Status Updates From The Age of Innocence

'The very good people didn't convince me; I felt they'd never been tempted. But you knew; you understood; you had felt the world outside tugging at one with all its golden hands - and yet you hated the things it asks of one; you hated the happiness bought by disloyalty and cruelty and indifference. That was what I'd never known before - and it's better than anything I've known.'

Newland is like a knight on a quest to save his damsel in distress from being sullied. He fears that he will have to put out fires if Ellen comes. His opinion of her is even lower after meeting her in the box.

Jackson drops a bomb. She was still living with that secretary a year later. Newland thinks its hypocritical to look down on her when it was her husband who went after harlots. He states that women should be as free as men but I don’t think he would say that about May.

She is not the brute. He doesn’t think she should be an outcast because of her unhappy life. She was practically held prisoner and a true man like the secretary helped her escape. Janey mentions divorce and Newland adds that he hopes she gets one. Mother raises her eyebrows to shush him so he talks about his visit to Granny. The men sit in the drawing room to smoke cigars.

Sister comments that her opera dress looked like a nightgown. Newland points out that she went home only because her dress was not smart enough, not out of taste. Mom points out that Medora Manson let her do what she wanted as a child. Sister criticizes her for keeping such a plain name as Ellen (and hers is Janey!). Newland does not fault her for having made a wretched choice in marriage.

After they left the Wellands, mother told son she was glad that Ellen was not there. Clearly, the Mingotts had gone too far. He tried to make light of the situation and she invited Jackson to dinner out of revenge. Jackson can hardly stomach the meal when asked about Ellen and he told them she was not at the ball, which they thought decent. Then he shares that she was spotted with Beaufort walking up Fifth Avenue.

As salacious as that was, nobody cared. She was new and it would be easy to connect her to another new face. WHAT! He dallied with Mrs. Rushworth!!!! She sure gets around. Hahahaha. They think May Welland is a fine catch and they are glad he has safely passed Siren Isle, or so they think. She approved of the match, but not the hastiness of the announced caused by the arrival of Ellen.

Mom changes the conversation because of the unsavory things about Beaufort which daughter knows but they only discuss in private. She tries to winkle details out of Jackson about Mrs. Struthers. The men notice that the cucumbers had been sliced with a steel knife. She started at a mine or a saloon and a living wax works tour. She met Mr. Struther when she was hired to pose for advertising and eventually they married.

Newland is there because of Ellen. He knows they will talk about her and he needs to be there for damage control. So, of course, the start talking about the shoe-polish widow. Mom is cautious about new money. Both men notice that the roe in the broiled shad is burnt but they keep quiet. They agree that Beaufort lacks discernment in whom he invites. Her grandfather never liked him.

They were tall, pale, slightly round-shouldered, with long noses and sweet smiles like subjects of a faded Reynolds portrait. The main difference is that mom was plump and daughter was thin and viriginal. Although they spoke alike, mother lacked imagination but the daughter’s suppressed fancy occasionally welled up. Mother and sister respected him and he cared deeply for them. This time he stayed for dinner.

The women have very tame tastes. They grow things and have their handwork. They prefer serious reading and historical fiction and look down their noses at Dickens. Um, not my kind of people, but it’s not about me. They sought scenery, architecture, and painting as subjects for art when they traveled. Of course, they took Ruskin very seriously. Mother and daughter were like sisters, true Newlands.

Mingotts, Mansons, etc - eating, clothes, money
Archer-Newland, van-der-Luyden tribe - travel, horticulture, the best
fiction

So, Newland and May come from families with very different values. When Jackson got the invite, he figured her dinner would help relieve gout caused by the Mingott-Mason invitations.

Newland has the rooms upstairs and the library. The women have a haven downstairs.

Ch. 5 The gossip Mr. Sillerton Jackson gets invited to so many dinners and he often sends his spinster sister Sophia for him. Since Mrs. Archer hardly ever invites anyone to dinner, he usually goes himself. She’s a bit of a recluse. Although he gets on well with Newland, he prefers him to be out so that his opinions are not fact checked. He also wished she served better food, but her family didn’t care about food.

Ellen holds out her hand and expects Newland to hold it. He does not. She invites him to come see her. He is stunned. He is glad he is marrying a New Yorker like him (more pride). No New York woman would be out walking with the likes of Julius Beaufort nor would she invite a just-engaged man to visit her.

Granny and Beautfort have a lot in common. They were once poor and came from obscure backgrounds. They are now wealthy and they can afford to live by their own scruples and not live by the convention of others. They are both good at cutting to the chase. In the hall when May and her mom are putting on their furs, Newland apologizes to Ellen for not telling her about their engagement. She gently chides them.

The door opens and in walks Ellen with Julius Beaufort! The scandal! Granny calls him by his last week (much like Augusta Elton in Emma<\i>. He bumped into Ellen at Madison Square and he escorted her home. Granny begs him to sit down and gossip with her. She wants him to tell her about Mrs. Lemuel Struthers, the widow of a shoe-polish magnate (new money). Granny approves of this, of course.

Mrs. Welland remarks on how sparse the sapphire looks all by itself, but Granny comments that a cameo set in pearls worked in her day. Granny notices how large May’s hands are (sports) and how small her own hand which honestly means nothing if you are the size of a whale. She’s just glad her skin is white. When asked about a date, Newland says ASAP and Granny suggests before Lent in case she dies of pneumonia.

Newland is amused to imagine Catherine living out the life in French novels that explore adultery versus duty. On the one hand they are relived that Ellen is not there. On the other, she’s out in broad daylight during shoppping hour for all to see. No shadow of her unhappy past can mar their radiant future. Catherine is delighted. She admires the large saphire on the engagement ring.