From Pierpont’s analysis on Wharton’s writing style and its connection to her personal life, I expected Wharton’s writing to be vividly depressing and condemning of love, monogamy, and heterosexuality. Having previously read Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, I have already managed to get a sense of her writing style. Like Ethan Frome, The Age of Innocence displays a recurring theme of infidelity and one might even push to say that it is a theme of following one’s desires. For instance, Newland manages to fall in love with his fiancée’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, that has recently come to New York City from Paris. The book goes on to display Newland’s denial in an attempt to re-convince himself that his love should be for his fiancée. He announces his engagement to May at the Beaufort’s ball to stop gossip and later flees to where May’s family is vacationing in order to prevent himself from succumbing to temptation when he realizes that his love for the Countess is real after having to dissuade her from proceeding with her divorce.

After discovering Pierpont’s thorough history of Wharton’s love life, I could not help but notice that The Age of Innocence paralleled Wharton’s life. Perhaps the most obvious reflection of Wharton’s love life was the Countess moving to New York City after a failed marriage in Paris, except with Wharton, she fled in the opposite direction. In addition to this, the Countess expresses her atypical views concerning the hierarchical society in New York City. Essentially, this was moreso Wharton’s ideas expressed through Ellen’s character. At the age of sixteen, Wharton had even produced a 30,000 word novella that mocked high society, so it was not uncommon for her to do this. Considering Pierpont vaguely implied Wharton’s feminist views, it was unsurprising to see how The Age of Innocence reflected this. In a nutshell, the book was about a woman that did not feel as though she should be confined to following convention whether it be in regards to love or to the roles expected of women in high society.

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.

“Oh, centuries and centuries; so long,” she said, “that I’m sure I’m dead and buried, and this dear old place is heaven;” which, for reasons he could not define, struck Newland Archer as an even more disrespectful way of describing New York society.

This sentence, that concludes chapter two of Wharton’s Age of Innocence, stuck out to me. It captures the nostalgic yet resentful essence that Wharton had towards her own life in New York society.

Before reading The Age of Innocence, I had read Pierpont’s biography on Wharton and her writing style through American Rhapsody, and was surprised by Wharton’s overall take on life, as well as the events that happened throughout it. As a New York socialite herself, Pierpont speaks of Wharton’s familial ties, her apathetic marriage, thrilling love-letter affair, and scorn towards New York society. After knowing Wharton’s background as a person and author, The Age of Innocence felt very authentic, spoken from a person who truly knew how New York society lived and breathed. Pierpont speaks of Wharton’s writings as “exquisitely detailed”, and this could not be more true. The vivid imagery evoked by Wharton’s words in her readings make her scenes so colorful and clear. Wharton does not leave anything out — from the sparkling jewels wrapped around an aristocrat’s neck and the delicate details of the opera house, to describing the family heritage a wealthy family. Her writing style is eloquent and familiar, allowing the reader to know exactly what’s going on, while still keeping the fourth wall as an outsider raised.

Aside from her animated use of words, I have connected that Wharton’s life seems to be reflected in her writing. According to Pierpont, there was nothing more miserable to Wharton than marriage, and nothing worse to do than divorce. In The Age of Innocence, Ellen Olenska reveals her unconventional views about New York society, similar to Wharton’s own. Although Archer slowly falls in love with her, he continues to marry May instead, holding off on his feelings towards the Countess. Ellen, on the other hand, remains divorced, refuses to act upon Archer, and also returns to Europe. Much like Pierpont says, I believe this story can be seen as indirectly feminist — a woman who thinks beyond the social constraints of the time, as well as one who stands her ground when her morality is tested. As an author who both lived and wrote about the realities of New York society, Wharton’s works are both memorable in their eloquence and closeness.

In reading Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, I can agree that Wharton’s writing style is “mature.” Wharton writes sophisticated sentences with intricate vocabulary and clear details that illustrate both the plot of the text and emotions of the various characters. Moreover, Claudia Pierpont describes Wharton’s description of Archer to have “a complex mixture of warmth and loathing” (29), which slowly unravels as Archer soon finds himself attracted to Countess Olenska while maintaining his relationship with May. Still, Pierpont’s depiction of Archer can be seen through Wharton’s words when she portrays Archer at the end of the Beaufort’s annual ball, as he thinks to himself “but I shall never let her see by the least sign that I am conscious of there being a shadow of a shade on poor Ellen Olenska’s reputation.” In this quotation, Archer states both his distaste of May not telling him the complete truth about Countess Olenska’s absence, as well as his early sympathy for “poor Ellen” as he implies that she doesn’t deserve to have criticism of her reputation. Nevertheless, this also suggests that Archer will continue to stay true to May, yet, continue to defend Ellen Olenska, thus, revealing the complexity of Archer’s balancing of his open feelings for May and hidden feelings for Ellen (which he later expresses). In other words, Wharton accurately matches Pierpont’s interpretation of a specific character [Archer] as she displays Archer’s struggle whether to accept traditional or personal morals and culture, as represented through May and Ellen, respectively.

On the other hand, Claudia Pierpont doesn’t give much information regarding Edith Wharton and The Age of Innocence as she focuses on a multitude of Wharton’s texts in association with her life. Towards the conclusion of her essay, however, Pierpont gives what Wharton generally depicts in her works: “a strong plot, a brilliant but self-divided heroine, a full supply of negative heroes, and a smash surprise at the end” (33). One could argue that The Age of Innocence contains all of these aspects. The plot is dramatic enough to give the reader anticipation to wonder what will occur next, along with diverse characters with their understanding(s) of New York social standards. Countess Olenska is the heroine who gradually adapts to life in New York, but can’t decide for herself whether to divorce her husband or (later) return home to Europe, especially with Archer playing a crucial factor in dealing with her emotions. With this being said, much repulsion comes from the various families (e.g. Archers, Wellands, Jacksons, Beauforts, etc), who judge Countess Olenska’s appearance and see her as an outcast who can’t fit in with New York social standards, which they strictly adhere to. Finally, the “smash surprise” is Archer not accompanying his son to meet Ellen in the distant future, which is surprising since the rest of the book, ever since the beginning, was concerning his relationship with her. Overall, Pierpont’s limited description of Wharton’s “mature” writing style is precise as The Age of Innocence reflects the conflict between loyalty to others and individual freedom in adapting to society, as seen through an interesting plot, diverse characters, and vivid details, concerning New York society.

Upon reading Age of Innocence, I became sidetracked by one of Pierpoint’s probably-offhand comparisons between Wharton’s works and an equally famous book of similar themes: “the second [story] … tells of a married woman who runs away with her lover and discovers what Anna Karenina could not bear to know–that love feeds on duties and distractions of a shared society.”  I immediately realized how interesting the comparison between Age of Innocence and Anna Karenina actually is.  There are obvious similarities between the books on the surface: a woman estranged from her husband seeks out a new partner who actually makes her happy, attempts at divorce by women lead to shock and near-anger, and the stiflingly complex aristocratic society makes any deviation from established rules uniquely difficult and irritating.  One could very easily argue that they even share a theme about society’s hypocrisy regarding women’s relationships.  There are further parallels, but many differences.

Wharton makes it clear immediately how unfair the treatment of Ellen Olenska is, whether due to general societal expectations or bias against women specifically, using Archer as a mouthpiece for statements such as “the hypocrisy that would bury alive a woman of her age if her husband prefers to live with harlots”, meaning that there is no where near the outcry over a cheating husband as their is to a scorned wife.  Anna Karenina, although there are no direct quotes, has the same message due to Anna’s brother Stefan cheating on his own perfectly kind wife with a governess and receiving absolutely no punishment except his own guilt, while Anna is ostracized to the point of suicidal despair.  Wharton delivers the message of unfair societal constraints in a way neater and more directly than Tolstoy, who convolutes his message with intermittent chapters about proper couples and happy domesticity.  As a woman herself, Wharton would have had much more intimate knowledge of such restrictions, and thus been more compelled to denounce them.  It is true that her characters understand more than Anna, and that is because of their writer’s insight.

In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, the narrator is witty and funny and is most definitely not boring. The reader is entertained by the writing style, which features details with description, the use of irony, humor, rhetorical devices and imagery. For example, a clever observation that is also a metaphor (with lots of imagery) is, “Packed in the family landau they rolled from one tribal doorstep to another, and Archer, when the afternoon’s round was over, parted from his betrothed with the feeling that he had been shown off like a wild animal cunningly trapped”. The novel opens with a dramatic scene in which everyone is dressed in their finest clothes for the opera. Wharton writes with lots of detail, for example, “There was no reason why the young man should not have come earlier, for he had dined at seven, alone with his mother and sister, and had lingered afterward over a cigar in the Gothic library with glazed black-walnut bookcases and finial-topped chairs which was the only room in the house where Mrs. Archer allowed smoking.” Wharton also generally writes in longer sentences and shorter paragraphs. In addition, irony is easily seem in the novel. Of course, the telegram from May arrives agreeing to make the wedding sooner only shortly after Archer confesses his feelings for the Countess Olenska. And to top it all off at the end, Archer is a free man after 26 years and can go to Olenska, but despite all that has ensued and his intense love for her, he chooses not to.

Claudia Roth Pierpont writes about Edith Wharton in the first chapter of her book American Rhapsody. While I definitely was not as entertained reading this as I was reading The Age of Innocence, I noticed that Pierpont also employs the use of rhetorical devices and imagery. For example, she uses similes: “But Lily, Wharton’s most profound and subtle portrait of a lady, is as repulsed by her slavish tactics as she is dependent on their results.” (page 19); “The first is a character portrait, as startlingly fresh as a Sargent watercolor.” (page 17) She, like Wharton, writes with humor (and imagery), “Still, might there be something more to those dead husbands and claustrophobic wives?”

Wharton and Pierpont both write maturely and eloquently, with sentences and paragraphs that flow.