Convention In Wharton's The Age Of Innocence

In The Age of Innocence, Ellen refers to New York society’s ‘blind conformity to tradition – somebody else’s tradition.’ In the tension between individual desire and the obligations of convention, it can be argued that Wharton makes use of the setting of the opera and Archer’s relation to it to portray convention as defining individual action, illustrating society’s defensive nature towards tradition. In the portrayal of the relationship between convention and individuality, the social rules imposed upon women can also be examined, to suggest that society dictates the individual action of those within it. Additionally, Wharton juxtaposes the architectural homes of those in society with that of Ellen to depict convention as manufactured and

The text establishes convention through the description of the old Academy as having ‘shabby red and gold boxes’, which were admired for ‘being small and inconvenient, and thus keeping out the “new people” whom New York was beginning to dread and yet be drawn to’ (Wharton, 3). This representation of architectural interiors to introduce social structure depicts the definitive and rigid nature of convention, which is comparable to the worn furnishings of an opera box. The diction ‘shabby’ and ‘inconvenient’ conveys the impracticalities involved in the pursuit of these traditional practices (Wharton, 3). The physical space further reflects the values of society through the selective nature of the opera, given that ‘the limited availability of box seats, coupled with a great demand for them, allowed the possessors of opera boxes an enviable position of privilege and prestige.’ Against this backdrop of exclusivity, the individual is introduced as consequential to the environment, but also essential in preserving it. This is evident in Archer’s ingrained awareness of his obligations surrounding the social event, in his statement that ‘it was “not the thing” to arrive early at the opera’, which ‘played a part as important in Newland Archer’s New York as the inscrutable totem terrors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of

However, Ellen’s ways of thinking locate her as an outcast, whose independence displays the underlying tensions surrounding progressing female roles. The reader gains insight into female experience through the lens of male characters, in the claim that Archer ‘meant her (thanks to his enlightening companionship) to develop a social tact and readiness of wit’ (Wharton, 6). Archer’s comprehension that May is a ‘product of the system’, who will fulfil her particular role through marriage illustrates the assumption of malleable female identity in the post-war era (Wharton, 7). Under this male gaze, Wharton details that etiquette demanded that women ‘should wait, immovable as an idol, while the men who wished to converse with her succeeded each other at her side’ (Wharton, 52). The monitoring female movement portrays an ingrained conventional coding in the psyche of society, which does not allow for female authority. The female characters are consequently ‘described and judged’ by their ‘conformity to or departure from complicated standards of taste and propriety that seem to be at odds with the simple needs of flesh and spirit.’ Wharton’s depiction of this social construct illustrates her ‘clear sense of the ways the conventions of social interaction could blind or restrict people, especially women.’ In juxtaposition to the social codes