1921: The Age of Innocence

1921

The Age of Innocence, 

by Edith Wharton 

384 pages

Summary:

Wharton’s reputation suffered for a time from the "Jane Austen effect." Because she wrote about social mores and marriageable women, her books are often dismissed as escapist fluff or melodrama. In reality, Wharton was a rebel in her day, tackling unpleasant topics and social gray areas. In this novel, Wharton based the story on the uncomfortable question: Is an abused wife obligated to stay with her husband? What is a family’s duty to support a daughter after an untenable marriage? 

Archer Newland is a lawyer among the New York blue bloods. He is resigned to marry a stolid, unimaginative young woman--until her exciting, unconventional cousin comes to town. Countess Ellen Olenska is fleeing an abusive marriage to a Polish count. As a potential divorcee, Ellen is a social embarrassment to her family. Newland, as a lawyer and practically a family member, is enlisted to talk Ellen out of a scandalous divorce. As he gets to know Isabel, he sympathizes with her scathing assessment of New York society. To complicate matters, Isabel and Archer end up falling in love. Wharton excels at relating the little details of her social caste to symbolize the sometimes brutal financial and social controls imposed upon its members.

Adaptations:

Martin Scorsese directed a well-acclaimed 1993 film version starring Daniel Day Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer. Winona Ryder won an Oscar for Best Supporting Role. The film had a lush budget—as the subject matter requires. Even though the movie was not a financial success, it is a good adaptation. 

Related Activities:

Wharton was born a blue blood New Yorker, related to the Rensselaer family, who were one of the original families in New Amsterdam. When Wharton writes about privilege, she is writing about her own world. In her youth, the opening of the New York Opera Season was also the beginning of the social season. Wharton deliberately chose Gounod's Faust to open this tale, naturally evoking questions of selling one's soul to the devil for worldly gain and influence. Later, in a pivotal scene in the book, the protagonist Archer Newland realizes--after attending an opera with his wife--that their marriage is as battered as her muddied gown. To honor this bygone world, visit the Chicago Lyric Opera (https://www.lyricopera.org/). Seeing Gounod’s Faust would be icing on the cake, but any opera that Wharton's grandmother would approve of is sufficient.    

Another possible activity is to visit "the richest corner in Chicago," just south of the loop. At one time the intersection of Prairie Avenue and 18th Street housed the young elite of Chicago's wealthiest families.  Today you will find several preserved mansions in the Prairie Avenue Architectural Park, most notably the famous Glessner House. Strolling this once-wealthy street, and touring the Glessner House, is a partial approximation of the astounding New York opulence that Edith Wharton knew.