Tammy’s Reviews > The Age of Innocence > Status Update

Reason tells him May has commanded him to be kind to Ellen. He is no longer a free man because of that command. He and May had so little time to talk he didn’t get a chance to tell her about his appointment. On top of that he is very curious about why Ellen asked him to come. A non-Engish-speaking maid answers the door and Ellen is not there. They gesture and he speaks words from Dante. LOL

He had hoped to spend the afternoon with May in the park but they had to make the rounds in announcing their betrothal. He felt like a caged animal being shown off. He is disappointed to hear that they cannot move the wedding date because they have to get her trousseau ready. They would not marry until the autumn. They are going through the family alphabetically and it’s going to take time.

He believes that he will be happy with May and he is unguarded whenever he meets Ellen. Had he been more self-aware, he might have been more cautious. The next day he rings the bell at 5:30 at a rental where she lives far away from her vagabond aunt. It is in the part of the city where lovers of the humanities try to find their way. The house’s exterior reflects what the count did to Ellen.

Ch. 9 Newland Archer is in a moment of pride goeth before the fall. He does love the image of May, what he imagines her to be, but he does not really know her. The reader sees that the innocence and purity may very well be the ice that he will not appreciate when they are married. She is the person society expects him to marry. He is more complicated than he thinks. He is drawn to fire because of his artistic nature.

His wife recalls that they used to go to dancing school together. Some couples refuses to meet Ellen and Newland notices who. It was Mrs. vdL who sent the men to “rescue” Newland from Ellen and then she remarks on how beautiful May looks. I wonder if she noticed anything.

The temptress touches Newland’s knee and asks Newland to stay a little longer while May is introduced. He reacts. Yikes!!! A bunch of men show up to speak to her and break the spell. MAYDAY!!!! Then she says as she leaves that she expects to see him at five the next day as if they had planned it, but they had not. Mercy! Talk about bad timing. Who shows up but Lawrence and his wife. I bet he suspects something.

He apologizes for giving her pain. She explains that she has come home for good because she wants to a true American like what she sees in May’s family and Newland’s family. A large party that includes May arrives. Now what does this mean? May wears a silver and white dress with a wreath of
silver blossoms in her hair. She looks like Diana just alighting from the chase.

He’s afraid of bring up painful memories so he talks about May. Ellen notes her beauty and intelligence and asks if he’s in love with her. Newland is embarrassed by the question. He is goaded into saying it is the romance of romances. Oh, boy!! Ellen is Helen of Troy? She asks if it is an arranged marriage and he points out that it’s not done in America. She is embarassed by her ignorance.

The duke does not realize that, after dinner, he should have paid respects to the vdL’s and Mrs. Mingott. Instead, he talks to Ellen for twenty minutes. Then, Ellen moves across the room to talk to Newland, another faux paux but she doesn’t know better. Ellen asks him to talk about May. He changes the subject to the duke. Ellen already know him, tells what she knows, and calls him the dullest man she’s ever known.

This dinner is formidable! The vdL’s (they would hate that abbreviation) put out their best china. Everyone dressed in their best and women wore their best jewels. They looked like they were posing for portraits. Ellen is the only young woman there. The older women looked rather silly in comparison. Her eyes haunted Newland. Ironically, the duke looks more like a country squire in how he dressed.