What Are The Norms In The Gilded Age Of Innocence

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In The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton depicts and contrasts New York and European society during the 1870s. This period was termed the “Gilded Age” due in part to Mark Twain’s portrayal of the social problems of the era as disguised by a thin layer of gold in his 1873 novel The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. Wharton establishes a stark divide between the attitudes and outlooks on society of the main character, Newland Archer, and a love interest and his fiancee’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska. Though Archer disagrees with some norms and expectations in New York society, he feels a need to conform, while Ellen denounces these norms and stays true to herself. Newland Archer was a traditional and upstanding man in New York Society. Wharton

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