“It's worth it, isn't it, to maintain your intellectual freedom, not to enslave your capacity for appreciation, your critical independence?” (164). Questioning the concepts of true liberty and freedom, the overarching theme presented in Edith Wharton's masterful novel, The Age of Innocence, is the abstraction of individualism. Narrated from the third-person omniscient point of view, this novel discusses old New York's reactions to the scandal and compares traditional ideas with those that their society denounces. Set in late eighteenth-century New York, the protagonist Newland Archer is torn between duty and passion when the mysterious Countess Olenska arrives. Caught between two women with completely contradictory ideals, Archer doesn't know whether to commit to the woman who lives for honor and decency or accept the woman who understands his opposition to society's cruelty. The novel is “typically read as a discussion of the conflict between the individual and society,” as Archer struggles to abide by society's rules and meet the expectations of his colleagues (Hynes). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay One of the most significant conflicts present is the antithesis between the safety of conformity and tradition and the excitement and danger that comes from deviating from the social norm. In the first chapters of the book, society's recognition of conformism is evident. At the beginning, each character is undoubtedly a victim of “a society that refuses to discuss any unpleasant facts of life, such as divorce, extramarital affairs among its members, or the possibility of marriages made for profit” (Hynes). None of the characters seem to question or doubt their ideals, even demonstrating that they are willing to compromise their morality to maintain their reputation. Wharton illustrates that the social standards imposed on the inhabitants of old New York essentially determine their lives and that “this complex set of prescriptions and prohibitions is…binding” (Evron). Their unattainable expectations and the social pressure they experience prevent them from expressing their opinions or demonstrating any form of individualism. Placing great value and importance on the social class system and hierarchy, upper class families are considered the leaders of society. Wharton makes this idea clear by listing families that “most people imagined…were the pinnacle of the [social] pyramid…” (42). Two of the most illustrious members of their society presented are the van der Luydens. Recognized for their lavish parties, this wealthy couple determines whether or not someone should be accepted into the upper class. Requiring that people receive approval of their status before essentially becoming “somebody” in society demonstrates the exclusive nature of old New York. Convinced that "society will no longer exist" if the upper classes do not unite, they receive only those eminent enough to convene popular parties (43). By capitalizing on the word “society,” Wharton demonstrates the amount of emphasis and importance that citizens place on society. Anyone outside of social circles is considered inferior and therefore overlooked. Along with the van der Luydens, Mrs. Manson Mingott, a woman physically isolated from society due to her weight, also represents the importance of appearance and reputation. “His visitors [are] surprised and fascinated” by the layout of his house, which recalls “architectural incentives to immorality such as the simple American had never dreamed of” (25). Physical extravagance is essential to their societybecause it represents wealth and meaning, often demonstrating that the person is a member of the elite. Wharton creates these characters to provide readers with a setting that clearly conflicts with the main character's beliefs. “This lost world, lavish with details of dress, food, wine, manners, is burdened with an abundance of reality, with all the trappings of overindulgent and overconfident lives” (Howard). citizens display unique personality traits or not does not matter to them, as long as they all adhere to social standards and participate in their colleagues' ridiculous attempts to prove their worth. As one of the most important motifs in the novel, money plays an important role . essential role in the lives of the characters, since each of them has rights based on their amount of wealth “Wharton incorporates a history of money, which is ultimately what made the whole system of that gifted society work” (Howard) Many of the characters' lives revolve around money and the acquisition of wealth. Wharton's characters are consumed by their obsession with money, illustrating his intent to portray old New York as a commercial society. The Beauforts, a family considered common, regularly organize balls to gain a respectable reputation and reserve a place in society. When Julius Beaufort's business collapses and the family is no longer wealthy or honorable, everyone decides that "society must be able to get by without the Beauforts" (226). Demonstrating Old New York's hypocrisy and obsession with financial status, those who lose their wealth are shunned by society and ignored. Ned Winsett, a poor and failed author who marries an invalid, is not considered a member of their society due to his insufficient wealth and style. Winsett's character represents the disparate form of confinement that the lower class must endure. Even though he possesses no status and is virtually unaffected by society's expectations, he is still financially constrained. This proves that no one in Old New York can escape the feeling of confinement. Because establishing and maintaining a reputation is so important to the people of old New York, their “society insists on absolute innocence, purity, and ignorance of all sexual matters.” in his unmarried woman” (Hynes). Newland Archer's sister Janey is a great example of the result of their traditional view of women. Adopting a childlike nature, she represents unmarried women who are perpetually forced into blind obedience and submission. Still living together with her mother “in a mutually dependent intimacy [that] had given them the same vocabulary,” Janey continually makes decisions based on her mother's approval (30-31). She has adapted to the belief that women are inferior to men and should not involve themselves in men's affairs. Wharton expresses her discontent and criticism of society's traditional gender roles by describing "both society and landscape in unmistakably feminine terms" and realizing Archer, "the American hero, as the opposite of the feminine", thus making the "exclusively male" novel. (Hadley). Since the main character is male, it exposes the popular idea that central characters must have elements of masculinity. Wharton raises her questions about some gender-based expectations through the character of Archer when he is the first to challenge the denial of certain rights and freedoms for women. Discussing Countess Olenska's decisions, he exclaims that no one has "the right to remake her life" if she didn't do it and that he is "fed up with the hypocrisy thathe would bury a woman of his age alive if her husband preferred to live with prostitutes...” (36). Stating that “women should be free” as men are, Archer defends the Countess and women in general (36). While criticizing men's double standards, she demonstrates her support for gender equality. In the novel, this is the first sign of his conflicted nature and deviance from popular opinion. Throughout the novel, Newland Archer extremely disapproves of the type of people his community produces and the ideas planted in their minds at birth. However, at the beginning "few things seemed to him... more terrible than the offense against 'Taste', that distant divinity of which 'Form' was the mere visible and vicegerent representative" (14). Readers note that Archer also supports the widely held belief that anyone with an appearance inconsistent with that of New York lacks modesty. His initial opinion of Ellen Olenska is consistent with that of those around him, as he is equally disgusted by her disregard for manners. Wharton creates Archer to be another example of a product of their society, but he questions everything he has lived for when he is faced with the unfamiliar. Archer continually feels limited by his marriage to May Welland and his mother's expectations. He is immediately associated with the Mingott family and their decisions when he enters the family box at the theater “without a word” (16). He is initially very eager and content to lead a conventional, stable life with May. "Archer's softness, a result of his sheltered life... is such a fundamental property of his nature that even his fleeting flashes of insight into... the brutal practices of inclusion and exclusion that underlie his social reality they do not seem to harden him or turn him into a cynic” (Evron). He experiences extreme internal conflict because he lacks the courage to rebel against the people he has known all his life and against the ideas he has always supported. social oppression that Countess Olenska grants him, Archer finally realizes the confinement he feels. The disturbing horror of doing the same thing every day at the same time besieged his brain... the word ['sameness' ran] in his. head like a persecutory melody” (70-71). The effects of his eccentric personality have begun to influence his opinions on May. He feels limited not only by his marriage, but also when he is denied the power to oppose a decision familiar and is left in a state of ignorance of the situation. This adds another element of suffocation to his already confined life. However, it is evident that his narrowness of vision prevents him from acting drastically on his frustration and that “his psychological constitution simply does not have the reserves necessary to sustain lasting opposition to his social environment” (Evron). Readers witness his changes in attitude as the novel progresses, but because of the way he was raised, he does not undergo a complete transformation. He is forced into the ways of old New York because of his past, and that part of him continues to haunt him in the present. Written to be the most regular character in the novel, May Welland truly proves to be one of Wharton's most interesting characters. . Initially engaged to and then married to Newland Archer, her character essentially symbolizes everything Archer wishes to escape from. Along with Janey, she represents the ideal type of woman that their society praises and values. Although she is "outspoken, loyal and courageous" and has "a sense of humor", Archer believes that untrained human nature [is not] frank and innocent" and is "full of twists and turns anddefenses of instinctive cunning" (39). Archer begins to doubt his decision to marry May to ensure a secure future because he believes that his conventionality can serve as a facade. His passivity and inability to express his own opinion proves to be the element that leads to Archer's discontent. Harton uses her as Archer's foil because her "failure to recognize the change [in Archer] leaves her unaware that the world of her youth had fallen apart and fallen apart around her. rebuilt" (Evron). Constantly “giving the answers that instinct and tradition have taught her to give,” she is shielded from reality (70). This causes Archer to feel that life is boring and uneventful with May. In his future he sees “the diminishing figure of a man to whom nothing should have ever happened” (185).Wharton's criticism of passivity is represented through Archer's constant disapproval of his wife.innocence He doesn't want May has “that kind of innocence, the innocence that seals the mind against imagination and the heart against experience” (120). Do you associate it with naivety? and the inability to stand up for oneself with conformity and ignorance. He believes that “perhaps that faculty of unawareness [is] what [gives]…his face the appearance of representing a type rather than a person” (154). In this passage, Archer describes May's physical appearance, seeing her as a representation of their society rather than an opinionated individual. Later, May catches her skirt on the running board of a carriage and damages her wedding dress, a symbol of their marriage and love. This incident symbolizes the end of their infatuation with each other, and as their relationship is broken, the dress is now destroyed. The most significant theme of the novel is the contrast between the restrictions that come with domestic life and the adventures supplies of freedom. Wharton carefully uses language and detail in her descriptions to illustrate that “May's house represents all the negative aspects of domestic life” (Hadley). In one scene, Archer perceives that “the simple fact of not looking at May, sitting next to her table, under the lamp, the fact of seeing…other cities beyond New York, and a whole world beyond her world, [clarifies] the his brain and [makes] it easier to breathe” (240). Wharton uses the possessive pronoun “his” to show that Archer believes May is violating his space, the only place he can design according to his own inclination. “He looks out the window to 'a whole world beyond,' just as the traditional American hero looks to the landscape and the frontier to escape from a domesticated world” (Hadley). When he decorates his room to feel the sense of control that he lacks in other aspects of his life, it is ironic because it shows that he is not as rebellious as he thinks he is. Wharton expresses her greatest criticism of 18th-century New York society through the unconventional and mystifying Countess. Serving as May's polar opposite, the Countess symbolizes "all that is unknown and exotic in European society" (Hynes). Raised in Britain by the repeatedly widowed Medora Manson and involved in a disastrous marriage to a Polish count, Olenska is categorically considered an unorthodox foreigner involved in numerous scandals. Many people often make “cruelly clear their determination not to meet Countess Olenska” (41). Since she tries to ask for a divorce with a husband involved in an affair, she is socially isolated from this society which severely punishes scandal. Along with Archer, she is initially despondent and distraught at the relentless disapproval of those who are strangers to her and similar to her. When questioned about her feelings, she exclaims that "true solitude is living among allthese…people who only ask you to pretend" (65). Olenska is disconcerted to learn that a person's reputation is honored more than their honesty, which explains everyone's misleading appearances. Although she is constantly criticized, “she has learned to find comfort and strength within herself, rather than looking for them in the outside world” (Hadley). “She doesn't care about where she lives or any of the little social cues” (101). she places no importance on where she resides. When she tells Archer that she is “foresighted” and lives “in the moment” she is satisfied, she demonstrates her disdain for wealth and status (110). in the present, favoring happiness and spontaneity over security. She provides a contrast to all the other characters in the novel because of her strong will, independence, and self-satisfaction. Through the character of Olenska, Wharton intends to convey both to Archer and to his readers that women are equally capable and hold the same potential as men. When Archer first learns of Olenska and is asked to inform her of his engagement to May, "an invincible repugnance to speak of such things openly strange foreign woman had restrained the words on her lips" (23). Archer initially seems disgusted and upset by the thought of her because of what he has learned from others. Without even knowing or understanding her, he generates assumptions based on her past and the reputation she maintains. As he convinces himself to help her adjust to life in New York, Archer unconsciously falls in love and realizes that he constantly wants to be with her. Even her “lightest touch…[excites him] like a caress” (55). He begins to feel possessive of her and is overcome with jealousy at every news of her with another man. This is because "his presence in New York reinforces his sense of self...[and] he prefers to think of himself as unconventional and liberal..." (Daigrepont). Wharton illustrates that Archer's possessive behavior towards Olenska represents his desire to contrast himself with those in his social environment and his desire to cling to the only method of escape he has. Because he has been raised to believe in a certain set of ideals, behaviors, and characteristics, he is mesmerized by Madame Olenska's “mysterious faculty of suggesting tragic and moving possibilities outside the everyday path of experience” (95). The extreme fascination that Archer feels for her comes from her dramatic and mysterious appearance. In contrast to May's house, Ellen's house represents escape because it “offers the possibilities of individual freedom and experience, instinct and variety, cultural and sexual richness” (Hadley). Rather than developing an interest in her as an individual, he is fascinated by the concept of her. Archer regularly sends May lilies, which represent future happiness, and one day decides to send the Countess “a box of yellow roses…without a note” (97). Yellow roses mean fiery beauty, as well as infidelity and adultery. It is passion rather than true love that he feels for her and Wharton emphasizes this to demonstrate his obsession with escape. The setting plays a crucial role in Wharton's message about New York and the social oppression it imposes on its citizens. Moving from New York to Britain as Archer travels, each location is associated with a different set of beliefs. While old New York allows for exclusively traditional beliefs and roles, Britain serves as a reverse as Archer sees it as a place where freedom of expression is encouraged. Wharton asks the characters to continually take trips to Europe or encounter British culture to show the.