LECTURE 12 Our T H E A G E O F I N N O C E N C E
R E C A P PA S S A G E - B A S E D Q U E S T I O N SOCIAL ORDER ‘REI G N I NG S OV ER IG N S ’ O F C U STO M SYMBO LS O F A ‘ PRESERV ED ’ , D E AD S O CI ET Y
O B J E C T I V E S R E V I S E CONCERNS METHODS L I N K E D T O ‘ S O C I A L C O N V E N T I O N ’ R E C O N S I D E R PURPOSE I S I T J U S T A C R I T I Q U E O F R I G I D S T R U C T U R E S ? F O R G I V E M R . L I M FOR NOSTALGIA T H I S N A T I O N A L D AY W E E K BONUS - WHY DID WE PICK THE TEXT?
T O P I C H OW FA R D O YO U AG R E E T H AT THE AGE OF INNOCENCE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH SOCIAL CHANGE THAN W I TH STABILITY? 2013 ‘A’ LEVEL Question 2a
T H E S I S R E A D F I R S T A S A S O C I A L CRITIQUE O F O U TM O D E D A N D ME A NINGLE SS RULE S A NOVEL THAT TRACES AND CALLS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE U N D E R STO OD L ATE R A S A N ELEGY FOR A WORLD OF ORDER A WORK OF NOSTALGIA FOR SOCIAL STABILITY
I T I S H E R E T H AT W E B E L O N G … O N E C O M M O N D E S T I N Y New York, Our HOMELAND PAGE 2
C O N T E X T W RIT T EN A F T E R WWI S E T I N 1870s A M E R I C A U N D E R T H E T I T L E OLD NEW YORK S OC I AL COMME N TARY? AU TOB I OG R AP H Y? H I STO R I CA L F I C T I O N ? 2
C O N T E X T A R E T R O S P E C T I V E W O R K A B O U T T H E INNOCENCE O F ‘ O L D - F A S H I O N E D ’ N E W Y O R K T H E TITLE IS BOTH ‘IR ON I C ’ A N D ‘TEN D ER ’ CRITICAL OF APPRECIATIVE OF ‘IMMATURITY’ & ‘SIMPLICITY’ CONSTRAINTS AND ‘PURITY’
W E B U I LT A N AT I O N … R E A C H I N G O U T T O G E T H E R ONE CITY strong and free PAGE 2
C HA P T E R 3 4 ‘ WH AT WA S L E F T O F ‘ HOW FA R T H E L I T T L E WO RL D ’ THEY W E R E ’ FADI NG T EC H N O LO GY ‘ STA N DA RDS ’ D E P I C T I O N O F ‘ C H A N G E ’ A D I F F E R E N T NEW YORK ‘NOBODY ‘ M O RE S I G N S O F ‘ P R O G R E S S ’ R E PR OV ED’ TO LERANT ’ ‘TH ING S GO O N ‘ L A R GE R L I F E ’ AT THI S RAT E’ L E SS ‘ NA R R OW- M I N D E D ’
S Y M B O L O F C HA N G E S ‘ALL SORTS OF A NEW’ L ‘DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM’ L A F O L K O D R B O M Y Y W S Y E N A N D R S ’ I L W O E E T N S ‘ H N I A C G A R N O A I S I R E ’ N D A A M F O O K W E S W N E N N Y O S ‘ E T E T T H I L D T I E O E M S K I C I L R N I T H I O E C R U C L M F Y L L N S U E ’ O O N I V E C O R P I D O T H N W I D I L A B R ‘ T O T 3
A R C HA E O LO G I C A L M O T I F T H E N O V E L A S A MUSEUM O F B E L I E F S , I D E A S & A R T E FAC T S C H A R AC T E R S O F VA R Y I N G S TAT U S TO R ECO R D A N D ‘ STA B IL IS E ’ T H E PA ST
A R C H A E O L O G I C A L M O T I F T H E P A S S I N G O F CIVILISATIONS ‘CESNOLA Antiquities’ ‘TIME-BLURRED SUBSTANCES’ ‘RECoverED FRAGMENTS’ ‘USED TO BE NECESSARY AND IMPORTANT’ C HA P T E R 3 1
T H E N O V E L records T H E L I F E O F OLD NEW YORK S O T HAT W E M AY recognise I T S U S E A N D VA LU E T O S E E ‘ G O O D I N T H E O L D WAY S ’
J E W E L S O N T H E O C E A N , G E M S U P O N T H E S E A New York PARADE PAGE 3
O B S E S S I O N W I T H S O C IA L FO R M W h arto n ’ s LISTS O F C L O T H I N G & D E C O R AT I O N enumeration of adjectives nouns number, colour, material Lilies Lilac EIGHT Sleeve-links GOLD WHITE Scarf-pins CAT’S EYE SAPPHIRE
A P P E A RA N C E C L O T H I N G I S D E S C R I B E D I N CINEMATIC DETAIL PA L E Muslins M O D E S T tulle Chantilly BLACK LACE AND Venetian POINT V E I L T U C K E R 4
C LO T H I N G M AY T H E ‘ I D E A L ’ STATUS F A S H I O N A S A S I G N O F ‘ O R D E R ’ A N D B E L O N G I N G E L L E N T H E ‘ OUTSIDE R’ DEVIANCE
Stage C LO T H I N G + T H E AT R E T H E FO R N E W Y O R K ’ S P R I V I L E G E D C L A S S TO ‘PERFORM’ THEIR SOCIAL CUSTOMs WHARTON’S TRIBUTE TO SA R T O R IA L C U LT U R E
T I M E H A S PA S S E D U S B Y… T H I S W I L L A LWAY S B E O U R P E O P L E In a NEW YORK Heartbeat PAGE 4
T H E I M P O R T A N C E O F Traditions But, in the first place, New York was a metropolis, and perfectly aware that in metropolises it was “not the thing ” to arrive early at the opera; and what was or was not “ the thing ” played a part as important in Newland Archer's New York as the inscrutable totem terrors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago.
T RA D I T I O N SOCIAL T H E TRADITIONS Religiously O F t H E N E W YO R K T R I B E A R E ADHERED AS ‘TOTE M T E RR O RS ’ On the Basis of History ‘D ESTINIES OF HIS FO RE FAT HE RS TH OUSA NDS O F YE ARS AGO ’ WH A RTO N RECO UNTS A T IME W HE RE T HE S E ‘T RIF LE S ’ O NCE RE IGNE D S UP RE M E
I R O N Y T H E N A R RAT O R D E S C R I B E S A COSMOPOLITAN ‘METROPOLIS’ T H AT BE H AV E S LIK E A PRIMITIVE TRIBE THESE REGRESSIVE CODES ‘TRAP’, ‘BURY’ AND ‘ELIMINATE’ ARCHER AND ELLEN I S T H I S A C A L L FO R C HA N G E ?
T O G E T H E R W E M A K E A D I F F E R E N C E , O N E V O I C E , O N E D E S T I N Y New York HEARTS in harmony PAGE 5
A S O C I E T Y O F S E C R E T Codes In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world , where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs ; as when Mrs. Welland, who knew exactly why Archer had pressed her (and had indeed expected him to do no less)…
A R C HA E O LO G I C A L M O T I F A H I E R O G L Y P H I C C O D E O F ANCIENT S I G N S A N D P R A C T I C E S CR UE L A N D S E N S E L E S S AN INDECIPHERABLE CODE TO KEEP OUTSIDERS AWAY 5
J U X TA P O S I T I O N PRETENCE ‘OBLIGED TO SIMULATE’, ‘AIR’ A P P E A R A N C E O F H O S P I TA L I T Y I G N O R I N G T H E U G L Y A N D U N P L E A S A N T H I D D E N B E N E A T H CENSORSHIP ‘NEVER SAID OR DONE OR THOUGHT’
E V I D E N C E ‘IDENTICAL MANNERISMS’ ‘SAME VOCABULARY’ ‘SAME LANGUAGE’ ‘CLING TOGETHER’ ‘BOTH BEEN TRAINED’
I N T E RA C T I V E S E G M E N T P airWor k METHOD I D E N T I F Y T H E OR PATTERN E F F E C T A N A LY S E T H E BASED ON PURPOSE PURPOSE ‘JUDGEMENT’ D E C I D E O N + CONCERN I F S T U C K I N A D I L E M M A 1 ) M E T H O D : D I C T I O N / ‘ L A N G UA G E O F ’ 2 ) C O N C E R N : O L D N Y ’ S ‘ S O C IA L ’
E X A M P L E S E F F E C T S unity affinity closeness PURPOSE memorialise the SOCIAL COHESION of the period
W I T H O U R H A N D S , T H E T O I L O F P E O P L E F R O M A D O Z E N L A N D S That’s the Way That We Will Be PAGE 6
N A R RAT I V E S T R U C T U R E T H E D E V I C E O F DINNERS D RAW S N E W Y O R K ’ S AU T H O R I T Y F I G U R E S TO GET H E R ‘HONOUR’ ‘MANIFOLD IMPLICATIONS’ ‘NO LIGHT MATTER’ 6
G O S S I P C HA P T E R S 5 CHAPTER T O C A S T J U D G E M E N T 26 CHAPTER
S O C IA L O C C A S I O N S 8 CHAPTER T O W E L C O M E A N D E X I L E 33 CHAPTER
FO O D & WA R I M A G E S I N T R U S I O N B Y T H E NOUVEAU RICHE ‘Hot canvas-back ducks’ ‘tight little citadel’ ‘Vintage Wines’ ‘lay siege’ THIS ‘BATTLE’ OF WEALTH RESULTS IN… TOTAL DISINTEGRATION
W E A R E A R A I N B O W O F A T H O U S A N D C O L O U R S One United People A Thousand Eyes PAGE 7
T H E AT R E S E T T I N G T H E ACADEMY O F M U S I C T E N S I O N B E T W E E N F U T U R E A N D P A S T ‘T H E R E WA S A LRE A DY TA LK … O F A N EW O P E RA H OUSE ’ ‘ t h e s e n t i me n ta l clung to it for i ts h i sto r i c ass ociations’ ‘S H A BBY … S O C I A BLE OLD ACA DE MY ’ 7
T H E AT R E M O T I F A S T A T E O F SURVEILLANCE ‘ C O U N T L E S S S I L E N T LY O B S E R V I N G E Y E S A N D P A T I E N T LY L I S T E N I N G E A R S ’ T O M A I N T A I N S T A B I L I T Y
P R I S O N + S U R V E I L L A N C E M O T I FS ‘BA N D ’ ‘A RMED CA MP’ ‘ CO U N T L E S S ’ ‘CONSPIRACY ’ ARCHER I S I M P R I S O N E D BY A N ‘ I N E XO R A B L E ’ R EG I M E
A P L A C E W H E R E I ’ L L B E S A F E A N D WA R M This is Where They Belong PAGE 7
A R C H E R ’ S P E R S P E C T I V E A R C H E R T H E MISFIT W H O S E DISCONTENTMENT ‘RADICAL ’ BELIEFS DESIRE TO BE FREE M A N I F E S T I N W O R D S A S S O C I A T E D W I T H CHANGE
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