Rating: 
Summary: A Look at Old New York
Review: All of Edith Wharton's books about New York society are, of course, a glimpse of an older society for us. The Age of Innocence stands out, however, because it was a nostalgic book for Edith Wharton. She wrote this book after World War I and looked back at an earlier age. Interestingly, this makes the book more rather than less resonant today. It resonates because we read this book mainly to see what society was once like. And Edith Wharton was writing for the same purpose--although for her it was more of a trip down memory lane. We struggle between rooting for characters to break free from social constraints that have since passed away and thinking that maybe these constraints created a happier society. I got the sense that Wharton was doing the same thing.The book tells the story of Newland Archer who is engaged to May. May's cousin, Countess Olenska, comes to town escaping from a bad marriage. Countess Olenska grew up in New York but moved to Europe. She loves the newness and rationality of the New World, but has Old World mystery around her. Newland is quickly intrigued by her. The rest of the book revolves around the triangle of May, Newland and the Countess. It often focuses on the mores of the society, the attempts of the Countess to become at home in New York, May's attempts to be good to her cousin and yet make a good marriage with Newland and Newland's struggle between his background in society and his rational view that that society's rules should be cast aside. I would, however, recommend reading this more for the view of New York than for the plot. One example: we quickly accept the view that Newland, his family and his relations are the pinnacle of New York society. However, Wharton throws us a curveball. Newland goes to the van der Luydens to ask a favor. And we learn that Newland is really not at the pinnacle of society. The van der Luydens stand on another level and Newland's tier of society exists at the heels of this society. Throughout the book, Wharton gives us similar little nuggets of what American society once was like. I sincerely recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Be careful what you wish for
Review: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Highly recommended.
A classic novel made famous by a recent movie, The Age of Innocence is the story of a society man, Newland Archer, caught between two very different women. On the one hand is May Welland, the virginal Diana of New York society, whose seeming frankness and innocence discourage and oppress him: "Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile." All this is "supposed to be what he wanted, what he had a right to, in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in smashing it like an image made of snow." Her counterpart is her cousin Countess Ellen Olenska, vaguely exotic, vaguely dangerous, forbidden-primarily because she is not the "artificial product" of society, but a genuine, sensual woman whose independent way of thinking is enough to tacitly and then overtly banish her from the very company that Newland's life is built around. She is !"different," as Archer will later discuss with one of his children. No one else would say, "Why not make one's own fashions?" thus giving a voice to what Archer himself deep down believes but can't put into practice.
Ironically, it is May who first forces he and Ellen together, against his will, in her efforts to be kind to her cousin, who has just returned from Europe. As he sees more of "poor Ellen," estranged from her emotionally abusive husband and seemingly vulnerable to the wiles of the wealthy outsider scoundrel Julius Beaufort, he finds himself returning again and again to her until he realises he is in love with her-long after the reader has reached that conclusion. He resolves the dilemma by rushing his marriage to May, or makes it that much worse. Thus ensues a delicate balance between the life he has chosen with May, with whom he now realises he has no emotional bond, and the life he would choose if he were more sure of himself, more sure that being true to !oneself is more important than being true to one's system.
Nearly every character is memorable-from the massive Mrs. Manson Mingott, May and Ellen's grandmother who is old enough and skilled enough to intuit all and manipulate all; to the womanizing Lawrence Lefferts, whose behavior is acceptable because he knows how to play the game, how things are "done"; to the frigid bastions of society, the van der Luydens; to May's mother, who cannot be exposed in any way to "unpleasantness"; to Archer's virginal sister Janey, who lives life vicariously through gossip and guesswork.
Many scenes and locations are equally vivid: Beaufort's lavish house and party; the contrast of the van der Luydens' dinner party; Archer and May's conventional and stifling honeymoon, more sporty than romantic or passionate; Archer's pursuit of May in Florida and his following Ellen to the Blenkers' and then to Boston; a revealing ride with Ellen in May's brougham; Mrs. Mingott's house in the m!iddle of "nowhere," where she rules like a queen and where the politics are only slightly less complicated than those of Elizabeth I's court-all unforgettable places and scenes.
In less intelligent or skilled hands, the plot could have become mere melodrama, but Wharton knows how her society worked, who inhabited it, what it forgave, and what it could not pardon. Affairs are pardonable; treachery, real or perceived, to the framework of what holds these people together is not. In the end, May saves Archer from himself-and dooms him to her kind of life by doing so. When he gives up all his dreams, he looks into May's "blue eyes, wet with tears." She knows what he does not and remains cold as the moon that the goddess Diana rules.
It could be said that May and Ellen represent two sides of Newland Archer-both are people he is afraid to become. If he is like May, he experiences death of the mind, death of the soul, death of the emotions, becoming what he is expected t!o be to keep the foundations that society is built upon steady, strong, and standing. (It is no coincidence that a theme in Wharton's The House of Mirth is the vulnerability of that house to the influx of modern ways.) If he becomes like Ellen, he will lose everything that he has built his own foundations on. In the end, he is neither, nor is he himself. His tragedy is not that much less than that of The House of Mirth's Lily Bart, both victims of a society they need but cannot survive.
Diane L. Schirf, 28 April 2001.
Rating:
Summary: Tension between individualism and confomity
Review: Edith's book talks about the tension between following one's heart and loyalty to societal expectations. Case in point, Newland Archer. Torn by his loyalty to his wife-to-be, who repesents tradition and stability of Old New York society and the soon-to-be divorce, who represents the worldly bohemian life of the Old World, namely European. Mr. Archer has a major dilemma since he's both has both progressive and conservative views. He has very progressive views on art, literature, politics, etc., while at the same time have conservative views on romance. It's the dilemma of most upper class and professional men even in these progressive and liberal times. Most men want stability in their lives, they want a "May Welland" type over the outspoken and unpredictable "Ellen Olenska". Let me get back to the issue at hand, the choices of Newland Archer. Newland seemed to want to have it both ways. He wants to marry May and have Ellen as his secret lover. Knowing that New York society frowns on such things, Ellen decides to leave New York for Europe, therefore annul that possiblity. In the meantime, Newland became a devoted husband to May until her death.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, Moving, Deeply Insightful Novel About the Heart
Review: You ever look through old pictures and see an old love? You wonder, just for a moment, whether it was the right thing to let that person go, but then you put the picture away and carry on with the rest of your life. The person you once loved so much lives only in your heart. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is about a man who has to "let go," and I've never read any novel that so sensitively portrays the pain, regret, and also, acceptance, of willingly giving up on love and passion. Newland Archer is a perfectly respectable "gentleman" of Old New York, and is engaged to May Welland, who's pretty, proper, nice, all the things a young lady is expected to be. However, it is clear from the get-go that they are not soulmates, that passion is lacking. Newland becomes intrigued by May's cousin, the "blacksheep" Ellen Olenska who has escaped a bad marriage and is looked upon by Society with fascination, disapproval, and distrust. Inevitably, heartbreak rse Edith Wharton masterfully constructs New York Society, and also wisely chooses not to stereotype them all as shallow snobs. Ellen's grandmother, the formidable Mrs. Mingott, proves to be more understanding, humane, and kind to Ellen that the younger generation of the Mingott clan. But eventually, the whispers and gossip of Society catch up to Newland and Ellen. Wharton also chooses not to tip her hand completely to Newland and Ellen. May is conventional and turns out to be quite a schemer, but Wharton makes it clear that she is just trying to preserve what she knows to be a passionless marriage. Society gives her no other choice than to be the Scheming Wife. Her secret heartbreak is hinted in the last chapter, after her death. One wonders whether May herself secretly longed for passion and excitement. Overall, a wise, funny, devastatingly insightful and finally heartbreaking book. The last chapter is especially moving, as it shows the lingering pain and anguish Newland, Ellen and May suffered even after the "affair" was over.
Rating:
Summary: The age of wisdom
Review: Edith Wharton has a place in the North American Literature canon as one of the best female writers ever. With her novels and novellas she was able to portrait and, above all, criticize the wealth North American society of the turn of the Century. Although she wrote about New York, her books acquired a universal dimension, since they talk about the human nature. 'The Age of Innocence' is widely regarded as one of her masterpieces, and so it is. It received a Pulitzer Prize in 1921, and has passed through the years as a seminal book from the early XX Century. With her wit and knowledge, Wharton was able to recreate that universe where money and liaisons matter more than people's feelings. Due to this situation, her characters are unhappy, and trying --or not-- to change their almost unchangeable destinies. At the center of the turmoil are Madame Olenska and Newland Archer. She, a unhappy married woman moving back to USA, trying to divorce from her rich and mean husband. He, a wealthy and brilliant lawyer who has a bright future ahead of him. The couple could have a beautiful love story were she not married and, to make matters worse, he not the fiancé of her cousin. Archer's life split in two: on one side is the love of Madame Olenska, with whom he could be happy, but ostracized; on the other a dull marriage with May Welland, what would confirm his status in society and give him the bright future. In the background of this turmoil is Wharton's powerful voice, of a person who has lived in this society and suffered its consequence. Describing and criticizing with brilliance things from a time she lived and knew, the writer was able to create a timeless book. Something that nowadays, almost a hundred years later, is still fresh and very important. The most important thing is not if we have wisdom or not, but what we do with the wit we have. Edith Wharton, for one, used her in a brilliant way creating some books that will last forever, such as 'The Age...' and 'The House of Mirth', showing people how a beautiful society can be mean and hurt whose who dare to be different.
Rating: 
Summary: Less than her best!
Review: They say that novels must make sense, because life doesn't. And perhaps this is the draw of the book. Unrequited love, which doesn't make sense in the novel although it is a piece of life. This may be a slice of life, but was not all that convincing for me, and did not make me care for the characters. Perhaps the problem is that I felt so much for Lily Bart in The House Of Mirth, written 15 years previously, that these characters just didn't materialize for me in comparison.
Rating: 
Summary: Acidic, but zippy on the tongue, with a hint of berry
Review: This novel is like a big, fat grape. I think really that says it all.
Rating:
Summary: An Age of Questioning
Review: One decision can impact a life forever. Should one choose what is best for him or what society demands of him? Newland Archer ponders these questions throughout the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. Love, lust, power, deceit, greed, and settlement are employed throughout the book as the author explains the plight of May Welland's fiancé, Newland Archer. Being members of an elite social class in New York City, the couple abides by strict Victorian rules of conduct and etiquette. Their world is turned upside down upon the arrival of Countess Ellen Olenska, (an independent and radiant woman, much different from any proper lady of the time). Archer secretly falls in love with the recently separated countess, who is the complete antithesis of the naïve woman he is about to marry who cannot make any kind of decision about her life without consulting outsiders for guidance. Archer begins to question society roles and standards, but most importantly, doubt his love for May.
Seen through the eyes of Archer, the reader has the ability to pick up on emotions, which plague him as his wedding day approaches. He struggles with the thought of settling for a life of true unhappiness to appease his family and the aristocracy of New York, by marrying May. Archer breaks the mold of stereotypical ways when he questions society and their values. He is ridiculed in the process by supporting a blasphemous and flamboyant woman who speaks her mind, Ellen Olenska. Archer is immediately attracted to Ellen due to her vivacious and feisty personality. Archer is able to view the difference quite clearly between his innocent fiancé and a worldly woman who has real opinions and concrete views. "And with a shiver of foreboding, he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on one side and hypocrisy on the other," (page 63). Through his thoughts, one is able to discover the major theme of man verses society, and true love verses reality.
I have never read a more captivating book in my life. Ms. Wharton kept me engaged in the story throughout the entire book. She created a visual aid, which was depicted so clearly that it was nearly impossible to put the book down. It is clever, witty, and holds controversial issues, which are relevant to the present as well as during the 1870's. It makes me think, should I be a bold Countess or accept society protocol and demands as May did?
Rating:
Summary: Classic
Review: I thouroughly enjoyed what at first looked to be a dull read. I picked up the book in an attempt to round out my literary knowledge. And the first few chapters did not seem promising, but soon after, I became fully immersed in the book. I now know why Wharton is so highly regarded. She gives such an interesting account of a particular moment in New York's history. I've never read a book that talks about New York, before it "came of age." As an insider, Wharton also reveals many interesting details of the upper class that her characters are a part of.
As far as the plot, it's not as strong as the setting and details, but it's still enjoyable. Wharton is gifted in portraying realistic characters with extraordinary strength. All of the main characters are hemmed in by a very strict and unforgiving social code, and while they have different attitudes about that code, all of them show incredible strength and resolve in living within that code. From a modern perspective, we might look at it as a great tradgedy that these lives go unfulfilled, and while I would agree, it is also true that they find a fulfillment in being honorable that is very admirable. They become heroes within their sorrows.
As the book ends, we understand that Wharton has told a story of New York in the age of its innocence. It's not an intricate spell-binding plot; it's a subtle story of once slice of humanity.
Rating:
Summary: Wharton continues to amaze.
Review: Written in 1920 but set primarily in the 1870's, Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" is a novel of nostalgia, recalling its author's memories of what New York high society was like in a time when the industrial age had raised the standard of living to indulgent levels of comfort but before twentieth-century technologies had made life faster, busier, and noisier; a world where balls, formal dinners, and the opera were the main events and the lower classes were visible only as servants. Into this setting Wharton fashions an elegant story about a young man caught between his fiancee and the woman he believes he loves even more. Newland Archer, a junior partner in a prominent law firm, is engaged to marry May Welland who, like Archer, comes from one of the many respected upper middle class New York families. However, Archer takes an interest in May's cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, who has just separated from her wealthy aristocrat husband in Europe and plans to settle in New York. Ellen bears the burden of possibly causing a scandal in her family if her separation results in divorce, and she is already raising eyebrows by consorting with Julius Beaufort, a married banker. Archer gradually falls in love with Ellen and wishes to whisk her away to a place where they can escape the scrutiny of reproachful eyes; May, sensing that his romantic interests may lie elsewhere than with her, even suggests that he should follow his heart. Loyal to societal conventions and propriety, however, he marries May but remains passionate about Ellen, whose presence in New York is a constant reminder of his sacrifice. Lurking beneath the plot are implications about the many social and cultural differences between America and Europe. Archer has a taste for literature, and since America at that time did not have much of a body of literature or even an identifiable culture for that matter, everything he reads is imported from Europe. Part of his attention to Ellen is due to her connection to and representation of the rich culture of Europe, while May, for all her wholesome goodness, represents to him the dull conventionality that is so much a part of the uncultured New York. (Henry James, a great influence on Wharton, explored a similar theme in "The Ambassadors.") It's likely the snobbish society that Wharton describes so vividly still exists today, though maybe with different standards and "rules." Her prose once again is graceful and exact, portraying with admirable candor this cold, vicious, uninviting world as an arena of cruelty masked by gentility. Like Lily Bart in "The House of Mirth," Ellen Olenska is a product and a victim of the society of her time and her class, but fortunately unlike Lily, she manages not to let it destroy her.
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