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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.
