The Age Of Innocence
The Age of Innocence, first published in 1920, is a novel set in the elite society of 1870s New York. It follows Newland Archer, a young lawyer engaged to the conventional May Welland, as he becomes captivated by her cousin, the free-spirited Countess Ellen Olenska, who has scandalously separated from her European husband. Through Archer's inner conflict between duty and passion, Wharton explores the rigid social codes and moral dilemmas of the time, offering a sharp critique of the superficiality and constraints of the American upper class. The novel won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
