Martha Klebe’s Reviews > The Age of Innocence > Status Update

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.