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The Great Gatsby And The Age Of Innocence : Literary Analysis

Decent Essays

In societies based on wealth and status, there becomes a perpetual need for refuge. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, and Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence, the fatalistic desire for an escape from the upper class sycophants of New York society became apparent in the form of affairs. In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, the protagonist, Newland Archer, was dazzled by the spectacle of the beautiful, exotic Ellen Olenska--the ostracized cousin of his betrothed, May Welland. On the contrary, Jay Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s protagonist, left his love, Daisy Buchanan, to pursue monetary gain and societal status in the empty lifestyle of an upper-class business tycoon. In this, creating his inner sanctuary, stuck in the times he spent with Daisy. Despite advancing in economic class, Gatsby finds himself chained to the hierarchy of the ruthless, spiteful social class of NYC without refuge. Ultimately, Newland Archer and Jay Gatsby tried to find a bright light in their lackluster lives of upper-class society, to escape from the imminent ostracism, in turn digging their own graves.
Lost in the monotony of high society, Newland Archer found intrigue and mystery in the exotic Countess Olenska. Archer’s existence in the tedious routine of snipes and canards had slowly begun to pull him deeper into a “black abyss” of ennui. Ellen Olenska became a light in the abyss, pulling Archer out and giving him a reason for existence. He saw the path that all his friends had followed, unhappy

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