Setting

Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence is set in upper-class New York City society during the 1870s, an era known as the Gilded Age. Fueled by rapid economic growth, this was a time marked by both ostentatious displays of wealth and rigid social conventions among the elite, especially for women. The novel vividly depicts the lavish lifestyles, intricate social rituals, and stifling moral codes of New York's aristocratic families during this period.

While the story primarily unfolds in New York City, it ventures to other notable locales of the time. Parts of the novel take place in Newport, Rhode Island, a summer retreat for the wealthy where characters escape the city heat. Additionally, some scenes occur in St. Augustine, Florida. There are also references to European destinations like Paris, reflecting the characters' cosmopolitan lifestyles and travels.

Within New York City, Wharton paints a detailed picture of the exclusive social world inhabited by her characters. Key settings include opulent Fifth Avenue mansions, the Academy of Music opera house, fashionable restaurants, and private clubs. The novel contrasts the old money strongholds of lower Fifth Avenue with the newer, more lavish homes further uptown, subtly highlighting the social changes occurring as “new money” families attempt to integrate into established society.

Characters

• Newland Archer: The protagonist, a young lawyer from a wealthy New York family. He struggles between his duty to society and his passion for Ellen Olenska. Newland begins to question the rigid social customs he was raised to conform to as he falls in love with Ellen. His internal conflict drives much of the novel's drama and social critique.
• May Welland: Newland's fiancée and later wife. She embodies the ideal of innocence and propriety valued by New York high society. Though initially seeming naïve, May proves to be more perceptive and cunning than Newland realizes. Her actions to preserve her marriage reveal hidden depths beneath her conventional exterior.
• Countess Ellen Olenska: May's unconventional cousin who returns to New York after leaving her unhappy marriage in Europe. Ellen's free-spirited nature and disregard for societal rules both fascinate and trouble Newland. She becomes the object of his passion and represents an alternative to the restrictive world he inhabits.
• Mrs. Manson Mingott: May and Ellen's grandmother, a formidable matriarch who wields significant social influence. Her acceptance of Ellen helps smooth the countess's return to New York society.
• Mrs. Augusta Welland: May's mother, who has carefully molded her daughter to fit society's expectations. She represents the older generation's commitment to tradition and propriety.
• Lawrence Lefferts: A society man known as an expert on manners. He often acts as a mouthpiece for social conventions.
• Sillerton Jackson: The main purveyor of gossip in New York society. He knows the intricate details of every family's history and connections.
• Julius Beaufort: A brash, nouveau-riche banker who pursues Ellen. His eventual financial ruin and social disgrace demonstrate the precarious nature of status in New York society.
• Janey Archer: Newland's unmarried sister who lives vicariously through society gossip. She represents the limited options available to women of her class.
• Henry and Louisa van der Luyden: The most powerful couple in New York society. Their rare social appearances carry great weight in determining acceptability.

Quick facts

• The Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making Edith Wharton the first woman to win this prestigious award.
• The novel was initially serialized in four parts in Pictorial Review magazine in 1920 before being published as a book.
• Wharton wrote The Age of Innocence in her 50s, after she was already an established author.
• The title is believed to be inspired by a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds called “The Age of Innocence."
• The story is set in the Gilded Age of the 1970s, drawing on Wharton's own childhood in upper-class New York society.
• Wharton wrote the novel partly as an escape to revisit the world of her youth, which she felt had been destroyed by World War I.
• The character of Mrs. Manson Mingott was inspired by Wharton's own great-great-aunt, Mary Mason Jones.
• Wharton wrote the book while living in France.
• The novel has been adapted for the stage multiple times, including a 1928 Broadway production starring Katharine Cornell.
• Perhaps the most famous screen adaptation of The Age of Innocence is the 1993 Martin Scorsese film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards and won for Best Costume Design.

About the author

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a prolific and acclaimed American author. Born into a wealthy New York family, she drew on her insider's knowledge of upper-class society to realistically portray life in the Gilded Age in her fiction. Some of her best known works include The House of Mirth, The Age of Innocence, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921, and Ethan Frome.

Publishing her first novel at the age of 40, Wharton went on to have an extraordinarily productive writing career. In addition to her 15 novels, she wrote numerous novellas, short stories, and poems. Many of her stories deal with themes of social expectations, repressed desires, and the manners of old New York families. Wharton was known for her subtle use of irony and her astute critiques of the society she grew up in.

Beyond her literary career, Wharton was an influential tastemaker. She co-authored The Decoration of Houses in 1897, which became a foundational text of interior design. Wharton was well-traveled, crossing the Atlantic more than 60 times. During World War I, she was a dedicated supporter of the French war effort, establishing charities and hospitals. For her wartime work, she was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government. Many of her novels have been adapted into films, television series, and plays over the years. She was commemorated on a US postage stamp in 1980.