The age of innocence

Nederlands (English below)

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was zelf afkomstig uit de New Yorkse upper-class waaruit ze inspiratie putte voor haar Pulitzer Prizewinnende The age of innocence (1920), dat zich afspeelt tijdens de Gilded Age in de late negentiende eeuw. Wharton schetst een verstikkend aristocratisch milieu van ongeschreven conventies en schone schijn – the way of people who dreaded scandal more than disease, who placed decency above courage, and who considered that nothing was more ill-bred than ‘scenes’, except the behaviour of those who gave rise to them.

De sociale spelregels schrijven de upper-class een bijna puriteins protocol voor, waarin geen ruimte is voor de progressieve wetgeving die het land voor de buitenwereld kenmerkt. Newland Archer handelt conform door met May Welland te trouwen, een keurig meisje dat zich schikt naar de sociale verwachtingen.

What could he and she really know of each other, since it was his duty, as a ‘decent’ fellow, to conceal his past from her, and hers, as a marriageable girl, to have no past to conceal?

Wanneer Ellen Olenska uit Europa terugkeert na een ongelukkig huwelijk, wordt Newland zich bewust van zijn juk. Ellen weigert zich te herenigen met haar man en neemt intrek in een ‘boheemse’ wijk, tot schande van haar familie. Terwijl de raderen van de bovenklasse hun werk doen, twijfelt Newland aan zijn toekomst met May: leven of bestaan, dat is de vraag.

As she sat thus, the lamplight full on her clear brow, he said to himself with a secret dismay that he would always know the thoughts behind it, that never, in all the years to come, would she surprise him by an unexpected mood, by a new idea, a weakness, a cruelty or an emotion.

Wharton heeft haar wereld scherp geobserveerd. Halverwege het verhaal verwijst ze naar [b:Middlemarch|730488|Middlemarch|George Eliot|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530955066l/730488.SY75.jpg|1461747] van George Eliot, waar het mij inderdaad ook aan deed denken vanwege de mogelijk desastreuze gevolgen van het huwelijk voor een vrouw. Daarnaast geeft The age of innocence een goed tijdbeeld van het New York van anderhalve eeuw geleden. Wat me opviel is dat Wharton de opkomende stad vooral karakteriseert in verhouding tot Londen en Parijs, toen nog van aanmerkelijk grotere klasse. De Europese herkomst van de stad resoneert in namen als Beaufort en Van der Luyden en hoewel de upper-class prat gaat op haar Amerikaans-zijn, flirt ze met adellijke inborst en de mos van de Europese elite. Dat Wharton met dit boek de eerste vrouwelijke winnaar van de Pulitzer Prize was, doet recht aan dit boek.

English

The age of innocence provides a rare peek in late 19th century New York during the Gilded Age. Edith Wharton grew up in an upper class environment herself, and translated her sharp observations into a stunning reflection on stifling conventions in an emerging, liberal city that was still far from what it would become decades later. I did not only enjoy her realistic style, but also the manner in which she portrays her characters in the midst of history. Wharton flirts with European culture, yet wrote above all a very American Great Novel.

There is more blushing in this novel than I have encountered elsewhere. The blush seems to be the main mode of expression, since the characters cannot say anything clearly to each other. Newland Archer often "starts" and then says 1/3 to 1/2 of a sentence in anger that quickly evaporates. I'll have to see the movie now to see if Daniel Day Lewis says anything. I also found Newland's attraction to the Countess to be quite mysterious. It is the central undiscussed mystery of the story. I know that life often works that way, but if you are writing a novel you could say something about the crush besides that she doesn't mind living in the same city block as artists do, and that she can decorate a room with only a single feather and blown flowers.

Here is my favorite quote, a description of Boston:

"The streets near the station were full of the smell of beer and coffee and decaying fruit and a shirt-sleeved populace moved through them with the intimate abandon of boarders going down the passage to the bathroom."

Here is what I wrote in my journal at the time I read it:

>>Once I started it, I plodded through it to the end. I had to read it in graduate school. I must say that I found the ending to be a poignant one. I initially resisted the novel because it appeared to be a "teacup tragedy." And the image of the tea cups along with the formal dinners and the social gatherings seem to confirm this. Yet I found Edith Wharton to be more readable than Henry James [I had to read James as well for that class]. One thing I found interesting about the novel was the depiction of social codes and language. Characters would converse but often what was left unsaid was more significant.<<

I only gave it two stars not because it is bad, but because, it was, well "ok," which is what two stars is. I can say I read it, but I am not likely to revisit it anytime soon.