In The Age of Innocence , Edith Wharton paints a poignant portrait of New York high society in the 1870s, exploring themes of love, duty, and betrayal. Newland Archer's engagement to May Welland is tested by the arrival of the enigmatic Countess Olenska, challenging societal norms and personal desires.
Read More
In The Age of Innocence , Edith Wharton paints a poignant portrait of New York high society in the 1870s, exploring themes of love, duty, and betrayal. Newland Archer's engagement to May Welland is tested by the arrival of the enigmatic Countess Olenska, challenging societal norms and personal desires.
Read Less
Add this copy of The Age of Innocence to cart. $12.02, new condition, Sold by Ingram Customer Returns Center rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from NV, USA, published 2024 by Natal Publishing, LLC.
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.
