The intelligent and charming Newland Archer - a member of one of New York's most prominent families - is living the life that has always been expected of him: he is a successful lawyer engaged to the beautiful and well-connected May Welland. However, with the arrival of May's cousin, the free-spirited and unconventional Countess Ellen Olenska, doubts begin to grow in Newland's mind. As the bond between them grows, Newland comes increasingly to question all that had once seemed so simple. An extraordinarily well-observed ...
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The intelligent and charming Newland Archer - a member of one of New York's most prominent families - is living the life that has always been expected of him: he is a successful lawyer engaged to the beautiful and well-connected May Welland. However, with the arrival of May's cousin, the free-spirited and unconventional Countess Ellen Olenska, doubts begin to grow in Newland's mind. As the bond between them grows, Newland comes increasingly to question all that had once seemed so simple. An extraordinarily well-observed dissection of New York's high society in the 1870s - the world Edith Wharton grew up in - The Age of Innocence shines a critical light on the social mores and values of the old order.
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Edith Wharton's classic novel "The Age of Innocence" is a quietly sad tale of two anachronistic people. Ellen Olenska is eminently modern; she simply does not see the social restrictions and rules that govern everyone around her. She lives her life according to her own code of honor, and has no concept of "the way things are done." Newland Archer, on the other hand, is painfully aware of social trappings and cannot overcome them to live in accordance with his inner beliefs. Because of this, Archer strikes the reader as slightly less noble than Ellen. He's something of a coward, and as the protagonist of the story, his constant waffling lends drama to the narrative. At its core, "The Age of Innocence" is the deftly told story of two people who find each other too late. Both are paired to other people; one is unwilling to cause an innocent person to be hurt, the other totally willing but ultimately chooses the safe, staid path. I've made it sound very dour, but the book is actually a lively examination of the trap that was the rigid social structure of the time.