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Megan Juarez

September 12, 2012

Is Tradition Worth Sacrificing For?

“New York society is a very small world compared with the one you’ve lived in.

And it’s ruled, in spite of appearances, by a few people with- well, rather old fashioned

ideas” (p. 121). Imagine living in a world that discouraged uniqueness and focused on

traditional views, that shamed those who were outspoken and honored those who were

silent? Edith Wharton elegantly portrays this kind of society in her novel, The Age of

Innocence. The novel, published in 1920, depicts the life of a young man, Newland

Archer, who finds himself caught between the different strings of life. Newland is forced

to make decisions that can either be condemned or condoned by his society, depending

on which string has an end he can hold onto. As Newland’s life progresses, so does the

readers understanding of him. It can be unanimously concluded that Newland is indeed, a

very complex character. Newland Archer is a valuable character in The Age of Innocence

because he demonstrates how the heavy influence of tradition can force one to conform to

society, manipulate ones true desires, and ultimately determine the outcome of ones life.

The Age of Innocence takes place in New York during the late nineteenth century,

when image and reputation were crucial in society. Newland Archer, the novels point of

view character, has been subjected to a life of tradition, honor, and wealth. As the novel

progresses, it is shown how Newland is conflicted with his desires. He feels it is

necessary to succumb to tradition and what his family expects of him. The biggest of

those expectations is his engagement with May Welland. He knows his marriage to May

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is the expected path in his life, however he can’t help his feelings for her cousin, Ellen

Olenska. Ellen Olenska has come back to New York after leaving her husband, which is

an act that is extremely frowned upon by their society. Through out the novel, both Ellen

and Newland struggle to abide to tradition as they slowly uncover their true affection for

one another. The one element opposing their attraction for each other is the traditional

society they both long to be accepted in. Everyone in New York is aware of how

important tradition is and how ones reputation is affected by it. A reputation is not only

formed by ones own actions, but from their family’s as well. Families can maintain a

good image if everyone continues to stay in line with the rest of their elite society. While

discussing his marriage with May, Newland’s mother reminds him, “If we don’t all stand

together, there’ll be no such thing as Society left” (pg. 57).

Newland wants to conform to society because he is aware of the consequences if he

chose not to. By not complying with the traditional guidelines, Newland’s desired life

outside their elite New York circle would be difficult to achieve happily. He would also

be damaging his family’s reputation, who are still very important to him. By following

tradition, he knew how his life would pan out, and accepted that fact. By marrying May,

Newland is able to not only uphold but strengthen his and May’s family’s image. Their

marriage would support the expectations of their small New York society. Newland is to

remain a sensible, well-educated man who will work in the law firm to support his future

family with May. There was no mystery to what might happen in Newland’s life, because

it was already paved out and he knew where the path was going. In the beginning of the

novel, Newland seems to accept this. He is completely aware that his marriage will

confirm these expectations in stone. He has already made the mistake of having a hushed

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affair with another woman some time before, and his immediate family made sure it

ended. They made him feel shameful of what he did, and had since then worked hard to

respect and be respected by his family. May was Newland’s one way ticket to a

traditional and overall acceptable lifestyle. He even “thanked heaven that he was a New

Yorker, and about to ally himself with one of his own kind” (Wharton 36). Newland and

May do marry one another. Although they both carry a good reputation by supporting

traditional views, Newland still has trouble accepting them.

All while Newland is supporting the ideas of tradition within his society, his

feelings for Ellen never disappear. At first, he hoped that his marrying May would veer

him away from his emotions. Not only did Newland announce their engagement

prematurely, but he also persuaded May to move up their wedding date, which was not a

common thing to do because it broke away from the normal traditions of these situations.

May agrees to move the wedding date sooner, but only because she knows about

Newland’s attraction towards Ellen. Newland depended on their marriage to fulfill his

roles in society as man, but also to not make any mistakes with Ellen. He knew that as a

married man, he would be respectful and honor his wife.

As much as their marriage helped Newland be a traditional man, it continued to

make his feelings for Ellen stronger and stronger. Through out the middle of the novel,

Wharton reveals the special bond these two have with each other. The deeper Newland

gets into this systematic and traditional lifestyle, the more he longs for a life with Ellen.

Wharton describes how Ellen effected Newland in the most positive of ways, “when just

touching her made everything so simple” (185). Newland was no doubt falling for her,

yet he couldn’t find the courage to stray away from the life he had grown up in to be with

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her.

Newland’s dislike for this traditional lifestyle progressively becomes clearer to

May. As his heart distances itself from May to Ellen, he starts to describe May in the

most bland of terms. He becomes upset with her not willing to be interested in his

interests, such as reading. He acknowledges how she is so dull looking, and how she is

not very unique at all. May wants to be normal. She does not want to differ from anyone,

and would rather blend in with their society. She tries to compliment Newland by calling

him “original,” and Newland argues back, “Original! We’re all as like each other as those

dolls cut out of the same folded paper. We’re like patterns stenciled on a wall. Can’t you

and I strike out for ourselves May?” (92). Newland’s longing for a life of variety and

mystery encourages his attraction for Ellen. Once he finally decides to leave with her,

May shares that she is pregnant with their first child. This news is enough to keep

Newland home, while Ellen moves to Paris and they give up on their dreams of being

together.

Newland ends up having three children with May, and together they, for the most

part, all lived to be a picture perfect family. Unfortunately, May dies of pneumonia.

Newland, of course, still tended to his children and concentrated his life on being their

father. His children see the world the same way he does, and by this time society is not

the same as it was before. The traditional society Newland lived in as a young man is

now a society of freedom that is less focused on tradition. Newland visits Paris with one

of his sons, Dallas, who sets up a dinner with Ellen Olenska. By now, some thirty years

later, Newland and Ellen have yet spoken but both have clearly not lived their desired

lives. Dallas is aware of their previous relationship because May had told, and actually

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encourages his father to meet with her. Dallas describes Ellen as the woman he would

have “chucked everything for: only you didn’t” (p. 380). After all is said and done, his

children are grown up, “Old-New York” has become the “New-New York,” and May is

deceased, Newland has the opportunity to reunite once and for all with Ellen. There are

no longer any outside factors to interfere with their relationship, or anything else to be

“chucked” out of the way. As Newland and his son approach her apartment, Newland

tells Dallas to go up without him. A shocking action for the reader, he never goes up to

see Ellen, and in fact leaves while Dallas is still there.

This puzzling decision of Newland’s forces the reader to analyze his reasoning for

it. When reviewing the relationship between Newland and Ellen, one might question

whether or not he really loved her. Was it Ellen herself, or the idea of Ellen that was so

intriguing? Once establishing this difference, it is easy to see that Newland was after

Ellen for all the wrong reasons. For Newland, Ellen was the mystery he craved in life, she

was something off the grid of New York society. She contained foreign beauty and

qualities that made her an independent woman for their time. Ellen was different from the

patterned society Newland lived in, and she was his temporary escape from it. As much

as Newland despised the traditional structure of his society, he leaned on it for stability

because acceptance was what he most wanted. It could be considered a little greedy of

him, in fact, that he would stray Ellen along for so long all the meanwhile maintaining a

life of normalcy in New York. When reevaluating Newland’s choice to not see Ellen in

Paris, his decision seems understandable. By this time, Newland is a grown man.

Tradition is what he chose to live by and he stoically accepts that now. Considering that it

is so easy for him to live outside the now vanished boundaries, where was the

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excitement? Newland elaborates to his son, “The difference is that these young people

take it for granted that they’re going to get whatever they want, and that we almost

always took it for granted that we shouldn’t. Only, I wonder- the thing one’s so certain of

in advance: can it ever make one’s heart beat as wildly?” (p. 387). The fact that Ellen was

unreachable for Newland was enticing for him. He seemed to be chasing her, but all

along in the back of his mind, he knew he could never realistically catch her. Where was

the challenge now, when she was just at his fingertips, ready to grasp?

If Newland lived in a society that leaned less towards tradition and more towards

personal freedom, Newland’s life could have turned out completely different. He might

have gone out on a whim and been with Ellen. Maybe he might have never gotten

involved with May, or even felt the urge to be with Ellen, and instead lived a life of

solitude. One may never come to a concrete conclusion. What one can conclude,

however, is that tradition wholly influenced Newland’s life. Tradition is what forced him

to conform to a society in which Newland never gave up to be accepted in. It is tradition

that made Newland intertwined in a web of his true desires, and it is tradition that

Newland ultimately let determine the outcome of his life.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. Simon and Schuster Inc. May 2008.