„h Wharton¡¦s presentation of the restrictions society placed on its members.

„h Wharton¡¦s view of society as presented through her creation of characters such as Ellen and Archer

„h Her treatment of the influential characters who make up the collective voice of that society.

¡§If things go on at this pace¡¦, Lefferts thundered, looking like a young prophet dressed by Poole and who had not yet been stoned, ¡¥we shall see our children fighting for invitations to swindlers¡¦ houses, and marrying Beauforts bastards¡¨

In this statement we see Lawrence Lefferts describing what he thinks will happen, if the ¡¥New Rich¡¦ are allowed to break any further into the circle of New York society. I think that this quotation shows us how the society in ¡¥Old New York¡¦ was disintegrating. The members of society could see the demise of their world; therefore society began to withdraw into itself a

Ellen knows that she can¡¦t be with Archer, society will not allow them to be together. They could go somewhere else, where society was not so rigid, but Ellen knows that Archer would never be happy. She tries to explain to him that she cannot help loving him and that the least painful way for her to do that is to let him go. I think the most important influence in this sacrifice is society. Society has been personified in the novel and almost becomes a character. Wharton presents us an image of this character coming between Ellen and Archer. Society rallies around May and forms a collective. This body comes between Ellen and Archer and pushes them apart. Banishing Ellen and trapping Archer so that he cannot follow. The way Archer describes his life with May makes us think of their marriage as ¡¥one long sacrifice¡¦ on his part. The chapter is long and descriptive which shows us how he feels:

Wharton characterises herself in Ellen and Archer. She shows us how she wished to conform; to be part of the group and society through the character of Archer. I think she is trying to convey to us the moral courage it took for her to break free from the society in which she grew up. I think this is shown in the fact that Archer does not have that courage. He cannot break away and free himself. He refuses to leave May and be with Ellen. Even when May is dead and society has moved on, he will not break away. In my opinion he is too wrapped up in society, he lacks the courage to live by his own rules and therefore stays where he is given guidelines. Through Ellen, Wharton shows us how she longed to be free of the society, how she wished to be herself rather than who she was told to be. She wanted to become a writer, this was not socially acceptable and therefore she was forced to make a choice ¡V conform or be pushed out. Indeed Wharton, like Ellen, could NOT keep up the pretence, she could not stay in New York and allow herself to be suppressed. We can see another example of this in Nathaniel Hawthorne¡¦s ¡§The Scarlet Letter¡¨ Through the character of Hester, Hawthorne teaches us to be true to ourselves ¡V this is the only way we can find true happiness.

Some topics in this essay:
Ellen Archer, Ellen Olenska, Archer Ellen, Lawrence Lefferts, Banishing Ellen, Luyden York, Wharton Ellen, Roman Wall¡¨, Count Olenski, Edith Wharton, york society, ellen archer, van der, van der luydens, der luydens, ¡¥the age, break free, ellen olenska, own happiness, lawrence lefferts, archer ellen, ellen dead society, society rules etiquette, own happiness may¡¦s, society 1870s york,