The Age of Innocence
By Edith Wharton
Published 1920
Read May 2024
Wharton wrote this book, set in 1870’s in New York City, in 1920. She was born in 1862 to a wealthy family and was quite familiar with the conventions of the time and place setting of her novel. Conventions and questions of them play a major role in the book that is centered on three characters born into monied families, Newland Archer, May Welland, and Countess Ellen Olenska.
Newland and May are set to be engaged but feel forced into announcing it earlier than they’d hoped because May’s cousin Ellen has returned from Europe after leaving her husband. Newland is looking forward to teaching his wife the ways of the world (since he’s recently had an affair with an older woman) and ensuring she’s an interesting partner (in contrast with his soon-to-be mother-in-law). Newland becomes intrigued by Ellen and tries to “save himself” by forcing a quick marriage, but May’s family wants to go more slowly per convention. By the time Newland also wants to take it slower, May’s family has agreed to expediting the wedding and he’s headed to the altar.
Now Newland is in a pickle as he decides he’s in love with Ellen and he’s already finding marriage to May rather dull. May’s family presses Newland to talk Ellen out of divorcing her apparently abusive husband (divorce being much less acceptable than being separated) and he succeeds, although he quickly becomes unsure that was the right course. Ellen continues to do things that aren’t within the confines of society’s conventions which only further both interests Newland and confuses him.
Will conventions prevail or will Newland and Ellen finally get together? Wharton continues weaving an interesting story which this reader won’t further divulge. This is a book that continues to be read because it has many interesting themes, requires difficult decisions by several of the interesting characters, and no single take on whether those decisions were the right ones is given by the author.
Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1921 for this work, partly because the board of director’s for the awards overturned the jury’s decision to award it to Sinclair Lewis for Main Street. Nonetheless this made Wharton the first woman to win this award. This reader’s opinion is that The Age of Innocence is a much better novel than Main Street. Although Main Street was a best seller at the time of publication, it’s far less complex and less enduring as a book of continued interest than The Age of Innocence. Both qualify as “classic” by this reader’s simple definition (published at least 50 years ago and available) but The Age of Innocence is a book this reader would likely read again and recommend as a great novel, whereas Main Street does not meet those criteria for this reader.
For your information, in 1993 this novel was made into a motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese. This reader was pleased that the movie follows the book quite faithfully.
MarshaReads.com 