The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870's New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. In fact, Wharton considered this novel an "apology" for her earlier novel, The House of Mirth, which was more brutal and critical. Not...

A classic love triangle, set in 19th century rural New England.

Presents a collection of eleven critical essays on Edith Wharton's "The Age of Innocence" from a variety of noted literary scholars and contains an introductory essay by Harold Bloom and chronology.

Readings of excerpts from and critical analysis of Wharton's The age of innocence, a novel about the upper classes of New York and the story of Newland Archer's love for Countess Olenska.

Contains a representative selection of critical essays on the fiction of Edith Wharton arranged in chronological order.

Story of the manners and morals of New York society in the later 1800's, focusing on a handsome young lawyer who cannot decide between passion and propriety in his women.