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The Age Of Innocence By Edith Wharton: Literary Analysis

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In The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton attempts to recapture the essence of the true Old New York, a time in American history, the late 19th century, when social interaction was immensely dictated by strict standards of propriety and style. American society today is still dictated and ruled by many of the same characteristics that the upper-class of the 19th century was. Edith Wharton writes in a way that is abundant with long, drawn-out, meticulously detailed descriptions of everything in this time period. This style allows the reader to really paint a picture of the lavish lifestyles of the upper-class, and gives heed to the kind of personalities the owners of these things have. Newland Archer "...had lingered afterward over a cigar in …show more content…

Is it the right thing to do the proper, dutiful thing and stay married to someone if they're the wrong person (and also have an affair)? Or is it the right thing to leave them so you can both find somebody who is right for you both? In this story-line I suppose the first option worked out. May lived a more-than-decent life, had children, made her parents proud, and died when the time came. But although she seemed okay with Newland having an affair, I can't bring myself to believe she was completely happy with how things went she just chose the lesser of two evils. Divorce was considered improper and she would most likely have been a social pariah if he had divorced her, making the value of her life significantly less since societal status was everything. There is no truly right answer here, similar to most of life as a whole, and the reader is forced to make a decision about how to feel. Just like American culture today, society still looks down on women who get divorced and not the men. In the end, we all have to make our own choices because we are the ones who need to live with

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