3. In what ways did Wharton’s life influence her novel? Pair up with another person and present an interview with the author. 4. Create a Web site for The Age of Innocence with principle areas including the author’s background, as well as setting, characters, symbols, and themes. 5. Act out […]
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3. One of the major conflicts of the novel is stability versus change. Where does Wharton use that? 4. Was Wharton being critical of 1870s America, or was she admiring it? Use evidence to support your view. 5. Justify the ending of the novel, staying consistent with Wharton’s purposes, themes, […]
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alacrity eager willingness or readiness, often manifested by quick, lively action. bedizened dressed in a cheap, showy way. blackguard a person who uses abusive language; a scoundrel or villain. bock a dark beer traditionally drunk in the early spring. bouton d’or (Fr.) golden or lustrous buttons; here, part of the […]
Read more Study Help Full Glossary for The Age of InnocenceCritical Essays The Ironic Title of The Age of Innocence
May Welland is the perfect embodiment of that child-raising principle. Kept innocent and naive, she has never known passion — nor is she supposed to know it until her husband introduces her to it. She has been taught to remain innocent and avoid life’s difficulties; throughout her marriage she pretends […]
Read more Critical Essays The Ironic Title of The Age of InnocenceCritical Essays Themes in The Age of Innocence
Wharton was often critical of the rigidity of the social code, but she saw its purpose of handing down values and replicating culture. Order, loyalty, tradition, and duty are all values upheld and also criticized in her novel. Order is epitomized by the repetition of certain rituals. Newland Archer’s wife […]
Read more Critical Essays Themes in The Age of InnocenceEdith Wharton Biography
Born in New York City on January 24, 1862, Edith Newbold Jones was the daughter of George Frederic and Lucretia Rhinelander Jones. Her parents, descendants of Dutch and English colonists, were socially prominent with wealth from real estate, shipping, and banking. Edith’s mother did not encourage her daughter’s writing. Later, […]
Read more Edith Wharton BiographyCharacter Analysis Mrs. Manson Mingott
Her love for her granddaughter, Ellen, is never in question. She, like Ellen, is a realist and in “cold-blooded complacency” declares that Ellen’s life is over after she leaves the Count. Mrs. Mingott sees clearly that Ellen’s future is either an unhappy affair with Newland or an unhappy marriage with […]
Read more Character Analysis Mrs. Manson MingottCharacter Analysis Countess Ellen Olenska
Emotionally, she is the opposite of May Welland Archer. She shows compassion to Regina Beaufort, a fellow victim of social censure. Often she causes Newland to question why everyone must be and act exactly alike. Her tolerance for the mavericks of society reveals her benevolence, a trait unappreciated by New […]
Read more Character Analysis Countess Ellen OlenskaCharacter Analysis May Welland Archer
She is her mother’s daughter. In Florida, her mother voices narrow and snobbish attitudes that later parallel May’s own comments about people she meets on her honeymoon. Always worrying about what her mother will think, May manages Newland’s life; she arranges every minute of his schedule at Newport, becoming the […]
Read more Character Analysis May Welland ArcherCharacter Analysis Newland Archer
Newland also longs for a life of passion, intellectual stimulation, and freedom, represented by both Ellen Olenska and Ned Winsett. He is unfulfilled by his “gentlemanly pursuit” of law and feels that he wants the sophisticated and passionate Ellen. But in the end he remains true to his station in […]
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