the age of innocence

Description:

Edith Wharton's most famous novel, written immediately after the end of the First World War, is a brilliantly realized anatomy of New York society in the 1870s, the world in which she grew up, and from which she spent her life escaping. Newland Archer, Wharton's protagonist, charming, tactful, enlightened, is a thorough product of this society; he accepts its standards and abides by its rules but he also recognizes its limitations. His engagement to the impeccable May Welland assures him of a safe and conventional future, until the arrival of May's cousin Ellen Olenska puts all his plans in jeopardy. Independent, free-thinking, scandalously separated from her husband, Ellen forces Archer to question the values and assumptions of his narrow world. As their love for each other grows, Archer has to decide where his ultimate loyalty lies. - Back cover.

subjects: Fiction,  Triangles (Interpersonal relations),  Upper class,  Married people,  Separated people,  Social life and customs,  Marriage,  Separated women,  Upper classes,  Social norms,  New York (N.Y.),  Nobility,  Love stories,  Classic Literature,  Literature,  Drama,  Romance,  Pulitzer Prize Winner,  award:pulitzer_prize=1921,  award:pulitzer_prize=fiction,  Manners and customs,  open_syllabus_project,  Historical fiction,  Movie novels,  Film novelizations,  American fiction,  American fiction (fictional works by one author),  Married people, fiction,  New york (n.y.), fiction,  Fiction, family life,  Man-woman relationships, fiction,  American literature,  Large type books,  Romance fiction,  Chang pian xiao shuo,  Fiction, family life, general,  Fiction, general,  Triangle (Relations humaines),  Romans, nouvelles,  Couples mariés,  Classes supérieures,  Civilization,  Women,  Socialites,  archer,  innocence,  age,  madame,  olenska,  der,  newland,  beaufort,  welland,  van,  van der,  madame olenska,  der luyden,  young man,  countess olenska,  newland archer,  ellen olenska,  archer felt,  lovell mingott,  der luydens,  Long Now Manual for Civilization,  Man-woman relationships

People: Edith Wharton (1862-1937)

Places: New York (N.Y.),  New York (State),  New York,  New England,  United States,  mei guo

Times: 19th century,  xian dai