the novel as Wharton tries to clarify that a person needs to sacrifice his or her personal freedom to fulfill his or her duties, specifically, duties as a parent. Victorian American women were considered beautiful trophies but innocent brides. Another important theme is how society forces the hypocritical social code.
Characters of Age of Innocence
Newland Archer is a young lawyer working in New York. He is engaged to May Welland and he is very happy about it as this marriage will secure his position in the higher upper-class society of New York. Soon he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, a cousin of May Welland and he realizes that he is falling in love with her. Throughout the novel, Newland Archer struggles between integrity and individual freedom. He sacrifices his passion for his duties.
May Welland Archer is a young socialite belonging to a rich family. She marries Newland Archer and settles in a conventional life. She is totally controlled by her mother and family values. She realizes that Newland doesn’t love her. At first, she decides to release Newland from his engagement, however, Newland assures her that he loves her and she trusts him. After marriage, she realizes that Newland is in love with her cousin Ellen but she pretends innocent about it. She pretends that she and Newport are leading a perfectly happy married life. But within, she is unhappy and frustrated. Her frustration leads her to acquire a manipulative nature. She is not willing to give up her marriage and is ready to do anything to keep Newland away from Ellen.
Ellen Olenska
Ellen is a cousin of May Welland. She is a married woman. Her husband was abusive and cruel who stole her fortune and had affairs with many women. Ellen decides to leave her husband and gets separation. She is planning to divorce her husband but her family and society aren’t ready to support her. She is a free spirit. When she comes to know how Newport feels for her, she realizes that she also has feelings for him. Yet, she is not willing to ruin her cousin’s marriage. When she comes to know about the pregnancy of May, she decides to sacrifice her feelings for Newland and go back to Europe.
Mrs. Manason Mignotte
She is the grandmother of May and Ellen. She is a matriarch of a powerful rich family. She holds complete financial control over the family. She was widowed at an early age of 28 and since then she continued to safeguard her family’s social position with her shrewdness and force of character.
Mrs. Augusta Welland
She is the mother of May. She is also a strong lady who controls her weak-willed husband Mr. Welland and her daughter May. She has raised May to be a proper society lady. However, her upbringing has turned May into a dull woman with rigid views of appropriate and inappropriate. May lacks imagination and is ruled by societal conventions. Like her mother, May ends up manipulating, forcing, and rulling over her husband in a dull, passionless marriage.
There are many other minor characters describing the social ruin of the Gilded Age.
Summary of The Age of Innocence
Newland Archer is a young lawyer working in New York. He is engaged to May Welland, a young socialite belonging to a rich powerful upper-class family. Newland is happy about this relationship as his marriage will confirm his position in the upper class of New York. However, he finds May as a dull, uninteresting girl. May’s Aunt Augusta Welland has manipulated the delay in their marriage and has forced a long engagement period.
May’s cousin Countess Ellen Olenski has decided to return from Europe to her family in New York. She is married to Polish Count Olenski. Count Olenski is an abusive husband who has snatched the fortunes of his wife Ellen and continues to torture her. Olenski has many extramarital affairs and since he isn’t willing to change his ways, Ellen has decided to leave him and come back to her home in New York.
Mrs. Manson Mignotte suggests that the family should support Ellen and tells everyone in the family to treat her well. Mrs. Manson tells Newland to receive Ellen when she arrives. Newland is not too enthusiastic about Ellen as he feels that her tainted marriage will ruin his family’s social position. When Newland meets Ellen, he finds her exotically beautiful, full of enthusiasm, passion, and happiness. He feels that, unlike May, Ellen is a free spirit with an open mind. Gradually, he finds himself intrigued and attracted towards Ellen. Ellen continues to brazenly flout the fastidious rules of society of New York.
The more time Newland spends with Ellen, the more attracted towards her he finds himself. Gradually, he starts doubting his relationship with May Welland though she is the perfect girl to let him have a secured position in Old New York society. He starts feeling troubled within himself and decides to persuade May to marry him soon or to elope with him as he doesn’t want to breach his engagement with her.
Ellen finally decides to file a divorce from her husband Count Olenski but her family members do not agree with her as they are terrified of the scandal and disgrace that this divorce will bring to the family. Living apart can be tolerated, but divorce is unacceptable. One of the law partners of Newland suggests Newland talk to Ellen and persuade her not to divorce Count Olenski so that the Archer family can be saved from the ignominy that the divorce will bring. Newlands talks with Ellen and succeeds in persuading her not to divorce. However, his passion towards Ellen increases to limits and he decides to confront May and begs her to elope with him to accelerate their marriage date. May refuses his proposal. May feels that Newland is romantically attached with someone else and she offers him a release from the engagement, but Newland says that he truly loves her and wants to marry her as soon as possible. May trust him.
After some days, Newland finally expresses his love for Ellen. Ellen is also impressed by Newland but she is horrified by the thought that she will be ruining her cousin’s engagement. She tells Newland that she doesn’t want him to leave May for her. At the same time, Newland receives a letter from May. May wrote to Newland that she has talked with her mother and her mother is ready to let them marry soon.
Newland and May get married and Ellen decides to live in Washington, away from Newland. Newland finds his society's marriage boring. May is a dull and uninterested person and she lacks the vividity that Ellen possesses. Newland tries to forget Ellen but is unable to do so. Newland and May visit Newport, Rhodes Island where Newland Meets Ellen again. He comes to know that Count Olenski has asked for reconciliation and wants Ellen to return to Europe. Her family wants her to return and continue her marriage but Ellen has refused. Enraged by her independent attitude, Mrs. Manson Mignotte has cut off her money.
Newland realizes that Ellen is leading a difficult life. He desperately seeks some way to leave May and get married to Ellen. He realizes that it will be almost impossible for him to marry Ellen ever, he asks her to elope with him, but Ellen refuses. Meanwhile, Mrs. Manson Mignotte, grandmother of Ellen and May, gets sick and she calls Ellen back to New York to take care of her. She accepts her separation from Count Olenski and reinstates her monetary allowances. Newland and May also return to New York and Newland continues to seek time to meet Ellen in privacy. Ellen is attracted towards Newland and under renewed pressure from him, she agrees to consummate their relationship.
Meanwhile, May realizes that Newland is romantically involved with Ellen. She is frustrated. She realizes that her marriage with Newland is a sham but she is not ready to let it go. She decides to manipulate Newland to continue and maintain the sanctity of marriage with her. Newland learns that Ellen has decided to return to Europe. Newland knows that Ellen will never go back to her husband. He decides to leave May and follow Ellen and lead a new life with her. May announces that she and Newland are throwing a farewell party for Ellen. After the party, Newland decides to face May and tell her that he wants to leave her and go with Ellen. However, before he could say anything, May tells him that she learned that morning that she is pregnant with his child. She informs him that she had told Ellen about her pregnancy two weeks earlier though she was not sure of it at that time. Newland realizes that Ellen decided to leave New York because of May’s pregnancy as she doesn’t want to ruin May’s family. Newland faces the struggle of choosing Ellen and follow her to Europe or to remain with May and tender his duties towards the upcoming child. He decides to sacrifice his love for his duties towards the child.
Time flies and some 26 long years later, May gets terminally sick. Before she dies, she calls her son and tells him to always trust his father because his father sacrificed his most precious feelings for his child. Newland then realizes that May knew about him and Ellen from the start and she deliberately manipulated him and Ellen to save her marriage. Newland is 57 now. He and his son decide on a tour to Europe. When they are in Paris, his son comes to know that one of his mother’s cousins, Aunt Ellen is living in Paris. He decides to go and meet her. Newland also goes to visit her with his son. On arriving outside the apartment building, Newland sends up his son alone to meet Ellen. Newland considers going and meeting Ellen after so many years, but in the end, decides not to; he walks back to his hotel without seeing her. Newland's final words about the love affair are "It's more real to me here than if I went up.
So this is about The Age of Innocense. We will continue to discuss the English American Literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!
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