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| Plot Summary of The Age of Innocence |
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"In the rarefied world of 1870s upper-class New York society, young Newland Archer, who is engaged to the lovely and suitable May Welland, meets and falls in love with Countess Ellen Olenska -- May's "scandalous" cousin, fresh from Europe and seeking a divorce. On one level, this novel is the story of Archer and Ellen's intense, hopeless love affair, constrained by the social mores of old New York; on another, it is Edith Wharton's anthropological study of a vanished world, ruled by birth, class and honorable appearance, governed by surprisingly ancient tribal rituals and taboos. Wharton won the Pulitzer Prize for 'The Age of Innocence' in 1921 - and it still wields immense power today."
Christine Hung, Resident Scholar
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"A high society New Yorker falls for the practically disowned cousin of his fiancee. Though he refuses to allow her to divorce her husband and she insists that he marry his fiancee, they pursue a not-quite-platonic relationship. Also a commentary on 1870s New York upper class quirks."
Sarrah, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Age of Innocence |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 19th century
Romance/Romance Problems
Yes
Kind of romance:
- GENERAL--no other subplots apply
Other aspects:
- story of "the rich"
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- American Northeast
If story of urban/rural...
- Big city life
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Lover is
- of a different social class
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- wealthy
- a lawyer creature
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric/Mental
Yes
Eccentric:
- emotionally unstable
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
Age:
- long-lived adults
Eccentric/Smart/Dumb:
Yes
Eccentric:
- eccentric
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- throughout most of the book.
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 5 (an average amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
- London
- wealthy
- rude people
Misc setting
- fancy mansion
- resort/hotel
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
- descript of kissing
- impregnation/reproduction
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
- significantly more descript than dialog
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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