The Age of Innocence

Originally published in 1920, first as a serial in the Pictorial Review and then as a book by D. Appleton, The Age of Innocence went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, making Wharton the first woman to achieve such a distinction. The plot centres upon the love interests of the principal character, Newland Archer as he navigates his way between his attraction for two different women, May Welland, an American debutante who is both eligible yet in all respects mundane, and Countess Olenska, a European aristocrat trapped in a loveless marriage who holds the promise of excitement and fulfilment. On the surface, the novel is an examination of society mores, covering subjects including infidelity, desire and the issue of divorce. Where it differs from other novels in the Wharton oeuvre, especially The House of Mirth, is in concentrating on the man in between, the one who might, from the perspective of May Welland, be the source of ire, or from the perspective of Olenska, the one who might cause the stigma of divorce.