Claudia Pierpont’s analysis of Edith Wharton’s writing touches on many literary styles behind Wharton’s writing, especially on those related to her lifetime experiences. While I do believe that Pierpont understands Wharton literary style for the most part, I also believe that some her beliefs can be interpreted as true due to the self-fulfilling and hindsight biases. Pierpont states that Wharton’s stories are centered around love, and for The Age of Innocence, this proves to be true. Pierpont also states that Wharton wrote to release the suppressed emotions from having been involved in an affair and having been sexually involved with her father. The controversy is that some say Wharton only had sexual fantasies, while some say they were actually unconscious repressed memories of her father. While I agree that The Age of Innocence derives from Wharton’s life, I am not sure if any sexual fantasies or repressions actually play a role. Wharton is a woman who broke down from her relationships and wanted a divorce, as paralleled in Count Olenski’s desire to divorce even if it means she does not receive any divorce money. For Wharton, marriage is awful which leads to some action, of which divorce is most fearful. The notion that marriage is awful is seen through both Archer and Count Olenski’s perspectives. Around the time of his engagement announcement with May Welland, while Archer is happy, he realizes “he would have liked to keep the surface pure too (11).” The prospect of marriage is beautiful and romantic, but can become unhappy and stressful once it actually happens. As Pierpont also said, Wharton wants her viewers to realize that love is an obligation. The reason I am not sure if Pierpont was just fantasizing or speaking of actual moments in her life is because The Age of Innocence is a novel that modern society enjoys. Pierpont states that at one point Wharton became a standard writer and just wrote for people to like her work, suggesting that her writing was based on fantasy. Yet The Age of Innocence seems so real that it could have been based on solid events.
In specific reference to The Age of Innocence, Pierpont mentions that Archer is a tribute to James. Archer is Wharton’s version of a positive hero. Archer is seen to greatly sympathize with Count Olenski, such as the time he states, “Women ought to be free—as we are (20),” in regards to Count Olenski request for a divorce. Archer in this sense is just extremely practical, or a feminist, although Pierpont suggests that Wharton did not try to convey feminist ideals in her writing. Speaking of sympathizing, Pierpont also mentions that Wharton was criticized for her lack of sympathy, but she disputed this statement and said Wharton was giving insight to a more complex consciousness. In agreement with Pierpont, the coldness of Wharton’s characters purposely gives insight to the type of personalities people had in New York City at the time. Even in modern day society people in New York City can be cold.
Jasmine’s commentary really grabbed my attention because she touched upon both the points where she believes that Claudia Pierpont did get Wharton’s writing style right and those where she disagrees to the way Pierpont interpreted the writing styles of Wharton. For instance, in accordance with Jasmine’s point of view, I also believed that Wharton’s The Age of Innocence was not only “centered around love” but also “derived from Wharton’s life”. I also agreed with Jasmine in that I did not really see the significance of the way Wharton expressed sexuality throughout her work. Rather, I found importance in the way Wharton reflected her feminist ideas and unconventional ideologies that often went against the contemporary society and it’s interpretation of the rights and roles of women. I further agreed to Jasmine when she agreed with Pierpont that “Wharton was giving insight to a more complex consciousness” because Wharton, instead of having lack of sympathy, rather expressed her sympathy perfectly through the coldness and other subtle emotions of her characters as well as her detailed descriptions of various settings and situations such as the description of the room.
Jasmine’s commentary really grabbed my attention because she touched upon both the points where she believes that Claudia Pierpont did get Wharton’s writing style right and those where she disagrees to the way Pierpont interpreted the writing styles of Wharton. For instance, in accordance with Jasmine’s point of view, I also believed that Wharton’s The Age of Innocence was not only “centered around love” but also “derived from Wharton’s life”. I also agreed with Jasmine in that I did not really see the significance of the way Wharton expressed sexuality throughout her work. Rather, I found importance in the way Wharton reflected her feminist ideas and unconventional ideologies that often went against the contemporary society and it’s interpretation of the rights and roles of women. I further agreed to Jasmine when she agreed with Pierpont that “Wharton was giving insight to a more complex consciousness” because Wharton, instead of having lack of sympathy, rather expressed her sympathy perfectly through the coldness and other subtle emotions of her characters as well as her detailed descriptions of various settings and situations such as the description of the room.