In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, we are given a look into the lifestyle of high society in New York City. The book begins at the opera where we are introduced to the protagonist, Newland Archer, as he arrives fashionably late as does anyone in the upperclass to make sure they are seen by everyone. While at the opera he along with the rest of the theatre spot an unusual face, Ellen Olenska, cousin of May Welland, Archer’s fiancée. As the book progresses I can already sense brewing tension which I think will soon lead to scandalous circumstances among these high society New Yorkers, and in the upperclass, no scandal stays a secret.
