The main theme of the novel is the struggle between the individual and the group. This is illustrated through the actions and reactions of characters. Archer sees May Welland as the living embodiment of New York society because she is incapable of thinking on her own. Therefore she is not considered an individual, she is conditioned to act in a certain way. In the world in which they live, manners and a particular moral code dictate their actions, there is an established order of things. People are expected to sacrifice desire and opinion, two things that t modern-day americans take for granted. This battle between the individual and the group is also seen through Ellen, she wants to divorce her cheating husband but cannot because she fears the groups unpleasant gossip. This in turn causes her and Archer’s relationship to remain unconsummated.
The Age of Innocence
In a world of tradition. In an age of innocence. They dared to break the rules.
Edith Wharton
About the Author
Edith Wharton was born into a wealthy family in New York City on January 24, 1862. She is an American author who was the first woman to win the pulitzer prize for fiction with her novel, The Age of Innocence.
She loved architecture, gardens, and design, which inspired numerous of her articles and essays. She wrote many novels and short stories, all of which inspired other authors and film makers. Many of her works are still in print today and a few of her novels have been adapted to the stage.
Ellen Olenska
Publication
Wharton's famous novel was published in New York City in 1920 when she was 58 years old. The book was actually published twice, the first time it was published in four parts from July to October in the Pictorial review magazine. The second time it was published by D. Appleton and Company as a novel in New York and London. The book was immediately a best seller and was considered "a brilliant panorama of New York" by the Times Book Review.
From novel to film
The Age of Innocence was made into a movie in 1993. Filmed in Albany, New York, the same setting as the prestigous novel. It was produced by Cappa Production and Columbia Pictures Corporation and was released on October 1, 1993.
Famous Quotes
"It seems stupid to have discovered America only to make it into a copy of another country."
"In the rotation of crops there was a recognised season for wild oats; but they were not to be sown more than once."
"There were certain things that had to be done, and if done at all, done handsomely and thoroughly; and one of these in the old New York code, was the tribal rally around a kinswoman about to be eliminated from the tribe."
"His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen."
"Being here is like--like--being taken on a holiday when one has been a good little girl and done all one's lessons."
"In the rotation of crops there was a recognised season for wild oats; but they were not to be sown more than once."
"There were certain things that had to be done, and if done at all, done handsomely and thoroughly; and one of these in the old New York code, was the tribal rally around a kinswoman about to be eliminated from the tribe."
"His whole future seemed suddenly to be unrolled before him; and passing down its endless emptiness he saw the dwindling figure of a man to whom nothing was ever to happen."
"Being here is like--like--being taken on a holiday when one has been a good little girl and done all one's lessons."
Online Study Guides
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/ageofinnocence/study.html
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/The-Age-of-Innocence.id-5.html
The Age of Innocence 