Literary Devices in The Age of Innocence
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Most of the novel takes place in the high society of New York City in the 1870s. The characters are members of the oldest and most elite families of New York City, known at the time as the New York...
Narrator Point of View
In The Age of Innocence, the narrative voice switches between a totally objective point of view and the limited perspective of an individual character, primarily Newland Archer. The totally objecti...
Genre
Romance The Age of Innocence is a love story, and a love story of the best kind: two star-crossed lovers who clearly belong together but are kept apart by mean people. It's the same formula you see...
Tone
The Age of Innocence has a love-hate relationship with its setting, 1870s New York. The narrative is frequently ironic, particularly when it comes to the characters and their prejudices. It tends t...
Writing Style
Although The Age of Innocence is written in the third person, it can feels like the novel is written from one person’s point of view. It's easy to imagine the personality of the person narrating...
What's Up With the Title?
Edith Wharton took her title from this portrait of a cute little girl with chubby cheeks and bare toes in an oh-so-lovely woodland idyll. But as you know, The Age of Innocence ain't about a cute l...
What's Up With the Ending?
The end of the novel finds Newland Archer nearly thirty years older. He's had a good life, done some good in the world, and is still living the life of a New York gentleman. Bo-ring. He's the New Y...
Tough-o-Meter
The Age of Innocenceis an easy story to follow, written in the kind of urbane, intelligent, humorous prose you would expect for the voice-over of a Jane Austen movie. But, like the voice-over to a...
Plot Analysis
I'm King of The WorldNewland Archer and May Welland are about to announce their engagement. Woo-hoo, wedding bells! These crazy kids are seemingly perfect for each other. They're both the crème d...
Booker's Seven Basic Plots Analysis
Newland Archer has just gotten engaged to May Welland when her scandal-plagued cousin, Madame Ellen Olenska, arrives in town. Newland looks forward to his marriage to May; he seems to have everyt...
Three-Act Plot Analysis
This lasts from the everything's fine-and-dandy beginning (riches! engagement announcements! high society!) to the serious point of no return when Newland Archer falls in love with Madame Olenska,...
Trivia
The novel makes it sound as if Central Park was just an undeveloped rural area, but it was not. Almost 1,600 people lived there in shanties, and Seneca Village, an African-American settlement that...
Steaminess Rating
The Age of Innocence might be about a passionate love affair, but kissing is about as steamy as it gets. All hail the Victorian era. A few rogue kisses, a planned night of passion that never comes...
Allusions
Charles-François Gounod, Faust (1.1-7, 32.5)Nathanial Hawthorne, The Marble Faun (5.4)Dion Boucicault, The Shaughraun (13.2, 13.7)Eugene Labiche, Le Voyage de Monsieur Perrichon (14.20)Edgar All...