The Age Of Innocence By Edith Wharton

The Age of Innocence, a literary masterpiece of the Edith Wharton. She displayed us the upper-class social life of 1870’s New York. And whole book was talking about the life and the complex relationship of three people, Newland Archer, May Welland Archer and Ellen, the Countess Olenska. The purpose of this essay is try to analysis one of the most important Character in this book: Newland Archer’s story and his actions and motivation. At first, Newland is represented as a gentlemen, a lawyer and a prospective son-in-law. Newland was born into an upper-class family of New York, so he was molded by the family honor and values. In the opening chapter, Newland arrival at the opera a litter later which he do it on purpose, “New York

“It was not the custom in New York drawing-rooms for lay to get up and walk away from one gentlemen in order to seek the company of anther” (55). He fined that Ellen feels free to talk with others, but not waiting for gentlemen to talk with her. And Newland’s next visit to Ellen enhance his admiration of Ellen for the place she lives in. Ellen arranges and decorate her room with great originality. On the other hand, he thinks about May. She is growing in a conventional family, will never deviate from the fixed way to arranging the rooms. To him, Ellen does not have a rigid schedule. And Newland started compart Ellen with May, he made an experiment with May, “We’re like patterns stenciled on a wall. Can’t you and I strike out for ourselves, May?” (72). And Newland proposes an elopement, but it made him disappointment and frustrated. May answers that it is “vulgar” (72). And May thinks that Newland would also hate to be vulgar, it is point out that her misunderstand of Newland’s

However, Newland does not forget his role as a prospective son-in-law to May’s family. When Mr. Letterblair asks him to deal with Ellen’s divorce suit, “Theoretically, the idea of divorce was almost as distasteful to him as to his mother” (80). It display his anxious, then he try to persuade Ellen of abandon divorce to avoid bringing scandal to family. The family honor has to be maintained, anything unpleasant, such as divorce must be avoided. Newland has become a spokesman for the authority on family, a representative of the upper-class society of New York. He says to Ellen, “He can say things—things that might be unpl—might be disagreeable to you: say them publicly, so that they would get about, and harm you even if – no matter how unfounded they were” (95). At this moment, Newland agree that family’s honor and reputation is more important than individual freedom in any situations. He let Ellen understand that both his and his feel anxiety about her action. He wish she can give up her pursuit for freedom and think over family. During this stage, Newland still can’t jump out from upper-class’s restrictions. A social norms rather than a conscious