Age of Innocence Themes Essay

A diatribe on the vicious yet serene society of her childhood, Edith Wharton’s Age of Innocence proffers an attack against the boa constrictor ways of late 1800s New York City0. May’s ability to keep things as they are 1, Newland’s desire to escape2, and Ellen’s escape3 exhibit three different effects of this patronizing society and three different interpretations of the role of action in their society, a theme that can also be seen within Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Greene’s The Power and the Glory4. Wharton’s Age of Innocence is set in what is known as â€Å"the gilded age,† an era where everything is shiny and gold on the outside but wrought with flaws and problems on the inside. For example, the top authority on taste and values, Larry Lefferts, has multiple affairs. â€Å"I say, old chap: do you mind just letting it be understood that I’m dining with you at the club tomorrow night? Thanks so much, you old brick! (Age of Innocence, page 277)† Lefferts is the prime model of how hypocritical this society is. Everyone knows that he has numerous affairs and yet they still look to him for rulings on taste and morals. His character also allows this society’s obsession with remaining pleasant and not saying anything about anything to be understood because no one talks about his affairs openly, they remain silently known by all. The hypocrisy of New York is also seen in the people’s feelings toward the Beauforts. The Beauforts are known as common but are accepted in high society solely because they have a ballroom in their home and host a grand party once a year. Age of Innocence also characterizes a society that Wharton refers to as tribal, prehistoric, and unwavering multiple times. New York is so firm in its ancient, in-stone ways that an insane hierarchy of power has emerged, where the completely unsocial van der Luyden family reigns. They are looked to for the final decision on all things simply because they have always been looked to for the final decision on all things. The society depicted is also rigidly strict regarding schedules and planning and is also obsessed with minute details- no one likes surprises here. May’s parents are consumed with trivial affairs; for instance, May’s father gets physically ill when things do not go as planned and May’s mother demands that days be planned at least 24 hours in advance. They both showcase how uncertainty and any amount of action causes such distress within New York. Newland and Ellen are expected to not act on their desires in order to keep any unpleasantness away from society. All in all, this society is a net that allows no one to change or do anything. None can escape the grip of this tight-knit society. Having no ambition to leave such a pleasant place, May Welland is the picturesque woman: attractive, well-dressed, polite, family oriented, and innocent. She is considered to be the character that embodies the effects and values of New York society. Avoiding conflict and offensiveness at all costs, clever May has learned to indirectly direct Newland into doing what she knows he must. While she never openly addresses Newland and Ellen’s love, the reader recognizes that she is smarter than Newland, the primary narrator of the novel, makes her out to be and we see that she covertly requires Newland to make a choice between her. â€Å"Mother said once, when she asked you to, you’d given up the thing you most wanted,† said Dallas to his father. At length he said in a low voice: â€Å"She never asked me.† (Age of Innocence, page 288). On her death bed, May told Dallas that he and the other children would have a good life with their father because he made the right choice by staying with her instead of running away with Ellen. Newland says that she never asked him because she never directly did, she never directly said or asked anything because that was how society had made her. She was able to manipulate Newland into being exactly as she wants him to be while remaining perfect and innocent. Archer realizes that May is a product of society’s will, rules, and demands, becoming a clone of her mother and therefore trying to turn him into her father. May appears to be a shallow character but deeper analysis unearths that there is more to her than meets the eye. She seems to be content with society’s workings while it is evident that Newland Archer is trapped in a society he no longer wants to be a part of. Throughout the novel, Archer tries to break free but continually realizes that he is scared to break away from the only way he knows how to live. He longs to live like Ellen, an unorthodox and free spirit, but finds himself ensnared by society’s mold for him. â€Å"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. (Age of Innocence, page 185)† Through Archer, Wharton exemplifies her hatred for the society she grew up in and her personal longing to leave such a dull world filled with â€Å"people who dreaded scandal more than disease†¦ (Age of Innocence, page 272).† Archer was never able to have a full relationship with Ellen because the world would end, time would stop, and Mr. Welland would surely die. Archer is a terrific example of the effects the trap of Society can have. He yearns to leave and live alongside Ellen but is never able to because of the deep roots Society has planted within him. Archer never escapes the confines of New York but Ellen, having left New York with her aunt when she was young, does not have the same roots implanted in her and is able to successfully leave to reside in Paris after her return to America. Newland longs to be like her and not be tied down by rules and expectations. Ellen also is a slight foil to May, representing a new, modern woman driven primarily by her own desires and not those of the family. She is eccentric, dresses controversially, and disregards the strenuous demands of Society as much as possible. Succumbing to the dictates of Society, she did not pursue her affair with Newland; however, instead of being afraid of rebelling against Society, as Newland was, she did not want to hurt her family because they had been so kind to her after her return from her disastrous marriage to the Count. Ellen is a kind and caring woman that also pioneers the forward movement of New York whose results are seen in the generation of Archer’s children- Dallas, Mary, and Bill. Dallas calls his dad prehistoric, showing that society is transforming with this coming age. A strong spirit, Ellen Olenska is not afraid to do as she pleases, not as Society pleases. The theme of action and its role within Age of Innocence can also be seen within Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Greene’s The Power and the Glory. Newland Archer and Hamlet are both conflicted on how they should act. Hamlet is plagued with the obsession of being certain before acting. Constantly struggling with the idea of revenge, Hamlet never reaches a sound decision on how to avenge his father’s death and instead killing Claudius out of rage after his mother’s death. While Hamlet is known as exceedingly thoughtful and contemplative, the only times he acts are swift and unplanned, as seen with the killing of Polonius and also his uncle. Archer also tries to figure out how to act but never knows how to move forward with his relationship with Ellen because of the thick barriers that Society, and not to mention his wife, presents. The Priest is conflicted because he never acts and always just runs away from the clutches of the Lieutenant and also reality. Newland also tries to escape reality by seeing Ellen in secret but is continually forced to return from his fantasy. Both realize that there is no escaping what is and accept their fate. While the Priest tries to escape the law and the lieutenant, Newland tries to escape Society. Sadly, both fail. The Priest is put to death and Newland loses his memory of Ellen as he becomes wrapped up in the daily happenings of the city. The Priest is haunted by his sinful past and qualms with himself regarding how to move forward with life; however, he remains in a rut until the novel’s end where he decides to hear one last confession and go to see the gringo, knowing he is giving himself up to the lieutenant. The lieutenant is one of the only characters within these three works that fully acts on his convictions. He is driven by a strong hatred for the Catholic Church and knows that the only way he can eradicate it is to do it himself. What action’s role shall be is a pivotal question that all must answer for themselves or as a society. The effects of these answers are seen through the characters within Age of Innocence, Hamlet, and The Power and the Glory.