Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence
“As he entered the box his eyes met Miss Welland’s, and he saw that she had instantly understood his motive, though the family dignity which both considered so high a virtue would not permit her to tell him so. The persons of their world lived in an atmosphere of faint implications and pale delicacies, and the fact that he and she understood each other without a word seemed to the young man to bring them nearer than any explanation would have done.” (Wharton 16) This statement vividly illustrates the power of the unsaid within New York society during the 1870’s, the time in which The Age of Innocence was set. At that time, there existed a powerful set of rules, regulations, and codes pertaining to one’s conduct that were most often unspoken and, therefore, were never “formally” outlined. However, this did not in any way lessen the degree to which these standards were adhered to, and, thereby, upheld as if they were carved in the same stone as the Ten Commandments. Because New York Society did not have much need for religion, other than for rites of passage, the rules of society were to them like rules of their religion. As a woman who was raised in this society, Edith Wharton was able to illustrate with great clarity the influence that the unsaid had when it came to knowing how one should behave if society is to look on them favourably. She further goes on to express the perils of a life lived within these particular codes.
In the initial example used in the introduction, which took place in Chapter II of the novel, the reader is not only able to see the reason for Newland Archer’s behaviour, but the example also acts as a method of foreshadowing which alludes to the significant role ...
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...nocence, one must only see the power that things left unsaid had in holding together a society such as the one that existed in New York during the time of the novel. Things that went unspoken, but were left to be solved by duty and appropriateness had the ability to act like the glue that held the Newland/Archer family together for a lifetime of children, and a lifetime of existence within a society that would not have accepted it any other way. Until the day before she died, May Welland/Archer acted in accordance with the unspoken rules of society in order to protect herself, her family, her marriage, and even the social structure itself, the very structure which forced her into accepting what life had given her long ago, and had taught her to learn to accept it.
Works Cited
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. Macmillan Publishing Company, New York:
1920.
This is not the only evidence that indicates a sign of stereotypical events that occurs in the novel. A great ind...
The prologue of a novel plays a crucial role in introducing the setting of the story. The prologue also sets the tone of the tale and can sometimes hide vital information from the reader. The art of foreshadowing is often used in the prologue, and after reading through the story, reverting back to the prologue can help connect the many themes and motifs that are prevalent throughout the narrative. A high-quality example of a prose with a prologue that is riddled with underlying foreshadowing is The Assault, by Harry Mulisch. By analyzing a single passage of the prologue and comparing it with other small potions of the text, the foretelling of events in the prologue of The Assault by Harry Mulisch can easily be related to how Anton believed the killing of his family was a simple affair, when in reality, it was a more complicated incident than
Everyone, at some time in life, will experience fear. But, often fantasies are created in one's mind to escape that fear. Ethan Frome uses his fantasy as an escape to the entrapment of his marriage and the fear of public condemnation.
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.
Edith Wharton, originally named “Edith Newbold Jones”(Cliff Notes), was born on “January 24, 1862 in New York City to George Frederic Jones and Lucretia Stevens Rhinelander Jones and died on August 11, 1937”(Cliff Notes). She was born into a wealthy family and was a “designer, short story writer and American novelist”(Cliff Notes). Wharton descended from the English and Dutch cultures. She had two siblings, one known as “Frederic Rhinelander Jones” (Cliff Notes) who was sixteen years older than her, and “Henry Edward Jones eleven years older”(Cliff Notes). While her brothers attended boarding school, Wharton became “raised as an only child in a brownstone mansion on West Twenty-third Street in New York City”(Cliff
In the novel Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates an interesting plot revolving around two star-crossed lovers. Unfortunately, there is only one important thing that gets in the way of these lovers, a wife who’s a hypochondriac. Zeena, the wife, finds herself in a particular situation, a situation where she needs to figure out how to get rid of Mattie. She tries everything to get rid of her, especially her illness, using it as an excuse to get what she wants, oppressing Ethan’s desires and needs. Despite her malicious actions, she creates a justifiable reasoning of her intent. In Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton creates a psychological response in regards to Zeena. Rather than being depicted as the villain of the novel, Zeena is merely the victim of
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.
Both “ Young Goodman Brown” and “ The Most Dangerous Game” have themes of a loss of innocence, yet each store employs a different way of getting there. The exact meaning of this loss of innocence also differs in each story. In “ Young Goodman Brown”, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, shows us a man that loses his innocent view of the world. By the end he is a man with now hope and no faith. In “ The Most Dangerous Game”, written by Richard Connell, we watch as a man falls from a powerful hunter into a savage murderer.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Theme of Innocence & nbsp; & nbsp; Innocence is a time when a person has never done something, it is the first step in the theme of innocence to experience. The second step in the movement from innocence to experience, is experience. This step is what is achieved after a person or thing has done something they have never done before or learns something they have never known before. The theme of growth from innocence to experience occurs many times in the first part of To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. This process is one of the central themes in the first eleven chapters of this book, because it shows how Scout and Jem change and mature. & nbsp;
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.
Sometimes trying to conform to society’s expectations becomes extremely overwhelming, especially if you’re a woman. Not until recent years have woman become much more independent and to some extent equalized to men. However going back to the 19th century, women were much more restrained. From the beginning we perceive the narrator as an imaginative woman, in tune with her surroundings. The narrator is undoubtedly a very intellectual woman. Conversely, she lives in a society which views women who demonstrate intellectual potential as eccentric, strange, or as in this situation, ill. She is made to believe by her husband and physician that she has “temporary nervous depression --a slight hysterical tendency” and should restrain herself from any intellectual exercises in order to get well (Gilman 487). The narrator was not allowed to write or in any way freely...
The society in which she lives is legitimized such that people follow a certain moral code. Refraining or overlooking of such codes leads to punishment as revealed by the women “this woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (The Ugly Woman, 7). The narrator however, echoes concern against following strict codes of conduct. Hawthorne presents the idea that lack of compassion and forgiveness makes a society dictatorial, he believes the need to observe and practice grace is imperative. Ruling through grace was expressed by Hester when she is forgiven by a society that had once punished her for same mistakes as the young girl retorts “let her cover the mark she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” (A Young Wife, 6). Reverend Dimmesdale finds adequate grace after seven years of not confessing his sins because of the repercussions that would come thereafter. He begs Hester to reveal his name so that he can as well reveal his sin “be not silent from any mistaken pity, and tenderness for him” (Reverend Dimmesdale, 26) YOur
The student may find it useful to begin the paper with the following quote from the novel:
Since these adversaries both expect compliance with their rules and traditions, it is unsurprising that people rebelled against the oppressive guidelines set upon them. However, when someone would cease to conform to the rules, they were harshly punished. When Chencha went against the will of Mama Elena and escaped to work at a brothel, Mama burned Chencha’s birth certificate and disowned her (page 57). Likewise, the women who went against the traditions of the Puritan community were branded with the hot iron of shame and isolation, as Hester was. Unsurprisingly, both the Puritan community and Mama Elena are significant in the sense that they are the most critical “villains” of both The Scarlet Letter and Like Water for Chocolate. The authors described the antagonists of these stories in such a way that the reader is compelled to strongly dislike these awful oppressors, and sympathize with Tita and Hester. The Puritan community and Mama Elena reflect each other, in the ways that they both give conflict necessary to create these stories--without their well-written roles, expectations, customs, responses, and highlighted significance, Hawthorne and Esquivel’s novels would have little conflict and no driving
Ultimately, throughout The Scarlet Letter, it is indisputably evident that Hawthorne employs his narrator and the classic “public versus private” dichotomy to convey certain ideas and beliefs, especially concerning the characters, and how social morals and private inclinations shape them. Moreover, the reader can conclude that, according to Hawthorne’s implicit messages, it is not always possible for one to reconcile the force of personal desire and the force of community; and, the reader is also able to surmise that for the narrator, satisfying one’s personal impulses is more important than conforming to societal or cultural demands. Finally, the narrator applies the public versus private dichotomy in regards to another pressing topic--is