INNOCENT LOVE IN THE AGE OF VANITY
Edith Wharton¡¯s the Age of Innocence pride a vivid scene of ¡®vanity fair¡¯ in New York in the late 19th century. Through a tragic love story between Ellen Olenska and Newland Archer, the author revealed ¡°the old New York way of taking life ¡®without effusion of blood¡¯: the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than ¡®scenes,¡¯ except the behavior of those who gave rise to them¡±. In that age no one could challenge the upper social rules, or he would be exiled from the intercommunication of the upper society.
Both Ellen Olenska and Newland Archer are the members of upper society. Ellen is from an old aristocratic family of New York, she is taken to Europe when she is a young girl and marries there. But her marriage with a Polish count is a fault, so she comes back to New York, her home land, for her relations¡¯ help¡ªshe wants to divorce. But what she gets is not what she expects. She can not get any support, and her ¡®noble¡¯ relations try their best to drive her back to her husband, just to keep their good reputation. Her innocent love affair with her cousin¡¯s fianc, Newland Archer, makes her condition worse. At last she is sent back to Europe and her name is removed from the role of New York upper society. Newland is an offspring of another aristocratic family. His disgust towards the traditional custom and oppression makes him sympathize Ellen, and then he admires and loves the woman who is full of the spirit of freedom. Newland and Ellen share the same opinions on many thi!
ngs, their love is innocent, true and devoted. But in that conservative age, the love can not bear any good fruit.
Ellen¡¯s image is rather flat. She is open, energetic, modern and kind. She longs for the freedom and a marriage with tr
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