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

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.

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.