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The age of innocence edith wharton citation
The age of innocence edith wharton citation
The age of innocence edith wharton citation
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Ellen Olenska as a Mythological Muse in The Age of Innocence
Long ago in ancient Greece, mythology was used to explain our world, our lives, and most importantly, our interpersonal relationships. Still today Greek mythology is infused into the literature of almost every influential and lasting author, one of the more effective authors being Edith Wharton, author of The Age of Innocence. The relationship between Newland Archer and Madame Ellen Olenska, two protagonists in Wharton’s novel, is an example of the classic relationship between a muse and an inspired man. Wharton was obviously well learned in the art of mythology as seen in her stories, The Lamp of Psyche and The Muse’s Tragedy, and used this knowledge in order to portray a tragic tale of an inspired man.
From Ellen Olenska’s first appearance at New York’s ornate opera house, her presence is of a mythological being that “catches the eye and the interest of every man of the prominent New York social scene” (Millicent 229). Blake Nevius states that Ellen has the mysterious faculty of suggesting tragic and moving possibilities outside the daily run of experience (185); it is a classic trait of a muse to evoke ideas of a life superior to the ordinary with endless possibilities.
There are nine muses of Greek mythology who evoke different arenas of inspiration in a man; a muse of epic poetry, a muse of tragedy, a muse of comedy, a muse of history, a muse of astronomy, a muse of dance, a muse of sacred song, a muse of lyric poetry, and Erato, a muse of love poetry and passion (Marks 34).
Erato, whose name translates into passionate is known as the “awakener of desire” (35), and most closely resembles Ellen Olenska. The poet Hesiod wrote, “the muse’s spirit is free from care and for though men has sorrow and grief in his soul, when the Muses sing, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles (34). This explains Archer’s state of mind whenever he is in the company of Ellen, for an affair was of bad “taste,” and Archer believed that “few things seemed more awful than an offense against ‘Taste,’ that far-off divinity of ‘Form’ was the mere visible representative and vice-regent,” yet this notion slipped out of thought whenever he was in the presence of Countess Ellen Olenska.
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...ernatives, which Archer was able to do after Ellen inspired him to (96 Lyde).
Edith Wharton successfully portrayed Countess Ellen Olenska as a muse who inspired Newland Archer to open his eyes to the world outside of conventions and to act on what she had taught him. In no Greek tragedy does the certainty of defeat – the irresistible power of fate – free the central figure, in this case, Newland Archer, from personal responsibility. The important thing, the lesson learned by Ellen Olenska, which made the tale of Newland Archer tragic, is a quality of character which transforms suffering into wisdom and humanity.
Works Cited
Bell, Millicent. Edith Wharton and Henry James. Millicent Bell, 1965.
Coxe, Louis O. “What Edith Wharton Saw in Innocence.” The New Republic. Louis
O. Coxe, 1955.
Lyde, Marilyn Jones. Edith Wharton. University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
Mansfield, Katherine. Novels and Novelists. New York Knopf, 1930.
Marks, Tracy. Our Muses. Tracy Marks, 1989.
Nevius, Blake. Edith Wharton. University of California, 1953.
Named Works:
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. Dover Publications, Inc. 1997.
Utilizing their natural forces, they personified an idea of trust and the past by being the deliverers of truth and also history. The Muses came into his life and transformed it for the better; this is apparent because he focuses on them in the beginning and the end of his poem. Hesiod’s overall purpose of including the Muses was to create a base of authority and reliability while reading his poem; the presence of the Muses did that exactly. The nine daughters of Zeus led Hesiod’s stories and that is obvious when you simply read them. The stories that he tells have a lyrical rhythm to it as they are read to resemble the song and dance of the Muses as heard by Hesiod long
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Novels such as “The Age of Innocence”(The Editors of), which discusses a “ picture of upper-class New York society in the 1870s” (The Editors of), strongly relates to Wharton and her background. “The Age of Innocence” is considered Wharton’s “finest work” (The Age Of). The novel is based off Newland Archer and May Welland’s troubled marriage. At first, the married couple live in harmony and joy, however this dramatically changes throughout the book. Once Newland meets “May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, on the run from an unhappy marriage” (The Age of Innocence), Newland immediately falls in love. Society plays a major key role in this book. Therefore, Ellen cannot divorce her husband or make a public announcement of her feelings for Newland. As Newland’s feelings grow deeper for Ellen he feels a strong need to run away with her and live their life together. However, Newland knew that severe consequences would be upheld against him if he were to run away with Ellen. Such as, being disowned from his family. However, he never cared much about the consequences and put Ellen as his main focus. May is a sharp woman and figured out their feelings toward each other and as a result, the day they planned to leave was the day May announced her pregnancy with Newland. The book ends with May and Newland carrying on their unhappy marriage and kids while Ellen and Newland’s relationship is forever
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According to Batshaw, Roizen, and Lotrecchiano (2013), patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) is “the persistence of a fetal passage permitting blood to bypass the lungs” (p. 745). This is an inherited heart condition in which the ductus, a small pathway between the pulmonary and the aortic, valves remain open. This cardiovascular problem usually occurs in low birth weight infants. The blood vessels usually naturally closes after birth (Batshaw et al., 2013, p. 96). It becomes atypical if it remains open after the neonatal period. The structure usually closes in typical developing newborns around the initial 24 hours, and anatomical closure is supposed to follow several weeks later (Stanford Children’s Health, 2015). At the point when the ductus arteriosus stays open, the blood from the oxygen-rich aorta blends with the oxygen-poor pulmonary artery causing the higher chance of blood pressure in the lung pathways (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Certain children who have patent ductus arteriosus may be given medication, relying upon the circumstance to standardize the blood and oxygen levels until surgery is performed. Doctor can treat this condition by providing pharmaceutical medicine, catheter-based procedures, and surgery (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011).
Following World War II, the United States and the USSR were the only two world super powers left. Because of different economic systems, strategic interests, and atomic weapons the US and USSR entered a Cold War. This war was not a typical war. It was strictly economical and political fighting, there was no physical fighting. The USSR believed that peace would only come from worldwide communism, but the US wanted to stop the spread of communism immediately. President Truman tried to offer financial aid to countries nearing turmoil and facing communism, in order to stop the spread of communism entirely. The United States was successful in that it did not actually fall to communism itself, and that the US was able to partially contain communism
In his book Cold War: The American Crusade against World Communism, James Warren discusses the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, its causes, its consequences, and its future. Warren also analyzes why the United States was so afraid of communism and how this fear controlled both U.S. domestic and foreign policy. In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he warned future leaders to avoid foreign entanglements. However, the United States strayed away from this policy in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. From then on, the United States realized that with its great power came great responsibility. The U.S. felt the responsibility to develop a strategy to combat the spread of world communism, which was viewed as the “Red menace.” The U.S. believed that communism would spread from the Soviet Union, across all of Europe; the U.S. understood that the spread of communism would not be very difficult because the destruction caused by World War II left many nations vulnerable to communism. Also, the Soviet Union had a highly-trained army, a ruthless leader, and a nation committed to Marxist-Leninism, which was a belief that human progress is the destruction of Western democracy and capitalism. The Cold War was a military, diplomatic, economic, and scientific struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The rivalry between these two nations also affected places such as Korea, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Malaya, and Vietnam. The Cold War controlled many of the crises that occurred the last half of the 20th century. The major conflict of course was the threat of nuclear weapons. Thomas Larson wrote that “the vulnerability to weapons that could destroy entire countries...heightened fears and antagonisms and made th...
Quickly fear began to collect within the public, and it wasn’t before long that the fear translated into support for the new policies of foreign involvement. Truman mentioned in his speech that this investment of U.S. resources paled in comparison to the cost of World War II. Truman insisted it is a necessity to secure the investment in peace achieved through the war by the means of curbing the communist agenda via foreign involvement and aid. This effort was portrayed as a way to prevent further wars, but instead directly contributed to the start of the cold war. Truman’s final lines in his speech stretch from instilling a fear of the communist regime exclaiming “The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died” and portraying the United States as a savior to nations under the scope of the Soviet Union as “The free peoples of the world look to us for support in maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world -- and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own nation” (Truman). This quote accurately sums up the scope of foreign involvement and relations of the United States during this time period. Truman quickly made the point to
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The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C. 's Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C. 's Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C. 's Roman law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. In the Tenth Century A.D., hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain. In the following century, William the Conqueror would not allow persons to be hanged or otherwise executed for any crime, except in times of war. Some common
Within the writings of Greek mythology women commonly display certain attributes that the Greek society associated with women or femininity back in the day. A common quality demonstrated amongst the women in Greek society, and more specifically in Greek mythology, is deception. Throughout the Greek literature discussed in class, women have commonly showed their deception and trickery in different ways and for numerous different reasons. The Odyssey, Theogony, and Homeric Hymm all displayed Greek women showing some form of deception within the stories and poems. These stories show various ways and reasons for Greek women being deceiving and disingenuous, reasons for which there needs to be more discussion.