Age_Of_Innocence

Age Of Innocence Look again at Chapter One, which presents Old New York coming under threat from the forces of change. Edith Wharton noted that she wished to establish, from the very opening pages of the novel, a sense of the certain ‘doom’, which faced her characters. On the other hand an early review of the novel argued that “The plot is unobvious” Evaluate how effective you think this chapter is introducing the reader to the novel. The Age of Innocence was published in 1920, but is set in the time and the place of Edith Wharton’s girlhood, New York in the 1870’s. Wharton draws our attention, quite straightforwardly, to the fact that she is writing a historical novel – and writing a historical novel is only really possible if dramatic differences mark out one period from another. This suggests change and may relate to the ‘certain doom’, which lingers over her characters. Chapter One concerns itself with change but also with the consequences of the failure to change, in both personal and cultural terms. Could this failure to change or fear of change be the ‘certain doom’, which Wharton has referred to' From the very beginning york, society, new, wharton, change, novel, archer, sense, old, strong, out, one, gives, give, chapter, certain, writing, wharton’s, very, suggests, seen, same, reader, innocence, even, edith, doom’, characters, another, ‘new, ‘doom’, woman, time, threat