The Age of Innocence

by Edith Wharton

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In a word: naive

In a sentence: a young man is forced to question his role in society, domesticity, and the world.

Synopsis: Newland Archer, a young rich New Yorker from a good family, is betrothed to lovely innocent May Welland. However, when May’s cousin Ellen Olenska flees her husband to return to her New York roots, Archer takes a fresh look at the community he lives in and his destiny within it.

Reactions: Despite its title, this novel surprised me in its innocence. It is inherently the story of an extramarital affair and yet almost no details of sexual promiscuity or any specifics of domestic displeasure are given. Other writers from the same era do not adhere to such stringent moral guidelines, indicating that this was a stylistic choice on Wharton’s part. The 1870s New York society depicted in The Age of Innocence universally ignores its crude underbelly, and therefore so too does the novel depicting it. To read The Age of Innocence is to experience this culture and witness the plot evolve from this perspective.

Despite its representative nature, an aspect of this lens frustrated me because it belonged the least interesting character in the tale: Archer. Newland Archer is a typical rich young New Yorker at the center of his social circle. He has never had to examine his world because he is confident in his understanding of and place within it. Therefore, his perspective is a painfully narrow one through which to read over 300 pages. To be a narrator is to add inner opinions and interpretations of the tale, and Newland’s outlook on his world is a narrow-minded one to put it mildly. Had the story been narrated from the perspective of Countess Olenska, May, or even Mrs. Mason Mingott, it would have been much more dynamic and insightful.

Read if: you desire a pleasant reprieve in a simpler time.