Status Updates From The Age of Innocence

Newland Archer is engaged to May Welland, but things get complicated when May's cousin Ellen comes back to NY. Ellen is more independent and doesn't follow the same social rules as the others, which makes Newland start questioning things he was certain about. "'Women ought to be free- as free as we are,'" (Wharton 44). This quote shows Newland, who before did not care about women, considering women equal to him.

I am currently on page 29 of The Age of Innocence. So far, I really like it but I found it a little confusing at times. One symbol is the opera which represents the strict rules and expectations of New York Society. "It was annoying that the box which was thus attracting the undivided attention of masculine New York" (Wharton 5). Often at the opera, everyone watches each other and people attend to find a match.

So far in the book, there has been gossip in the society of New York of women and men about who they like and the drama in their lives. A character named Archer just proposed to Miss Welland, but there is some drama about a women named Ellen Olenska. I predict that the drama of Ellen will show soon, "'She knows as well as I do, ' he reflected, 'the real reason of her cousin's staying away..." (Wharton 17).

A piece of media that is similar to the Age of Innocence is the "The Gilded Age" on HBO. They both take place 1800s New York. They both show the reputations of old and new money of this era. The new money families were seen as less than in society, "But the Beauforts were not exactly common; some people said they were even worse" (Wharton 19). Additionally, they both speak about how gossip can get around fast.

*grabs dictionary*