Ellen Olenska In The Age Of Innocence

Society is a mental and moral force that requires , individuals to sacrifice their true Identity ,in order to conform to its beliefs. Society plays a tremendous role in developing a person’s identity. In The Age of Innocence, author Edith Wharton, uses Ellen Olenska as the character who has to undergo the harsh mental and verbal abuse of society. Ellen’s alienation reveals the surrounding society’s assumptions and moral values in such a way ; that it contributes to the meaning of the story in its entirety. The readers are also shown how the society is affected by such a flawed individual.
Ellen challenges society’s common traditions for the women and the social status of this time period. Ellen is expected to be meek, content, and restrained, because society assumes this, they don’t expect her to be what she really is. Ellen

is free-spirited, boisterous, and blunt. She does not fall into the troubles of society. Wharton says “…But there was about her the mysterious authority of beauty, a sureness in the carriage of the head, the movement of the eyes, which, without being in the least theatrical , struck him as highly trained and full conscious power()”. Ellen’s consciousness , separates her from everyone else in the society.
Throughout the novel, Ellen is continuously judged off of the fact, that her morals are different from everyone else’s .

Ellen challenges society’s moral values and the common ways for the women during this time. Ellen exhibits characteristics of a woman with freedom, she wears that she wants, when she wants , and she even leaves her husband; In spite of the criticism to come . Ellen chooses to live her life happily and not let the assumptions and tactics of the society , change her outlook on life. Unlike the other women in society , Ellen knew everything and expected noting; she was so much more aware than the other women in the society, Ellen wanted to earn everything she had. Wharton mentions the other women in society by saying “ The terrifying product of the social system [they] belonged to and believed in , the young girl who knew nothing and expected everything…(41)”. This quote represents the moral simplicity of Ellen’s life compared to the morals of others in the society. The moral values that society has established are engraved in the women so clearly, that they don’t even realize their lack of

freedom.
Society is directly affected by Ellen, because of her flawed individuality in the somewhat “perfect” society. All of Ellen’s decisions seem to alter the society in some way. Although, Ellen doesn’t do this on purpose, because of her individuality, her actions surprise them so much that, they began to overthink things. While Ellen contemplates on a divorce, the society also contemplates. The society only understood what they were taught, Wharton describes the society by saying “ 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….()”. Society understood each other but they did not understand Ellen because she was nothing like them.
Ellen was seen to be different than others in the society. Ellen’s isolation reveals to the reader the many issues that she was faced with, just because she was different. Ellen can be compared to many people in today’s world. Many people face the mental and verbal abuse of those around them , much like Ellen. Ellen’s alienation reveals the society’s assumptions and moral values in such a way that it contributes to the meaning of the story in it’s entirety; the reader is also shown how the society is affected Ellen’s flawed individuality.