CliffsNotes on Wharton's The Age of Innocence

Cliff Notes

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• eBook ISBN: 9780544179394
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Study Aids
• Subtopic: Study Guides

Book 1: Chapter I

Summary

It is a January evening in the early 1870s at New York City’s fashionable Academy of Music—where the conservative, old rich families come to see and be seen. Faust is the opera and the theatregoers are watching the stage, but they are also observing the delicious dramas in the exclusive boxes of old New York’s First Families.

Newland Archer, young lawyer and man about town, arrives stylishly late and, like his friends, observes the box of old Mrs. Manson Mingott where Newland’s soon-to-be fiancée, May Welland, is sitting with family members. Newland considers with warmth and approval the virginal white of May’s dress, gloves, and flowers. His mind leaps to the intimacies of the honeymoon and he thoughtfully considers his role as husband in initiating her into the sexual pleasures of married life.

Newland is sitting with two other gentlemen of New York society: Lawrence Lefferts and Sillerton Jackson. Lefferts is an expert on social etiquette, while Jackson is the acknowledged source of information on family connections, characteristics, and scandals. Both gentlemen are staring in amazement at the Mingott box where an unknown woman has just entered and seated herself near Newland’s girlfriend. Her entrance causes Jackson to question the Mingott’s decision to allow her presence here among the elite of New York society.

Analysis

Wharton’s first chapter sets the tone of irony and hypocrisy that delineates the fabric of her old New York, the 1870s setting of The Age of Innocence. In her first, richly detailed chapter, she introduces old New York’s social order, its code of conduct and superficial values, and the main characters that will interact within its boundaries.

The reader begins to see a motif: New York society is composed of closely knit families that close ranks and follow behavior codes handed down from mother to daughter, father to son. Wharton opens her story in that cultural symbol of the Gilded Age, the Academy of Music. Wharton is very accurate in her knowledge of the building, the seating order, and the patrons’ behavior. Because members of old New York society use the Academy of Music as a marriage market to reproduce their class and facilitate marriages within their ranks, they seat debutantes modestly near the rear of boxes. Married ladies sit near the front displaying valuable possessions—jewels. This way others can envy the husbands who provide the jewels, and the husbands can display the wives they possess. The carefully proscribed social seasons also are a way for the old rich to retain control because interlopers—the New Rich—are trying to break into their ranks (see “Introduction to the Novel”).

It is through Newland’s eyes that we view the society of 1870s New York. Ironically, Newland sees himself as cosmopolitan, but Wharton belies this sentiment by describing his acceptance of “the German text of French operas sung by Swedish artists . . . [and] . . . translated into Italian for the clearer understanding of English-speaking audiences.” This is Wharton’s humor, but Newland sees this as perfectly understandable. He parts his hair “with two-silver-backed brushes with his monogram in blue” and he has a gardenia—the socially acceptable flower—in his buttonhole. Everything about Newland Archer screams conformity.

Edith Wharton exposes the society’s double standard regarding marital beliefs. May, Newland’s soon-to-be fiancée, is a virgin with no “past,” dressed in white and carrying white lilies of the valley. In contrast, Newland takes pride in his own sexual experience gained in a previous two-year with a married (“safe”) woman. May is the perfect society bride: Newland’s role will be to train her in social tact, wit, and the art of “attracting masculine homage while playfully discouraging it.” Ironically, Wharton mentions that if Newland dug down deeply enough in his vanity, he might realize that a sexually knowledgeable wife would be much more sophisticated and eager to please. Throughout the novel she undercuts Newland’s opinions to expose the hypocrisy of the social code.

While Newland broadcasts “conventional,” May Welland radiates “innocence.” Sitting forward, her face slightly flushed, she watches the opera whose words she likely does not understand. Wharton purposely chose an opera based on a play by Goethe where the older, more experienced Faust falls in love with the young, beautiful village girl, Marguerite, whose innocence parallels that of May Welland. May does not understand Faust’s efforts to seduce Marguerite, but her romantic innocence is underscored as she looks at Newland’s flowers and blushes.

Watching all these actions are two minor characters, yet their presence throughout the book enforces Wharton’s themes of societal hypocrisy. Lawrence Lefferts is one of the biggest hypocrites in the novel. While judging others who break the social code, he is later protected by the very code he breaks. Sillerton Jackson is a prudish, prim, and pretentious Victorian who excels at gossip and back stabbing. He, like Lefferts, uses his opera glasses to peruse the crowd and comment on their behavior. Throughout the novel these two will provide words and actions that propel the plot and sometimes cause mistaken assumptions in their social group.

Glossary

Above the Forties farther out from the fashionable center of the city.

 

Mr. Luther Burbank’s . . . prodigies students of Luther Burbank (1849–1926), an American plant breeder and horticulturist.

 

chemisette a detachable shirt front formerly worn by women to fill in the neckline of a dress.

 

Josephine look a gown in the style of the first French Empire (1804–1815) named after Napoleon’s wife, Josephine, empress of France (1804–1809); with a short waist, decollette bodice, flowing skirt, and short, puffed sleeves.

Book 1: Chapters II–III

Summary

Newland is feeling embarrassed because the males in the audience are watching the Mingott box and he is trying to decide on a course of action to protect his beloved May from scandal. He realizes that the mystery lady must be May’s cousin, the Countess Ellen Olenska, who recently arrived from Europe. Disgracefully, she has left her husband and is staying with her grandmother, old Mrs. Mingott. While Newland approves of family loyalty in private, he would prefer the Wellands not exercise it in public with the “black sheep” of the family.

Newland listens to the other men make jokes about Ellen’s past and his embarrassment grows. He waits for the curtain to signal the end of the act and does the loyal and manly thing: He dashes for the Mingott family box where May gratefully consents to his request that he announce their engagement. She then introduces him to her cousin, Ellen, who recounts tales of them playing together as children. Newland interprets her attitude toward New Yorkers as flippant and it irritates him.

After the third act, Mrs. Regina Beaufort leaves the opera house as a signal that her annual ball will begin in thirty minutes. Regina is from the South Carolina Dallas family, a “penniless beauty” who is not too bright, but her looks are stunning. Introduced to New York society by a cousin, Medora Manson, she married Julius Beaufort, who came with a doubtful past. He is known to enjoy the company of women other than his wife. Arriving at the Beaufort home, Newland describes their sumptuous rooms and possessions, but he is having second thoughts about family loyalty. May calms his unspoken fears by explaining that the Countess excused herself because her dress was not fashionable enough to attend such a party. Relieved by this information, Newland decides that May shares his viewpoint about dealing with this “unpleasantness;” what a perfect wife for any man to possess!

Analysis

Wharton increasingly pulls the reader into a world of conflicts and hypocrisy. The old New Yorkers are both drawn and repulsed by the money and possessions of the New Rich, as symbolized by Julius Beaufort’s rise in social status. Though old Mrs. Mingott’s English son-in-law sent letters of introduction with Beaufort, rumors circulate about his “dissipated habits” and cynicism. Speculation holds that he left an English banking house under questionable circumstances. His affairs with women and shady past are disregarded because he carries things off with style. The Old Rich tolerate the Beauforts because they have a ballroom that is used just for one night and closed off the other 364 days a year.

“Few things seem more awful to Newland than an offence against Taste.” He finds Ellen’s words distasteful as she humorously mentions that New York will be judging her. But that is exactly what his friends did in snickering about her past. Who knows what scandalous things she has been doing in Europe as a woman alone, and now she is here at the opera pretending to be a person of taste! Here the reader sees clearly the double standard of society and Newland’s complicity: toleration for Julius Beaufort and contempt for Ellen Olenska.

Glossary

double entendre a term with two meanings, especially when one of them has a risqué or indecorous connotation.

 

bouton d’or (Fr.) golden or lustrous buttons; here, part of the interior décor that causes lustre and glitter.

 

aigrettes bunches of the long, white showy plumes of the egret, worn for ornament on a hat or in the hair.

Book 1: Chapters IV–VI

Summary

The “precise and inflexible” engagement ritual begins. Newland, May, and her mother go to old Mrs. Mingott’s house, where the pleasantries turn to the family blessing, the engagement ring, and the wedding day. During this conversation, Ellen and Julius Beaufort unexpectedly arrive. Ellen extends an impromptu invitation to Newland to come visit her; however, Newland privately thinks she shouldn’t ask an engaged man to call on a married woman. The next evening, Mr. Sillerton Jackson dines at the Archer’s and spreads gossipy information with his acerbic tongue. He criticizes Ellen for walking up Fifth Avenue during fashionable hours with Julius Beaufort, a married man. Totally out of character, Newland takes up Ellen’s defense, saying that her bad marriage was a matter of poor luck. Later, in the study when the men are alone, Jackson reveals that Ellen was allegedly living with her husband’s male secretary a year after her “escape,” and Newland defends her again.

After Jackson leaves, Newland sits alone in his armchair before the fire considering his upcoming marriage and the disturbing influence Ellen’s arrival has had on his thinking. How could he defend Ellen’s deeds when religious and social standards see them as reprehensible? His worst fears are confirmed when the Lovell Mingotts send out invitations to a formal dinner for Ellen, and New York society rejects the invitation within 48 hours.

Analysis

Visiting Mrs. Manson Mingott is intriguing. Her huge physical appearance is comedic and if she had not had such a scrupulous past, she would be a character from a wicked French novel. Her position allows her to make critical comments that others cannot make. Implying that Mrs. Lemuel Struthers arrival is like fresh meat, she personifies New York as a carnivorous creature needing new blood.

In these chapters, Newland begins a puzzling defense of Ellen. While Mrs. Archer questions what their ancestors would have thought of Ellen’s behavior, she knows what current New Yorkers think. It is one thing to be ignorant of New York’s social code, but another thing to be told and not comply. Newland appears to totally defend Ellen, and it is puzzling that somehow Newland is forgetting the double standard favoring men.

However, alone in his study, we see another side of Newland and his thoughts about women. His society disallows women knowledge about life outside their narrow existence; in fact, his sister Janey is a perfect example. His fiancée, May, is also totally naïve and Newland feels that husbands and wives must live in a world “where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs.” Before Ellen came, he had no problem with this code; why has her arrival had such an unsettling effect on him? Despite his protests to Jackson, “nice” women cannot be as free as men. But why should Lawrence Lefferts’ marriage be the gold standard, where a man can have numerous affairs, but his wife must not do the same? Newland defends Ellen’s right to be “free,” but contemptuously calls the Count’s women friends “harlots.” Obviously, women who are “free” trouble New Yorkers.

Glossary

embonpoint plumpness; corpulence.

 

Siren Isle (Gr. and Rom. mythology) home of any of several sea nymphs, represented as part bird and part woman, who lure sailors to their death on rocky coasts by seductive singing.

 

heiroglyphic a picture or symbol representing a word, syllable, or sound; hard to interpret or understand.

 

Chippendale designating or of an eighteenth-century English style of furniture characterized by graceful lines and, often, rococo ornamentation.

 

Patroon a person who held a large estate with manorial rights under a grant from the Dutch government of New Netherland.

Book 1: Chapters VII–VIII

Summary

The van der Luydens are one of three New York families with aristocratic bloodlines. They listen to Mrs. Archer’s account of the slight conferred upon the Countess by New York society, and decide that a show of family loyalty would rectify the situation. Because Louisa’s relative, the Duke of St. Austrey, is arriving from Russia, the van der Luydens will include the Countess in their dinner and reception for him.

At the party, the van der Luydens spare no pains in providing the best china, silver, and glassware. Newland notices that the Countess is pale but very confident with almost a regal bearing. She does not seem decadent, as her past would suggest. However, when Newland and the Countess speak after dinner he is shocked by her sadness and candor. She wants to be all things American and when she touches his knee with her fan he feels unexpected electricity. Breaking an unspoken social rule, the Countess says she will see Newland at five o’clock the next day. Surprised, he agrees. Later he watches couples—including the Lefferts, who initially turned down the Archers’ invitation—standing in line to be introduced to the Countess now that the van der Luydens have included her in their social circle.

Analysis

Wharton uses word painting to describe the intolerant, rigid older generation. The van der Luydens symbolize the frosty chill of old New York. Newland believes Louisa has been “gruesomely preserved in the airless atmosphere” like “bodies caught in glaciers keep for years a rosy...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Life and Background of the Author
• Formative Years
• Marriage and Depression
• Passions, Artistic Friends, and Travel
• The War and Later Years
• About The Age of Innocence
• Introduction to the Novel
• Brief Synopsis
• List of Characters
• Character Map
• Summary and Analysis
• Book 1: Chapter I
• Book 1: Chapters II–III
• Book 1: Chapters IV–VI
• Book 1: Chapters VII–VIII
• Book 1: Chapters IX–XI
• Book 1: Chapters XII–XIII
• Book 1: Chapters XIV–XV
• Book 1: Chapters XVI–XVII
• Book 1: Chapter XVIII
• Book 2: Chapters XIX–XX
• Book 2: Chapters XXI–XXIV
• Book 2: Chapters XXV–XXVI
• Book 2: Chapters XXVII–XXX
• Book 2: Chapters XXXI–XXXIII
• Book 2: Chapter XXXIV
• Character Analysis
• Newland Archer
• May Welland Archer
• Countess Ellen Olenska
• Mrs. Manson Mingott
• Critical Essays
• Themes in The Age of Innocence
• The Ironic Title of The Age of Innocence
• Study Help
• Quiz
• Identify the Quote
• Full Glossary for The Age of Innocence
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• CliffsNotes Resource Center