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 life and that four-letter word, “duty.” Wharton uses his character to show the ironies of 1870s society as well as the extremes in social thought represented by his relationships with Countess Ellen Olenska and May Welland Archer.