MobileRead February 2015 Discussion: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (spoilers)

[caleb72]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I thought the book was certainly a romance. At times there was quite the passion felt underneath the words and love demonstrated by lack of action to unite.

I actually didn't feel it was much of a romance, but it's pretty in line with our history or romance picks that have nearly always been classics.

The ending was unexpected. Finally there were no barriers that would prevent them from uniting. I suppose he chose to live with the memory of Ellen rather than risk the possibility that time and life experiences would have rendered them too different from each other and tarnished that memory. The other possibility could have been for them to fall back together like time had never happened. Although I think that would have diminished the impact of the rest of the book that kept them apart.

This relates back to my comment about me not thinking this is a romance, but I don't think Newland was ever in love with Ellen. I'm not really sure about the reverse because it was hard to get a feel for Ellen in the book. However, for Newland, I felt that Ellen represented something - an itch that he couldn't scratch, a freedom he was not prepared to grasp.

That's why I think there were always comments about her leaving his mind entirely for months at a time and forgetting what she looks like. When it came to the end, there were no surprises for me. With no natural walls or obstacles to give him an excuse, why on earth would he meet again the woman who was really just a symbol.

I think he had his moment of testing his limits before being subdued by the society around him, guided by his dutiful and manipulative wife. I thought May was an excellent example of the polite but suffocating New York society of which Wharton writes.

It's difficult for me to feel sorry for Newland, because I never felt that he seriously wanted to escape. And so his "play" at breaking away reminded me of the times I'm "serious" about retiring from working life. Yes my working life is a burden and I do have a choice to be rid of it - but it's not a choice I'm going to make because I would rather choose the lifestyle I have. I think that is how I picture Newland. He can see where he's heading, and he has some issues with it - for (more or less) sound reasons. But of the two lives he can live, he's only going to choose the one that leaves him comfortable.