LITERATURE PAPER ONE LECTURE EIGHT newlyweds THE THE AGE OF INNOCENCE CHAPTERS 19 - 22
Chapter Outline Ch 18 The ‘Separation’ Ch 19 The Wedding Ch 20 London (Mrs Carfry and M. Riviere) Ch 21 Newport Archery Club + Mrs M’s + The shore Ch 22 Looking for Ellen I (The Blenkers) Ch 23 Looking for Ellen II (Boston)
WEDDING BELLS M A RRI AGE A S S OC I AL CO N S T R U C T I NS EPA RA B LE FRO M CER E M O N I AL P R OC E S S I ON
N A RRAT I V E S T RU CT U RE BOOK ONE BOOK TWO Winter evening Morning in spring ‘still content’, ‘ clung ’ ‘lively spring wind ’ Madame Nilsson (European) All the old ladies (New York) ‘faded’, ‘yellowing’, ‘burst of love triumphant’ ‘bitter smell of camphor’ J UX TA P OS I T I ON OF CHA PT ERS 1 & 1 9
S A E G A I R R A M RITE OF PASSAGE
PAG E 3 9 VAN DER LUYDENS SPICERS JACKSONS LEFFERTSES PLAIN PEOPLE ny P Y R A M I D
J U L I U S B EAUFO RT JUXTAPOSITION REG I N A B EAUFO RT
There was no better match in New York New York There w than May Welland, look at the question question than M from whatever point you chose. Of course f course from wh Newland such a marriage was only what Newland such a was entitled to; but young men are so foolish o foolish was entit and incalculable—and some women so omen so and inc ensnaring and unscrupulous—that it was t it was ensnarin nothing short of a miracle to see one's ee one's nothing only son safe past the Siren Isle and in the d in the only son haven of a blameless domesticity. . haven of C LOS E AN A LYS IS
S O C I A L FORM MARRIAGE S O C I A L I N S T I T U T I O N ADJECTIVES PARATAXIS SATIRE
T N unnecessary E D U T abundant repetitive S T I L / excessive E C U A S copious E T N M E O D S U E T W S A T rich I L - N O N repeated / L O O T / L O O F profuse cumuluative rec u ring frequent use of
The narrative interjection (‘or equally painful’) is typically ironic in tone, revealing Archer’s suppressed contempt for the much-treaded ‘path’ he is taking. The third-person pronoun, ‘one’ possibly reflects the narrator’s (and Wharton’s) critical perspective. COPY THE POINTS
The comparison of marriage to a ‘labyrinth’ conveys the complexity and circularity of Newland’s ‘path’. More importantly, the metaphor suggests that Newland has ‘guided’ himself into this ensnarement / trap. COPY THE POINTS
M A RRI AG E A S A PRISON ‘O B EDI ENCE’ TO M ATERI AL AN D S O C I AL I N T E R E S T S
opera MOTIF PER FO RM A N CE // EN D L E SS R E P E T I T I ON / / E N C LOS U R E
your turn The narrative interjection ‘no, pews’... The repetition of ‘the same’ suggests that.. Archer’s sardonic tone ... ‘already prepared for them in another world .’
‘MUST’ OBLIG AT IO N had tried IN DIV IDUA L D ESI RE ‘BUT’ SON-IN-LAW ‘ALWAYS’ FAM ILIAL ‘D U T Y’ TRAD I TI ON CHAPTERS 20 AND 21
ellen T H E ‘ G H O S T ’ O F THE VS NEW YORK ‘MACHINE’ O L E N S K A
‘discarded’ ‘reverted’ OPPRESSION STUFFY STIFLING
archer’s MISREADING F E R T I L I T Y / D O M E S T I C I T Y A N A I D H U N T I N G may W ill the real underlying ‘REALITY’ WELL A N D please stand up?
marchioness M E D O R A M A N S O N “To me the only death is monotony “ T A S T E F O R ‘ F O R E I G N N E S S ’ U N C O N V E N T I O N A L I D I O S Y N C R A T I C
The ‘death’ motif WHAT I S THE P R EVI O US MOTI F US ED BY A R C HER TO D ES C R I B E HI S F UTUR E? WHAT I S BEI N G S UG G ES TED A B O UT A R C HER ’S M A R R I AG E? ‘Visions’ of Ellen I N WHAT WAYS I S ELLEN P RES ENTED AS A ‘L I VI N G PR E S E N C E ’ I N H I S M I N D ? WHAT I S THE EF F EC T AN D S I G N I F I C A N C E O F THE ‘S TO R Y’?
perpetually perpetually perpetually reality perpetually SURREAL perpetually
WHAT AM I? A SON-IN- LAW struggling with a new ‘identity’
‘the brief scene on the shore, when he had stood irresolute, blood in his veins.’ halfway down the bank, was a close to him as the
M A RRI AG E A S PA RT O F T HE POWERFUL ENGINE OF O L D N EW YO RK
The ‘hunger’ metaphor ...accentuates his desperation or even absolute need to be with Ellen. The melodramatic style ...also foreshadows the renewed pursuit of Ellen for the remainder of Book Two.
“We’ll look, not at visions, but at REALITIES ” Archer will chase the VISIONS that are his only ‘reality’.
Conclusion The promise of maturation that marriage might bring in the opening of Book Two is evidently unrealised. Presented in various parts as a ‘stifling’ room that threatens to bring ‘death’ via monotony, marriage is set up more as a social obligation and observance than a consecration of romantic love.
Despite relegating his passion for Ellen Olenska to a ‘ghost’ of a memory, the suffocation he endures in the Welland household turns his eye back towards the past. In Ch 22-23, Archer pursues Ellen to Boston, so that as one might imagine, he can escape being a ‘prisoner’ of Old New York.
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