Edith Wharton's The Age Of Innocence

Edith Wharton, who won the first Pulitzer awarded to a woman. In the story of “The Age of Innocence” by her own feminine exquisite perceptivity, smooth style of writing and exploring young American life experience. Living in New York during the late nineteen century to the twenty century Edith Wharton declared her reflections on life and written down, created “The Age of Innocence” an eloquent novel. The story occurs among New York City’s upper class in the 1870s, and it’s about impending marriage and love triangle. Wharton explained three major ideas in this novel and by deconstructing the story she wants us to know that in old New York Society people were hardly to accept new ideas. And there are three ideas that she wrote down in the book,

Newland Archer is the recognition center of the whole story, in Wharton’s view, describes a group of female images in the old New York society. Newland had grown up in the upper class had well educated background and bright future. He understands the tradition and courtesy, however in the same time he has personal perspectives out of the social circle. Because of this he is sometimes being tired of banal propriety. In the old New York society, female has always been considering as male’s appurtenance and only have subordinate status, can’t have their own right, but Newland thinks female should be free like a male. When he had matched engagement with May, essentially he is going to have simple live and follow rules docilely like his seniorities. Nevertheless, Ellen breaks the peace and the old route; her appearance to Newland brought him a fresh world and let him suddenly become extensive. Ellen is a kind of woman, who is vivid, effusive, and ebullient and also yearns to live free; she creates a unique image of woman in old New York society. Newland starts rethink about the society and by the time he getting closer to Ellen he felt May and Ellen are standing in opposite side of a scale. Since this, his placid

Apparently, May is an innocent woman. But in fact the “innocence” that May contain is illusory in other words it’s not natural, it’s artificial “innocence” the reason is that live in old New York society the upper class’s tradition, conventions and Chauvinism create this kind of May, the best product of New York Marriage such a sarcastic creation. May is beautiful and pure, looks “innocent”, actually she is adept at scheming. She keeps her engagement carefully by using smile, docility and stratagem and she already knew the relationship between Newland and Ellen, but she behave like she knows nothing. It reflects the conflict between women under old Chauvinism society. First she pretends to let Newland make his choose about true love and when Newland tells her that he have no others because he considered about his responsibility, then she back to normal like a child just suffered danger back to her mom’s cherish ask for aegis. This is Wharton trying to show us about real May. And she pretends let Newland to take care of Ellen but actually May is keeping eyes on them. About Ellen’s divorce May is in the same side with other old New York people want Ellen go back to Europe. And when she realize that Newland want to present his intention to