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    The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence
    Ebook417 pages6 hours

    The Age of Innocence

    By Edith Wharton

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    Set in the 1870s, Edith Wharton examines the American elite culture on the East Coast. Newland Archer is a lawyer and heir to one of New York City's most prominent families. He is arraigned to be married to May Welland. Newland is pleased with the prospect, under he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, May's older cousin. Suddenly, Newland begins to doubt his arranged marriage and society's shallow rules as his attraction to Ellen increases.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media
    Release dateOct 29, 2013
    ISBN9781520045412
    Author

    Edith Wharton

    Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist—the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence in 1921—as well as a short story writer, playwright, designer, reporter, and poet. Her other works include Ethan Frome, The House of Mirth, and Roman Fever and Other Stories. Born into one of New York’s elite families, she drew upon her knowledge of upper-class aristocracy to realistically portray the lives and morals of the Gilded Age.

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    Reviews for The Age of Innocence

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      The age of individualism has not yet dawned when Newland Archer, a young man from a good New Yorker family, has to make the age-old choice between an untamed true love and a marriage that fits into all the traditions he grew up and believes in. A remarkable story about love, duty, sacrifice and the power that society, its morals and traditons have over the lives of people, especially if they don't fit seamlessly into the fold. The excesses of these conventions often seems absurd to modern readers, the introspective voice of this narrative sometimes borders on melodrama, but especially as I read (listened to) it right after Pride and Prejudice, the difference how both books handle this overarching theme left a deep impression on me. Where P&P takes it with a lot of humour, optimism and exaggeration, the tone here is decidedly melancholic, introspective and much more subdued.
    • 3/5
      I didn't really understand why this novel is so recommended and highly rated. It is a character study of several people, in the vein of the different classes and societal concerns that beset them, but I did not feel engaged or enraptured with the story or the developments that occurred during it. To me, it seemed a bit archaic in form and style and did not seem to age well. The prose was a bit stale and uninspired as well- largely dealing with the same sort of approach and taciturnity that I did not feel suited the novel very well.2.5 stars- worth skipping.
    • 4/5
      Too depressing!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. It had the atmosphere of a Henry James novel mixed with the social critique of Jane Austen. It makes me want to run out and read Wharton's oeuvre (and I have a goodly number in my TBR, so that won't be a problem).Life of New York's idle rich in the 1870s, written by one of their own after WWI, when she has put that society in perspective. Young Newland Archer is engaged to marry the perfectly perfect--but boring--May Welland, when her cousin Ellen returns in semi-disgrace from Europe. Newland finds himself smitten, and oh, what to do? None of the characters are particularly likeable--but they sure live in an interesting world. Old New York is a foreign world to me, and I loved this peek behind it's heavy mahogany doors and layers of velvet drapery.Recommended for: The language and psychology isn't as tortuous as Henry James, and it's not quite as sharp as Jane Austen (and also not British), but if you like those authors, you'll like this too. It also reminded me a little of Anna Karenina, except much shorter. Age of Innocence won the Pulitzer in 1921, so I'm not the only one to love it.
    • 4/5
      Newland Archer, one of Old New York society's crowned princes (so to speak) is overjoyed about his recent engagement to the perfect May Welland. She too has a perfect pedigree, is a pretty young rose just starting to come into bloom, is innocent and beyond reproach in every way, well trained to be the ideal dutiful wife. But when he gets better acquainted with May's spirited and independant-minded cousin Ellen Olenska, just recently returned from Europe and scandalizing all of New York with her revealing dresses and foreign way of speaking and behaving, Newland is at first shocked and then completely taken over by passionate love. So much so that he is in fact determined to drop May and marry the countess Olenska instead. What he forgets to take into account is that his desire to embrace a life of freedom and equality will not be tolerated by his peers. A wonderful look at New York's upper crust in the 1870s, whose lives revolve around being seen at the opera and inviting the right people to dinner parties. Wharton exposes a world she knew firsthand from the distance of the 1920s, and what she shows us is just how regulated life was among the elite in a New York which was cosmopolitan, but prided itself on it's rigid and old fashioned conventions. Because this is Wharton, we know this love story is not likely to end with a Happily Ever After, but along the way she touches on interesting themes and presents us with a fascinating cast of characters who may not be likeable, but don't lack for entertainment value. A story I will definitely revisit in future. This audiobook version was narrated to perfection by David Horovitch and is definitely recommended.
    • 2/5
      Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is very much akin to Jane Austen's books, only in that the setting is America. In a word: boring and predictable. I could find not discernible plot. This book is being donated!
    • 3/5
      The Age of Innocence is the story of a young man from the upper class in New York at the end of the 1800s. He is engaged to the perfect girl, but then meets her intriguing cousin, who doesn't fit in with society. First the positives: the writing is really very good, as it the portrayal of society and its expectations in that time. As a reader I could really feel how stifling it could be. Then the main negative: I just didn't feel for these characters. I couldn't understand Newland's decisions and felt frustrated with him. So, although the book is obviously well written, I won't be picking it up for a reread.
    • 5/5
      In this novel of society and manners, Edith Wharton has sculpted a masterpiece of late 19th C. New York City mores so good that Jane Austen must step aside.Ultimately, within the rich comforts of the smug Social Register set there is no indulgence for an independently operating female, especially a "foreign" one, even if she's family.Newland Archer, engaged then married to the embodiment of NYC perfection in young women, May Wellend, is the starch stiff representative of the best young man NYC can produce until Ellen Olenska, his bride's cousin and herself a woman married but separated from her European husband, arrives.What ensues is a sustained waltz of suppressed emotions within and between Newland and Ellen that are buried under the weight of their conventionality, in his case; moral compunctions, in hers; and the manipulative pressures of their kin and friends determined to maintain the glass smooth surface of appearances against their ambitions to upset the status quo. Everyone's efforts to protect others from the truth and probably harm, to preserve their individual and collective innocence, devolves ironically into an age of conspiracy.Faithful in his body to his wife, Newland divorces himself from her emotionally and spends his "real" life sequestered among his books and memories inside his library. Faithful to her principles, Ellen eventually divorces herself from Newland's presence when she returns to Europe, unable to sustain an existence among those who initially embrace her then subtly push her out of the "tribe." "The Age of Innocence" is a novel about marriage and society that tells us they both are devoted to traditions bent on restricting individuality and killing love. The action is entirely domestic, consisting of meetings in homes, at dinner parties, balls, operas, and stolen moments in carriages and aboard steamers. It is largely internal action that raises tension when the pair break small societal rules, yet are never quite able to sever the restraints that tie them to earlier commitments. The tension spirals upward only to collapse on itself as Newland is incapable of decision and Ellen is disinclined to make him choose.Wharton's novel is atmospheric, period perfect, and damning in the most polite and socially acceptable way. Put it on your Must Read List.
    • 4/5
      The Age of Innocence speaks to the struggle involved in contemplating or actually escaping the family and culture one's born into. It is also an exquisite examination of human emotions and motivations. It's also entertaining.
    • 3/5
      I came into this story with a lot of expectations. Basically, I expected it to be about the amorous affair between Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska, his wife's cousin. While it was about their love, it turned out not to be about adultery. Oh yeah, spoiler, sorry. I figure most people already know what this is about because they've seen the movie.

      Actually, the movie, which I have not actually seen, is what gave me the wrong idea. The most famous image from the film is of Archer (Daniel Day Lewis) passionately kissing Madame Olenska's (Michelle Pfeiffer's) neck. Thus the assumption that they were getting busy. Anyway, false. Turns out the book is more of a slow-moving look at how society puts constraints on people such that they cannot be with the person they love.

      Madame Olenska married a Russian man and turned out to be fabulously unhappy despite her resulting wealth. She ran away to New York, where she fell for her cousin's fiancee. Ellen hoped to obtain a divorce, but her family threatened her with shunning (not the religious kind, just the snooty kind) were she to do so. As a result, Archer could not be with her, even were he willing to leave May Welland and put up with the resulting scandal.

      The ending of the book was a bit odd and unsatisfying, the latter of which was likely intended. In the last chapter, you suddenly zoom ahead to the future to see what became of Archer. At first, this didn't make sense to me, but why became evident. Unfortunately, I thought the end was lame. Oh well.

      All in all, I'm glad to have gotten through this book, as it was definitely on my list of things to read. I may even try reading the physical book at some point, since I already owned a copy before I was given the audiobook. At any rate, I would rate this far better than the only other Frome novel I have read, Ethan Frome. This may be her most optimistic famous novel, as I believe The House of Mirth is anything but mirthful.
    • 4/5
      Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize winning novel is a classic story of one man's struggle over obsessive love and his duty to his family and class.Archer Newland is a well-bred New Yorker from the best of families in the late nineteenth century. He has his calm and serene life well mapped out for him including his fiancee and future wife, May. Every thing is going along without a hitch until one night he goes to the opera to meet May and her family and meets May's older cousin Ellen, the Countess Olenska who has fled her aristocratic husband and returned to New York to find safety among her family.Archer finds himself being drawn more and more into Ellen's orbit and also finds himself questioning the self-satisfied life of his family and friends. He is torn between wanting to follow his grand passion and his feelings of obligation towards his finance (and then wife) who more and more appears to be vapid and conventional when compared to his heart's desire.Wharton's writing draws the reader into the closed society of New York in the 1870's -and deftly shows how society closes around May and her family and makes sure that Archer does the right thing.This is a classic story that is told magnificently.
    • 3/5
      A very good novel, with exquisite detail of the characters and the society they live in.

      I only wish (on a personal level) the story didn't revolve around the exact same love triangle as is found in every other novel about some man or woman who realises a moment too late that they're marrying the wrong person; anachronistically conservative as I am, I've never been able to sympathise with people angsting over whether or not to be unfaithful, and the plot is always so drearily predictable. I always end up sympathising with the May of the story, and wishing we could see her through more than implication.
    • 3/5
      If you feel like picking up a classic, this is a great one. Set at the beginning of the 19th century, the book paints a vivid portrait of life in high society New York - the strict rules of how to behave, who to mingle with, and even who to marry. The hero, Nuland Archer, is all set to marry beautiful May Welland when he meets her cousin, Ellen Olenska who has scandalized New York society by leaving her disastrous marriage to a European count. What a great tragic love story! I had two different audio versions of this book, one narrated by Dick Hill and the other narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan. Although I loved Dick Hill's narration of Huckleberry Finn, after listening to the first cd, I switched over to Alyssa Bresnahan's version. Her portrayal of the high society New York women was perfect!
    • 4/5
      My grand daughter read this book in her high school class last year. I realized that I had never read it. As I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it, I wondered at girls of today trying to understand the constraints of society way back when.
    • 5/5
      I remember being taught that classic literature is in part a successful depiction of a universal truth or feeling that people from all times and walks of life can relate to. I'm not a big fan of fiction, but to read a book written almost ninety years ago and find yourself and your situation described nearly perfectly is a pretty amazing experience. Add to that the writing of style of Wharton, which is elegant without being dull and moving without being florid, and this was a wonderful book.
    • 3/5
      Love and scandal in the Golden Age.
    • 5/5
      Set in the high New York society of the 1870s, The Age of Innocence is an interesting book about the role of the individual in society, a woman's place, and marriage. Wharton takes the reader to the world of Newland Archer, a newly engaged young man who battles with what society expects from him in his role as a gentleman and what he wants for himself. Despite his romantic notions of marrying May Welland, Archer is drawn to May's recently separated cousin, Ellen Orlenska who's most attractive quality is not her physical beauty, but the beauty of her mind, something the current Mrs. Archer, May, seems to lack. The timelessness of the novel, seems to be Newland's inner conflict between what others, or society, expects of him and what he truly wants for himself. Despite the fact that Archer seems to have inherited wealth and doesn't really work, he feels trapped by his social group's values and social mores. Throughout the novel, Wharton introduces us to minor characters with less social standing that Newland is envious of because they are not as constrained by tradition and expectations. One of the highlights of the novel is Wharton's use of humor to point out the hypocrisy of the social order, which most readers can view in their own everyday interactions. Anyone who has felt they needed to live up to certain expectations from family or social groups can relate to Newland's feelings. Wharton also gives the reader a glance into the culture of New York in the 1870s through her descriptions of setting and notable artists, writers, and businessmen of the era. The book takes place right before the United States entry into international politics, WW I and the stock market crash and is therefore instructional is how the United States had already begun to create its own identity of new wealth, evolving social orders, and a break from the dominance of European culture.I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read more of Wharton's works as I loved how she takes the reader on a journey with some surprising stops. I also loved her use of wit in showing the nonsensical and often hypocritical things we do in society for the sake of tradition.
    • 3/5
      The Age of Innocence…….Edith Wharton…issued 1920….Perhaps this is a good book for linguists and students of a prior NY sociology. I did complete this book as a prerequisite to attending a history class. I did however appreciate the art of under-statement and evasive or elliptic conversational skills evident in this work. This book as a Pulitzer Prize winner however was to me a disappointment. I read on but found myself reluctant to get re-started; as a consequence, it took me four weeks to complete my reading of the 377 page book. The vocabulary, the plot and sentence construction are first rate. Perhaps by osmosis I gained an appreciation of the static society and the mores of the “Gilded Era”. Only time will tell. Maybe this is a better book for romanticists than for those wishing to gain an understanding of the broad sweep of a historic age of the 1870-90 eras.
    • 2/5
      Well, I read this for my book club reading. I guess since this is a classic etc. and so highly praised there must be something wrong with me because I found this book VERY boring! I did not like her style of writing where she had three or more things happening in every sentence and thankfully she let up on this style after the first couple of chapters and only back slid to it a couple of times further on in the story. Perhaps this was a favored writing style when this was written but I almost put the book down several times in the beginning (and also after on just from boredom). As it was, I read four other books while reading this just so that I would finish it. Again, the whole book was very boring for me.Classic or not, I would not recommend this book to any of my reading friends. I will be interested to see what feelings my book club fellows have towards this book this next Saturday.
    • 5/5
      I hate the ending, although I understand it had to be that way . why? why? Later on I will write a more coherent review ... the last word! it killed me
    • 5/5
      "The immense accretion of flesh which had descended on her in the middle of life like a flood of lava on a doomed city had changed her from a plump active little woman with a neatly-turned foot and ankle into something as vast and august as a natural phenomenon. She had accepted this submergence as philosophically as all her other trials, and now, in extreme old age, was rewarded by presenting to her mirror an almost unwrinkled expanse of firm pink and white flesh, in the center of which the traces of a small face survived as if awaiting excavation" (25).

      Anyone who can write a physical description such as that has my vote.




    • 4/5
      The Age of Innocence follows Newland Archer, who is about to marry May Welland, both from New York's upper class families. Everything seems superbly perfect to Newland, until the Countess Ellen Olenska returns to New York after fleeing her husband in Europe. After several stops and starts and subtle inflections of politeness, Newland discovers that he and Ellen are in love. But the wedding with May goes on, leaving them both caught between following their heart and following the norms of society. The Age of Innocence garnered Edith Wharton the 1921 Pulitzer Prize, the first time it was awarded to a woman. Though apparently there was some frustration for her about this, because her book was chosen over another author's merely because it was the "safer" choice. In her view, the book is far from safe, as it satirizes the standards of marriage and criticizes the edicts that society holds dear. I personally found The Age of Innocence to be readable and enjoyable with much subtly of personalities, contradictory natures, and wonderful rendering of the upper class culture and its hypocrisies. This book didn't have nearly the emotional punch in the gut that the fantastic House of Mirth had, but it was still wonderful in its own right.
    • 4/5
      I listened to this on CD, and the narrator, David Horrowitz, had just the right kind of refined, elegant, voice to set off the rather elegant text. Set in New York Society, it is difficult to work out to whom the title is referring - there are a number of characters that could be considered "innocent". Ellen Olenska seems innocent in the ways of Society - incurring her family's displeasure and censure, but with no-one to understand her plight, nor to guide her on what to do. She seems out of her depth, but has a moral core, in that she refuses Newland. Newland goes through quite a shift in the book, starting as moulded by his upbringing, but seemingly unsatisfied with how his marriage to May is going to turn out - hence the attraction to Ellen, but he's not given opportunity to do anything about it - no matter that the rest of his society thinks he has. May strikes me as a typical young society woman - bred not to have a brain in her head and tought to believe she shouldn;t think - although i do sense, particularly in the epilogue that she maybe wasn't quite as naive as she appeared. The tale is beautifully told, with lots of sly glances at the ills and illogicality of society. You do think that Newland is going to set the world afire, but he kind of backs off and it becomes clear he hasn't, but it seems his offspring might.
    • 4/5
      This story is set in the 1890's, New York city. It follows the inner thoughts and workings of Newland Archer, a well to do young man in the upper society, during that precarious stage of life before he has committed himself to what sort of life he will live. Will he settle, for better or worse with May Welland? Or will he fling caution and standards to the wind to be with Ellen Olenska?The real delight of this story, is the peek at the inner workings and mores of the upper crust, a narrow society with very strict rules. I love the way Edith Wharton describes the characters, there subtle dialog and the manners of the times. To be honest, Newland Archer drove me crazy, and I didn't care what choice he made, but the very careful way that Wharton laid out the choices and the consequences was a treat.Also, the narrator, Lorna Raver, was masterful.
    • 5/5


      There is very little that I can add in respect to all that has been said of this fantastic book. Wharton opened a window to us which allowed us to catch a glimpse of lives and and social customs of the rich and social elites in New York during the late 19th century and in so doing forced me to do a great deal of soul searching and thinking. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
    • 3/5
      I really dislike the flash-forward scenes at the end of the book. Also, I can't get the image of Michelle Pfeiffer as Countess Olenska out of my head from when we had to watch the movie in high school.
    • 5/5
      "In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs."

      Through Newland Archer is who we see Old New York. Archer's opinions of May is to believe that she is an innocent and hollow person, Archer does not realize his wife's depth until the end when his son reveals:

      " 'She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the thing you most wanted.'

      Archer received this strange communication in silence. His eyes remained unseeingly fixed on the thronged sunlit square below the window. At length he said in a low voice: 'She never asked me.' "

      I watched the movie version directed by Martin Scorcese, immediately after reading this. It was brilliantly done and lush in setting and emotion.
    • 5/5
      A heart-breaking book which is both fast-paced and brilliantly written. Archer is an interesting character and Wharton does a great job of showing how much easier it is for him to conform than to follow his heart, but it is the way Wharton portrays Archer's wife, May, that shows Wharton's incredible ability to create believable characters. Great story, sad ending.
    • 3/5
      I wish I could give this 3.5 stars because I definitely liked it more than 3 stars, but not enough to give it 4.

      The book is relatively predictable, plotwise. You can kind of tell from the beginning what is going to unfold, but at the same time you keep reading to see what happens next.

      I had kind of a love/hate relationship with this book because I loved the potential scandal, but I have such a strong dislike toward adultery. Like such a strong dislike that I ended up kind of liking May the best. I'm pretty sure that isn't what is supposed to happen.
    • 4/5
      Big characters lashing emotions big and small left and right while at the same time trying to keep very agreeable with the norms of a society busy with busying itself with... itself, mostly. Freedom and individual views are not the norm and are frowned upon, and "innocence" is more or less well-played, but certainly not what is really going on. The futility of the attempts to do as one really pleases teaches the misbehaving ones a lot about the society around them, and about themselves. Wharton plays her characters back and forth, especially the two main ones, until we do not fully understand their motivation. Are their emotions real and what are they? Their actions and reactions are not always easy to comprehend, but still they remain real, and very human-like: failing, lying and cheating. Strong forces and "values" of the society play with characters at will. No one is safe and no one seems to be able to trust his next of kin or friend. The end of innocence happens on many levels and Wharton is particularly skillful in playing with meanings, tones, ironies to show us just how lowly the society has fallen (or has always been).

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    The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton

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