Society: May Cause Side Effects
Imagine a reality where one had no control over his own choices- whether its marriage, friends, or even taste in music. In the novel Age of Innocence, one would expect to live such a lifestyle. Taking place in upper class New York, the socialites “all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs” (Wharton 145). The story focuses on Newland Archer, a restrained young attorney who is forced to live the conventional life that is expected of him, but dreams breaking free and living his life for himself. By conforming to “old society” but internally doubting himself, Newland Archer expresses the negative effects …show more content…
Newland Archer struggles with relationships throughout the novel due to the social norms forcing him to interact with individuals he would rather not. The novel takes place in an era of American history referred to as the “gilded age”, a time of rapid economic growth and the first creation of the socialite society that the country has seen. High class privileged social groups began to appear in major cities, and while everyone knew the rules and forms of the society, they also realized the hypocrisy and superificalness of it all. Wharton reflects on this theme throughout her novel by showing the shallowness of relationships with other wealthy individuals.
In modern times, marriage is viewed as a union between two people built on a foundation of love. However, in Age of Innocence, marriage is a serious decision and impact on an individual’s social reputation. Often times men and women, who barely knew each other and often didn’t like one another, would marry in order to advance the social …show more content…
For the first time in history, the average citizen had an (somewhat) equal opportunity to be rich and successful. Someone from a poor family could create their own business and work their way into the high society, rather than being born into your class and having to remain there your entire life. Struggling to remain better than the rest, the upper class had an intense desire to distinguish themselves from the “lower” middle classes. Because of this reasoning, who you married was a great opportunity to work your way to the top. It kept the upper tier of society on their throne, and lower/middle class citizens in their place as 2nd best. If the social classes had mixed in marriage, there wouldn’t have been a distinction for the classes to take pride in. Without the pride in social classes society would have not advanced as far as it did. However, Wharton felt strongly against this reasoning, for it was superficial and missed the true purpose of marriage. She used her novel to show the lack of substance in the modern marriage and express the society’s twisted logic
A persons values can be deeply affected due to a society’s standards. For example, in the novel, kindness and honesty are traits that are ignored in order to advance into a higher status. This is shown in the selfish act of marriage, “After all, marriage is marriage, and money's
Imagine a reality where one had no control over his own choices- whether its marriage, friends, or even taste in music. In the novel Age of Innocence, one would expect to live such a lifestyle. Taking place in upper class New York, the socialites “all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs” (Wharton 145). The story focuses on Newland Archer, a restrained young attorney who is forced to live the conventional life that is expected of him, but dreams breaking free and living his life for himself. By conforming to “old society” but internally doubting himself, Newland Archer expresses the negative effects …show more content…
Newland Archer struggles with relationships throughout the novel due to the social norms forcing him to interact with individuals he would rather not. The novel takes place in an era of American history referred to as the “gilded age”, a time of rapid economic growth and the first creation of the socialite society that the country has seen. High class privileged social groups began to appear in major cities, and while everyone knew the rules and forms of the society, they also realized the hypocrisy and superificalness of it all. Wharton reflects on this theme throughout her novel by showing the shallowness of relationships with other wealthy individuals.
In modern times, marriage is viewed as a union between two people built on a foundation of love. However, in Age of Innocence, marriage is a serious decision and impact on an individual’s social reputation. Often times men and women, who barely knew each other and often didn’t like one another, would marry in order to advance the social …show more content…
For the first time in history, the average citizen had an (somewhat) equal opportunity to be rich and successful. Someone from a poor family could create their own business and work their way into the high society, rather than being born into your class and having to remain there your entire life. Struggling to remain better than the rest, the upper class had an intense desire to distinguish themselves from the “lower” middle classes. Because of this reasoning, who you married was a great opportunity to work your way to the top. It kept the upper tier of society on their throne, and lower/middle class citizens in their place as 2nd best. If the social classes had mixed in marriage, there wouldn’t have been a distinction for the classes to take pride in. Without the pride in social classes society would have not advanced as far as it did. However, Wharton felt strongly against this reasoning, for it was superficial and missed the true purpose of marriage. She used her novel to show the lack of substance in the modern marriage and express the society’s twisted logic
A persons values can be deeply affected due to a society’s standards. For example, in the novel, kindness and honesty are traits that are ignored in order to advance into a higher status. This is shown in the selfish act of marriage, “After all, marriage is marriage, and money's