Edith Wharton was a successful American author born in 1862 in New York City. She began writing poetry at age 16 and later rebelled against social norms by becoming a professional writer, publishing her most famous work, The Age of Innocence, in 1920. The document provides definitions for key literary elements in The Age of Innocence, explaining that the setting provides details of the time and place, while the plot is a sequence of events that moves the story and characters forward.