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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've never really understood or appreciate much about NYC so it was with some reluctance that I started Edith Wharton’s classic short novel on high society life in New York city at the close of 19th century (1870s). Wharton’s Pulitzer-prize winning “Age of Innocence” depicts all the hypocrisy and convention, duty and criticism, propriety and snobbery of the New York elite as it tells the story of protagonist Newland Archer who is the product of this very society and his agonies over the boundaries of its imposed limits.
The story is really just about Newland Archer and the two women in his life, one who is the safe predictable and decent choice by all society’s then standards, and one who is not. Indeed, you would not be mistaken to think this a dull plot, told in no less than a million other works of fiction or real life. But alas, few others are written in the prose and authenticity of Edith Wharton’s writing style, reason enough to read “Age of Innocence”.
I liked Wharton less than Henry James, far less than Jane Austen, and on no visible scale with Emily Brontë’, but I still consider her mastery and command of the rich English language a talent bestowed on few. Her plot of characters was more complex than what I would have liked in such a short novel, and the intricacies of the detailed interactions among the distant characters interested me minimally in the context of the plot, but tremendously in the context of New York elite mindset and ways. Was New York ever so confined to such rigid way of thinking and existing, and European way of life considered so disgraceful and degrading in comparison?
It is difficult to understand Newland Archer. He seems more of an observer of his own life than one in control of it. He seems to be deeply meditating on his choices and hardly acting on them. He studies May Welland, his wife, as though studying a dull piece of art, in great lengths, and expresses surprise at every new discovery. He then compares her to Ellen and finds everything that is not May attractive and desirable. His rush into an engagement and subsequent marriage to May seem at odds with his intense desire to pursue this unrequited love for her cousin, Ellen.
Wharton leaves a lot to the imagination. I still do not understand why Newland does not seriously pursue Ellen Olenska. Is it society’s disapproval? Not a strong enough reason for a man like Newland Archer for which to give up his heartthrob. Maybe the answer is in the poetic title: Age of Innocence. Is the Innocence then a reference to the youth that knows no better, and wants that which it cannot have? Is it the Innocence of deeds and duties that is unquestionably carried out under society’s pressures and expectations? Or is it really an element in Newland’s own personality, whence all his actions are born?
Newland Archer is an indecisive man, whom society manages to bend and mold into the “perfect” husband and father. Society, elite or otherwise, does not care that his heart is filled with regrets 30 years into the future, and his own sense of purpose in life left unaccomplished. But I argue that Newland himself does not care either, for why else does he not pursue Ellen more obstinately? Why does he let the opportunities slip, and his youth and dreams slip even faster? Why would anyone allow that in the blatant presence of such possibility for true happiness?
It is the sign of an accomplished author that makes us think, question, wonder, and urges us to re-read some sections of the book in search of answers, understanding or just for the quiet joy of beautiful prose. A highly accomplished author who leaves me flipping through the pages for her eloquence of the inarticulate in the human emotion and circumstance and for that, I am grateful that I read Edith Wharton's classic.
The story is really just about Newland Archer and the two women in his life, one who is the safe predictable and decent choice by all society’s then standards, and one who is not. Indeed, you would not be mistaken to think this a dull plot, told in no less than a million other works of fiction or real life. But alas, few others are written in the prose and authenticity of Edith Wharton’s writing style, reason enough to read “Age of Innocence”.
I liked Wharton less than Henry James, far less than Jane Austen, and on no visible scale with Emily Brontë’, but I still consider her mastery and command of the rich English language a talent bestowed on few. Her plot of characters was more complex than what I would have liked in such a short novel, and the intricacies of the detailed interactions among the distant characters interested me minimally in the context of the plot, but tremendously in the context of New York elite mindset and ways. Was New York ever so confined to such rigid way of thinking and existing, and European way of life considered so disgraceful and degrading in comparison?
It is difficult to understand Newland Archer. He seems more of an observer of his own life than one in control of it. He seems to be deeply meditating on his choices and hardly acting on them. He studies May Welland, his wife, as though studying a dull piece of art, in great lengths, and expresses surprise at every new discovery. He then compares her to Ellen and finds everything that is not May attractive and desirable. His rush into an engagement and subsequent marriage to May seem at odds with his intense desire to pursue this unrequited love for her cousin, Ellen.
Wharton leaves a lot to the imagination. I still do not understand why Newland does not seriously pursue Ellen Olenska. Is it society’s disapproval? Not a strong enough reason for a man like Newland Archer for which to give up his heartthrob. Maybe the answer is in the poetic title: Age of Innocence. Is the Innocence then a reference to the youth that knows no better, and wants that which it cannot have? Is it the Innocence of deeds and duties that is unquestionably carried out under society’s pressures and expectations? Or is it really an element in Newland’s own personality, whence all his actions are born?
Newland Archer is an indecisive man, whom society manages to bend and mold into the “perfect” husband and father. Society, elite or otherwise, does not care that his heart is filled with regrets 30 years into the future, and his own sense of purpose in life left unaccomplished. But I argue that Newland himself does not care either, for why else does he not pursue Ellen more obstinately? Why does he let the opportunities slip, and his youth and dreams slip even faster? Why would anyone allow that in the blatant presence of such possibility for true happiness?
It is the sign of an accomplished author that makes us think, question, wonder, and urges us to re-read some sections of the book in search of answers, understanding or just for the quiet joy of beautiful prose. A highly accomplished author who leaves me flipping through the pages for her eloquence of the inarticulate in the human emotion and circumstance and for that, I am grateful that I read Edith Wharton's classic.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a gilded age thrill with a gut wrenching ending. Nothing crazy intense happens if you were watching it, but it’s intense in people’s hearts and minds which is half the fun.
"Cada vez sucedes de nuevo para mí"
Me está tomando un tiempo organizar mis pensamientos respecto a este libro. Por un lado, la minusiocidad con la que Wharton plantea la sociedad newyorkina me resulta fascinante, la autora conoce New York como la palma de su mano y nos lo hace saber.
Hay un profundo entendimiento y análisis de la sociedad y en de las maneras en las que los hombres y mujeres son criados rodeados de estructuras y cómo estás afectan de distinta forma a los varones y a las mujeres y a la psicología tanto masculina como femenina.
“¿Que Podrían saber el uno del otro, si era su deber de muchacho «decente» ocultarle su pasado, y el de ella, como joven casadera, no tener pasado que esconder?”
Creo yo, que la crítica a la sociedad es el aspecto fundamental de la obra, es debido a esta que el tan profundo amor entre Newland Archer y Ellen Olenska nunca puede llegar a ser más que un sueño, y es debido a esta que May Welland crece en los confinamientos de la inocencia y en la limitación de ideas. “[...] Y Archer se preguntó a que edad las mujeres «decentes» comenzarán a hablar por si mismas. «Nunca, si no las dejamos, supongo».”
En muchos puntos, la novela toma carácter casi ensayístico donde Warthon plantea, mediante la ironía y los dilemas morales que enfrentan sus personajes, un poderoso mensaje feminista.
Por último, debo resaltar que Newland y Ellen me rompieron el corazón en mil pedazos, la intensidad y autenticidad de sus sentimientos me conmovió profundamente.
Me está tomando un tiempo organizar mis pensamientos respecto a este libro. Por un lado, la minusiocidad con la que Wharton plantea la sociedad newyorkina me resulta fascinante, la autora conoce New York como la palma de su mano y nos lo hace saber.
Hay un profundo entendimiento y análisis de la sociedad y en de las maneras en las que los hombres y mujeres son criados rodeados de estructuras y cómo estás afectan de distinta forma a los varones y a las mujeres y a la psicología tanto masculina como femenina.
“¿Que Podrían saber el uno del otro, si era su deber de muchacho «decente» ocultarle su pasado, y el de ella, como joven casadera, no tener pasado que esconder?”
Creo yo, que la crítica a la sociedad es el aspecto fundamental de la obra, es debido a esta que el tan profundo amor entre Newland Archer y Ellen Olenska nunca puede llegar a ser más que un sueño, y es debido a esta que May Welland crece en los confinamientos de la inocencia y en la limitación de ideas. “[...] Y Archer se preguntó a que edad las mujeres «decentes» comenzarán a hablar por si mismas. «Nunca, si no las dejamos, supongo».”
En muchos puntos, la novela toma carácter casi ensayístico donde Warthon plantea, mediante la ironía y los dilemas morales que enfrentan sus personajes, un poderoso mensaje feminista.
Por último, debo resaltar que Newland y Ellen me rompieron el corazón en mil pedazos, la intensidad y autenticidad de sus sentimientos me conmovió profundamente.
The Kentucky cave-fish, the women dragged from the tents, Archer smelling the handle of the pink parasol, the lighting of straw in the Tuscan caverns, there are so many images here that I can never forget, especially not the heron wing in Madam Olenska’s hat. I cannot believe Edith Wharton existed. Her writing, her talent, her ability to convey the ache of the imaginary stretched taut against the trappings of reality are unmatched.
For Archer, women ought to be as free as “we” are… yet his condescending attitude toward May and his idolizing vision of Ellen blind him to their power, their influence, and their ability to live without him. He is central only in his mind—these women, to him, have no inner lives apart from where he is concerned, and that’s how he loses them both, in the end. Wharton’s ability to make a character so intensely dislikable deeply pitiable, almost heroic, is beyond words. Archer’s innocence throughout the novel is laughable, such a pleasure to read—and by the end of his life, he can’t even bring himself to face his eidolon, for fear of losing her again.
The most intriguing character here is May. She is the huntress, master of her world, capable of felling even the most elusive stag, which Archer thinks himself to be. The close third-person in which Wharton weaves her tale requires the reader to understand that any character that lacks guile, intrigue, deepness for Archer actually HAS these qualities tenfold. Wharton’s argument seems to be that men, in underestimating women, give them their power—it’s truly women’s action and inaction that propel the book forward, and by extension propelled New York society forward. I dropped the book when May revealed her trump card. Beaufort was wrong—there is no target this woman can miss, especially because she knows what her position in society necessitates. May Welland for the WIN.
For Archer, women ought to be as free as “we” are… yet his condescending attitude toward May and his idolizing vision of Ellen blind him to their power, their influence, and their ability to live without him. He is central only in his mind—these women, to him, have no inner lives apart from where he is concerned, and that’s how he loses them both, in the end. Wharton’s ability to make a character so intensely dislikable deeply pitiable, almost heroic, is beyond words. Archer’s innocence throughout the novel is laughable, such a pleasure to read—and by the end of his life, he can’t even bring himself to face his eidolon, for fear of losing her again.
The most intriguing character here is May. She is the huntress, master of her world, capable of felling even the most elusive stag, which Archer thinks himself to be. The close third-person in which Wharton weaves her tale requires the reader to understand that any character that lacks guile, intrigue, deepness for Archer actually HAS these qualities tenfold. Wharton’s argument seems to be that men, in underestimating women, give them their power—it’s truly women’s action and inaction that propel the book forward, and by extension propelled New York society forward. I dropped the book when May revealed her trump card. Beaufort was wrong—there is no target this woman can miss, especially because she knows what her position in society necessitates. May Welland for the WIN.