Contradiction Between Innocence and Individuality in the Age of Innocence

The narrator is able to share how life in high New York society functions. More specifically, the narrator is able to reveal Newland Archer’s thoughts and emotions as he works through his internal struggle. ­Irony­ The book being called The Age of Innocence is ironic because the one who would be perceived as being most innocent, is not as naïve as believed. May Welland Archer grew up innocent and naïve and has never known passion until her husband introduces her to it. After Newland begins his affair…

Edith Wharton was the author of The Age of Innocence, a novel published in 1920. In the book, many topics were considered, such as divorce, the empowerment of women, and the lifestyle of the wealthy. The inspiration for these motifs occurred throughout her life. Although Edith Wharton’s work was not well-received, the topics included in her writings held many truths about upper-class society in the late 1800s; therefore, Edith Wharton was influenced by her past and societal experiences. Wharton…

Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence “I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart. You broke my heart.” These eternal words spoken in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather reflect the importance and prevalence of family allegiances. These allegiances transcend many different cultures, societies and environments. Every society has its own “Fredo”: the social outcast whose decisions make him or her the center of attention in society, and whose family allegiances complicate everything. We can…

story more unlike Raging Bull or Goodfellas than The Age of Innocence, which seems better suited to a Merchant-Ivory production. However, Scorsese has placed his indelible stamp on this picture, not only through the camerawork, but in the potent tension that builds between the main characters. For while blood has often been Scorsese's method, the characters, and what exists between and within them, have always been his ends. The Age of Innocence is a sumptuous motion picture, a feast for the senses…

thing” (Age of Innocence 22) because she was simply giving the replies “instinct and tradition” have taught her (Age of Innocence 72). Cynthia Griffin Wolff, in her article entitled “Edith Wharton”, declares that the small world of New York was “suffocating” and “stifled spontaneous expressions of emotion” (3). Also, Newland lived in a kind of “hieroglyphic world” where what someone actually wanted to say was never said or thought, but just “represented by a set of arbitrary signs” (Age of Innocence…

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…

Immortality and Myth in The Age of Innocence Edith Wharton’s books are considered, by some, merely popular fiction of her time. But we must be careful not to equate popularity with the value of the fiction; i.e., we must not assume that if her books are popular, they are also primitive. Compared to the works of her contemporary and friend, Henry James, whose books may seem complex and sometimes bewildering; Wharton’s The Age of Innocence appears to be a simplistic, gossipy commentary…

The Difference Between Innocence and Experience in Poetry "The idyllic world of Innocence is exposed as naÃve and foolish by the subversive cynicism of Experience." The world of Innocence is happy and loving, and can be compared to Arcadia and the Garden of Eden, the place of true innocence and lack of knowledge. However, Experience is actual reality of what living in the real world is actually like, where people have experienced the problems in the world. They are…

time. In the Age of Innocence,Wharton emphasizes Olenska and Archer’s silences to identify and criticize the invisible evils that lurk within the hierarchy of “old New York” and reveal the rationalization of a pretentious and delusional society. Depicting the nature of a desperate society, Wharton reveals, in this seemingly extravagant social order, a fear of insecurity and change that constantly outlines the motives of each individual and the collective dream, the age of innocence, that is produced…

The truth that lies behind fantasies The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is a book that gave the word “love” many other meanings, such as impossible, meaningless and incomplete. There were many unbearable obstacles that Countess Ellen Olenska, one of the main characters, had to face because of love. She was treated badly by many people and always longed for love but never obtained it. With everyone cursing her, betraying her and hurting her, there was one person who was always there for her…