The Age of Innocence as a Bildungsroman
The Psychological Growth of Newland Archer
Edith Wharton’s protagonist in The Age of Innocence is a classic example of a Bildungsroman hero. Bildungsroman is a literary term that literally means, a novel of formation.
The Novel as Bildungsroman
Cambridge Encyclopedia describes the plot arc of a Bildungsroman novel: “To spur the hero onto his or her journey, some form of loss or discontent must jar him or her at an early stage away from the home or family setting. The process of maturing is long, arduous, and gradual, consisting of repeated clashes between the protagonist's needs and desires and the views and judgments enforced by an unbending social order. Eventually, the spirit and values of the social order become manifest in the protagonist, who is then accommodated into society. The novel ends with an assessment by the protagonist of himself/herself and his/her new place in that society.”
Newland Archer’s Journey Within New York Society
Suzanne Hader of The Victorian Web suggests that the hero’s journey occurs within the context of a defined social order and is at heart "search for meaningful existence within society."
Newland Archer’s journey occurs against the backdrop of New York Society. The novel gives an in depth description of the nature of New York Society and even names the authorities on social graces and social form. However, despite the rigid nature of Newland’s social context, the social structure is not clearly delineated. "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. (44)
While Newland believes in the social forms of New York, he “felt himself distinctly superior to these chosen specimens of Old New York gentility.” (8)
Countess Olenska the Source of Discontent
One of the most important pieces in the Society game is marriage. Who you marry is extremely important. As a result, marriage is one of the benchmarks by which the reader can measure Newland’s journey through New York Society. After an unsettling discussion regarding the possibility of the Countess divorcing her husband, Newland finds himself reviewing his opinions regarding marriage.
“What if…they should tire of each other, misunderstand or irritate each other? He reviewed his friend’s marriages—the supposedly happy ones—and saw that none answered, even remotely, to the passionate and tender comradeship which he pictured as his permanent relation with May Welland….he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together by ignorance on the one side and hypocrisy on the other.” (43-44)
The judgmental behavior of New York Society against the Countess causes Newland to begin to consider the issue of personal freedom versus social conformity. In a fit of anger at all those who would condemn the Countess to return to a brutal husband, Newland cries out “‘Women ought to be free—as free as we are,’ he declared, making a discovery of which he was too irritated to measure the terrific consequences.” (41)
Personal Desires Versus Social Order
While Newland begins speculating on the nature of personal freedom and toying with the idea of pursuing it for himself, he meets with the Countess in the official capacity of lawyer. It isn’t long before Newland finds himself advocating the actions that he had argued against a short time before. He warns her that “Our legislation favors divorce—our social customs don’t.” (108)
When the Countess begs “But my freedom—is that nothing?”(109) He reminds her that her personal freedom and actions can have unpleasant consequences for the rest of her family his remarks convince her and she returns to the social party line.
Newland Archer’s Place in Society
While Newland initially presses Countess Olenska to hold the society line, he soon finds himself falling in love with her because she is different and he cannot have her. He makes the separation between them even more definitive by rushing into marriage with May. Despite, his inaccessibility or perhaps because of it Newland and the Countess fall more deeply in love through a drawn-out series of tortured encounters. While Newland and the Countess never consummate their passion, New York Society assumes that they are having a torrid love affair.
Ultimately, the marriage and the social conformity that Newland impresses upon himself and the Countess are their undoing. May reveals to the Countess that she is pregnant because she knows the Countess will behave honorably and leave Newland to take care of his family. After the Countess leaves, Newland spends the rest of his life living up to societal expectations.
Newland Assesses His Life With May
At the opposite end of his life, Newland considers his past. After May dies he mourns her “Their long years together had shown him that it did not so much matter if marriage was a dull duty, as long as it kept the dignity of a duty: lapse from that, it became a mere battle of ugly appetites.” (339)
Newland realized that May had never changed she was “generous, faithful, unwearied; but so lacking in imagination, so incapable of growth, that the world of her youth had fallen into pieces and rebuilt itself without her every being conscious of the change. This hard bright blindness had kept her immediate horizon apparently unaltered.” (340) Newland’s prophesy of ignorance on one side and hypocrisy on the other had come to fruition. Newland had remained ignorant of May’s true nature until his son reveals her knowledge of his desires and dreams. May had maintained a brilliant hypocrisy for her entire life.
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. D. Appleton and Company. 1991.
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