Age Of Innocence

4 Pages 943 Words

Look again at Chapter One, which presents Old New York coming under threat from the forces of change. Edith Wharton noted that she wished to establish, from the very opening pages of the novel, a sense of the certain ‘doom’, which faced her characters. On the other hand an early review of the novel argued that “The plot is unobvious” Evaluate how effective you think this chapter is introducing the reader to the novel.


The Age of Innocence was published in 1920, but is set in the time and the place of Edith Wharton’s girlhood, New York in the 1870’s. Wharton draws our attention, quite straightforwardly, to the fact that she is writing a historical novel – and writing a historical novel is only really possible if dramatic differences mark out one period from another. This suggests change and may relate to the ‘certain doom’, which lingers over her characters. Chapter One concerns itself with change but also with the consequences of the failure to change, in both personal and cultural terms. Could this failure to change or fear of change be the ‘certain doom’, which Wharton has referred to?

From the very beginning of the novel Wharton makes it evident that the Old New York society has a strong resilience to change,
“..the world of fashion was still content to reassemble every winter in the shabby red and gold boxes of the sociable old Academy.”

This society is not ready to embrace any kind of transformation, even if it is for the better. Change is seen as a threat to Old New York. The society is so focused on their strict conventions that they don’t want any hindrance such as alteration to obstruct it,
“..thus keeping out the ‘new people’ whom New York was beginning to dread and yet be drawn to..”

If New York manage to keep out the ‘new people’ then their society will never change; there will not be any controversial ideas or risk of moving forward. This may seem absurd to ...