The Age of Innocence 1125his and Ellen’s relationship, and in this Wharton may
be seen to indicate that this is as much a part of love
as passion.
Sherah Wells
SocIaL cLaSS in The Age of Innocence
Social class is never highlighted in The Age of Inno-
cence; rather, it is taken for granted as an underlying
element of the New York society which Newland
Archer inhabits. To be a member of society, and
thus belong to the upper class, one must belong to
the “right” family and adhere to the rules of “form”
and “good taste.” Through her transgression of these,
Madame Olenska complicates the idea that one pre-
supposes the other.
Wharton describes the network of family con-
nections in relation to social class as “a slippery pyra-
mid” with a “firm foundation of what Mrs. Archer
called ‘plain people.’ ” Above them in the pyramid is
a “wealthy but inconspicuous substratum” that sup-
ports the “compact and dominant group” to which
the Archers, Wellands, and Mingotts belong. How-
ever, none of these families belong to the aristocracy,
and while their ancestors accomplished many things,
according to Mrs. Archer, “they have nothing to
do with rank or class. New York has always been a
commercial community, and there are not more than
three families in it who can claim an aristocratic
origin in the real sense of the word,” these being the
van der Luydens and two other families. Although
the nuances of these different groups are many, they
all may be described as highly respectable, and it is
on this point that the definition of social class in the
novel actually turns.
Madame Olenska is unaware of this, however,
having lived most of her life in Europe. The first
house she rents is in a Bohemian quarter. Artists are
not disreputable by definition, but they carry with
them a certain stigma, according to New York soci-
ety. Therefore, Archer thinks that “it was certainly a
strange quarter to have settled in. Small dress-mak-
ers, bird-stuffers, and ‘people who wrote’ were her
nearest neighbours.” This is bad enough, but then
Madame Olenska accepts an invitation from the
duke of St. Austrey to visit Mrs. Lemuel Struthers
on a Sunday evening to listen to music. This evening
entertainment is not respectable, and Newland’s and
May’s families cannot understand why Ellen would
go to such a place.
It is interesting to note that both Madame Olen-
ska and the duke go to Mrs. Struthers simply for
the entertainment. The duke is a relative of the van
der Luydens and, incidentally, one of their claims to
aristocratic gentility. He and Ellen know each other
from their time in Europe. Although they have
“titles” and might presumably belong to a higher
social class than the other members of New York
society, they are more democratic in their tastes and
less governed by arbitrary rules of form. It is at this
point in the narrative that the reader begins to see, as
does Newland, the extent to which the rules of class
in New York are arbitrary.
Transgression of social class serves as a point
of contention within the plot, but the markers
of the “upper” class serve as points of reference
for Newland and Ellen’s relationship. One of the
most prominent of these in the novel is the opera,
a form of entertainment that stands in stark con-
trast to Mrs. Struthers’s intimate gatherings in her
home. The novel opens with a scene at the opera
in which New York society is scandalized to learn
that the Mingott family has brought Madame
Olenska, with her questionable background, to the
family box. Later, when Newland has gone to see
The Shaughraun at the theater, a scene from the
play reminds him of a solitary moment he shared
with Ellen. He has seen the play several times,
but “on the evening in question the little scene
acquired an added poignancy by reminding him—
he could not have said why—of his leave-taking
from Madame Olenska after their confidential talk
a week or ten days earlier.” By identifying Newland
and Ellen with characters in this play, the narra-
tive attempts to align them with the respectable,
“upper” class.
The opera, the theater, and other characteristics
of the upper class are taken for granted by Newland
and the other members of New York society. Yet,
following an accepted set of unspoken rules, they
instinctively know what is respectable and what
is not. Madame Olenska, having been raised in
Europe, does not understand these rules. Therefore,
although she is part of the upper class by birth, she
transgresses the social boundaries of the respectable.