Character Clues
Character Analysis
Social Status
The Age of Innocence is what some might call a novel of manners: it focuses in on all the rules, rituals, values, and yes, manners of a particular society. The novel introduces us to the characters and the complicated social hierarchy of New York. Knowing, for example, that the van der Luydens are socially at the top of the ladder can help you understand why their opinion is so important to everyone, and why getting an invitation to their dinner table is such a big deal.
This means sometimes you have to wade through a sea of (important) names, as in the following quote:
The Lannings survived only in the person of two very old but lively Miss Lannings, who lived cheerfully and reminiscently among family portraits and Chippendale; the Dagonets were a considerable clan, allied to the best names in Baltimore and Philadelphia; but the van der Luydens, who stood above all of them, had faded into a kind of super-terrestrial twilight, from which only two figures impressively emerged; those of Mr. and Mrs. Henry van der Luyden. (6.18)
The references to lineage and the constant name-dropping might be daunting, but we get the point: nobody else has the raw social power and old money that the van der Luydens do. The van der Luydens get what they want.
Direct Characterization
The third-person narrator of The Age of Innocence isn't afraid to tell you exactly what you should think about each character. The narrator tells you that Lawrence Lefferts is a hypocrite so that you can view his rants about morality with skepticism; the novel tells you that the Marchioness Manson is emotionally and mentally unstable so that you know that following her advice on love is a bad idea.
Edith Wharton lays on the snark when talking about the Marchioness:
Poor Medora, repeatedly widowed, was always coming home to settle down (each time in a less expensive house), and bringing with her a new husband or an adopted child; but after a few months she invariably parted from her husband or quarreled with her ward, and, having got rid of her house at a loss, set out again on her wanderings. (8.3)
The narrator also helpfully characterizes the physical appearance of each character in a way that represents the character's inner personality. Larger than life Mrs. Manson Mingott is literally larger than life: a woman so obese that she installed her bedroom on the ground floor since she couldn't make it up the stairs. But she's also directly characterized as a bombastic force to be reckoned with:
She seemed in no hurry to have them come, for her patience was equaled by her confidence. (4.2)
There are nuanced asides aplenty when it comes to characterization in The Age of Innocence, but there's also tons of good old-fashioned direct characterization. If the character is a tool, trust Edith Wharton to say, "This guy is a tool." (Well, maybe not in those words.)
Thoughts and Opinions
The novel spends a lot of time dwelling in Newland Archer's head, and his thoughts and opinions help us understand his inner conflict over his love for Madame Olenska. We can also tell much about the other characters when they express their own thoughts and opinions.
When May condescendingly calls Newland "clever" and "original," we understand that she doesn't value cleverness and originality as Newland does. Check out this snippet of dialogue:
"Newland! You're so original!" [May] exulted. [...]
"Original! We're all as like each other as those dolls cut out of the same folded paper. We're like patterns stenciled on a wall. Can't you and I strike out for ourselves, May?" [...]
"Mercy— shall we elope?" she laughed.
"If you would—"
"You DO love me, Newland! I'm so happy."
"But then—why not be happier?"
"We can't behave like people in novels, though, can we?"
"Why not—why not—why not?" [...]
"I'm not clever enough to argue with you. But that kind of thing is rather—vulgar, isn't it?" (10.5)
Yup, we have those thoughts and opinions clearly delineated here, in dialogue form. For all the unspoken rules of the world Newland and May live in, there's a lot that is spoken. It helps us navigate the world more smoothly, and it helps us know exactly whom we're dealing with.