Men And Women In Edith Wharton's The Age Of Innocence

Is love worth everything? In The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton explores this question against the background of 1870s New York society. Edith Wharton published this novel as a four-part series in a newspaper, and it is considered one of her most notable works. In fact, she became the first woman to win the Pultizer Prize for this novel. In the Edith Wharton shows the significant force that society plays on the individual in the upper class wealthy families of this time period. Expectations of society were the most important aspect of life for these families; personal desires were secondary to the common good of the society. In addition, there were differences in the roles of men and women; men were allowed more freedoms than women, although,

She had two brothers named Frederic Rhinelander and Henry Edward Jones they went by Freddie and Harry. They both went to boarding school so they spent a lot of time away from home which left Edith to be raised like a single child. (Edith Wharton) When she would start writing she called it “making-up” even though her parents didn’t support her writing they had a change of heart when someone suggested her work be published in the Atlantic Monthly Magazine. (Edith Wharton) Edith was raised by do’s and don’ts and manners were always expected. Her lifestyle from the beginning was about her taste and the snobbiness of the social class she was brought in. (Edith Wharton) She didn’t attend school she was taught from home by her tutors she learned German, French, and Italian. As a child she loved reading books from her dad's library and read the work of many famous people for example William Shakespeare and John Keats.(Edith Wharton) She was raised in a mansion and since both sides of her family had money they never was without. The family was always taking trips to and from Europe. (Edith Wharton) She spent all of her time studying and reading and was very shy so she didn’t really fit in at the age of 17. Her parents wanted her to make her mark because she was successful. (Edith Wharton) Edith started becoming very popular and began writing a