#Bookhour: The Age of Innocence

#Bookhour Relaunch – Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence (1920)

On 24 January we relaunched our Twitter-based book discussion, #Bookhour, with Edith Wharton’s classic The Age of Innocence. The date, Wharton’s birthday, was particularly fitting for a discussion of one of the author’s most successful and engaging texts. We were fortunate enough to be joined in the relaunch by our friends from the Transatlantic Literary Women Network; Dr Laura Rattray, Anna Girling, and Chiara Bullen. With their help, the conversations ranged from a powerful defense of the inimitable Ellen Olenska to a slight skewering of the ineffectual Newland Archer. You can catch up on all of the discussions below.

'"We can't behave like people in novels, though, can we?"
"Why not—why not—why not?"'#BookHour kicks off at 8pm tonight! We'll be joined by @drlaurarattray, @Anna_Girling and @bullieob (part of the wonderful @atlantlitwomen) to discuss Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence! pic.twitter.com/Iv0FZAfvze

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Hello! Welcome to #Bookhour! We'll get right into the chat momentarily but first want to introduce you to our experts, all part of the @atlantlitwomen network!

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

.@drlaurarattray is the founder of the Transatlantic Literary Women Series. She is Reader in American Literature at the University of Glasgow and Director of its Hook Centre for American Studies. pic.twitter.com/FMPUD9zAsB

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

.@bullieob is a recent graduate of the MLitt in Publishing Studies course at the University of Stirling. Previously on the committee of the Society of Young Publishers Scotland, she is now the Media Coordinator for Independent Publisher Red Press. pic.twitter.com/DZr9Z5bWgC

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

.@Anna_Girling is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, where she is working on the American writer Edith Wharton. She has a longstanding interest in women’s writing of the early twentieth-century. pic.twitter.com/CUTBwCvybI

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Let's get started with our discussion of The Age of Innocence! The first question we have for you is: do you have any sympathy for May? #bookhour

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

I think I have less sympathy for May as the book progresses, but I do feel furious on her behalf when Archer says "What if, when he had bidden May Welland to open [her eyes], they could only look out blankly at blankness?

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

Yes – May is just as much a product/victim of the system as Ellen, in some ways (although she seems to be a very willing participant in the whole "tribal" system).

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

YES!

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

This is such an interesting question – and in my (Anna here!) experience people react very strongly either way: they LOVE Ellen, and can't bear May, OR they feel sorry for May at having to deal with this interloper stealing her husband… Personally – I am team Ellen. #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

https://twitter.com/bullieob/status/1088529149818535938

I've been going backwards and forwards about this all week! But I think, ultimately, yes. Her last conversation with Dallas makes it difficult not to feel any, despite her slight scheming during her engagement…! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

I should have clarified that I am 100% on side with Ellen (who I adore), but I can't help feeling sympathy for May when she seems so much like a product of her surroundings

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

I was expecting to be in a minority here, but I *do* feel sympathy for May. Well, apart from the pregnancy stunt! She gives Newland a chance to back out…

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

I have to say, Winona Ryder does a great job of making me loathe her in the Scorsese adaptation

— Dr Sarah McCreedy (@SarahAEMcCreedy) January 24, 2019

Next question! Wharton took the title of The Age of Innocence from a Joshua Reynolds painting. To what extent do you think it is ironic? Who, if anyone, can be considered “innocent” in the novel?

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

This is the painting for those interested – I think Wharton would have agreed that its title is perhaps the most compelling thing about it! #bookhour pic.twitter.com/PsaQEdgNfZ

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

But, more seriously, I think that the sentimentality and apparent lack of irony of Reyolds' painting emphasises just how ironic Wharton's title is. #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Although, of course that irony works in various directions – who do we as readers find "innocent"? (Ellen, probably?) And which characters would consider themselves "innocent"? (maybe May? or the whole of Old New York?) #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Absolutely. Although, if there's an innocent bystander in all this then its surely Janey! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

YES!! She is the embodiment of innocence – you're so right (poor Janey). In which case does innocence mean stagnation? Barrenness? #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Amazing point! I also think that the link to the painting highlights the relative youth of NY society, a fact it's always hyper self-conscious about. Thinking of alllllll those derisory references to European cultural centers #BookHour

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

Yes! Youthful – and thefore innocent (in their own idea of themselves)? Which fits with the "city on the hill" idea of America… And yes – all those decadent and/or cold and dull European cities…! #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Love this belter from the Marchioness: "Ah, New York—New York—how little the life of the spirit has reached it!" #bookhour

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

Okay, onto question 3! Katherine Mansfield suggested in this novel “family comprises the whole of New York society”. Is The Age of Innocence ultimately critical of “family”? #bookhour

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Critical of family whilst simultaneously relying on solid family foundations to keep up appearances/function in that society. I enjoyed Newland's reflections on how the younger generation didn't follow in these footsteps and subsequently weren't at each other's throats! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

Yeah, I think it's critical of the family as a constraining force, so the family when it functions as a public tool to enforce accepted social norms? If that makes any sense?

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

This is tricky…! On one hand, absolutely yes. The old NY families are pretty monstrous, & cause all kinds of unnecessary cruelties – for what? But then there is Mrs Manson Mingott (surely the beating heart of the novel?!), and it is family that resuces Ellen from her marriage.

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Let's get back to some discussion of the characters. What do you think of Ellen? Why is she an outsider? #bookhour

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Well, she grew up abroad, but it's not just that… She is friends with people from outside "the family", and treats her servant as an equal – she is instinctive and autonomous, rather than just fulfilling a predetermined role?

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

.@atlantlitwomen #teamellen all the way! One of Wharton's exceptional women. She's a threat to New York society (and way too good for Newland!) #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

She's way too good for any man tbh! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

I don't know – I have a vision of Ellen in Paris at the end, holding court with a lot of much younger, fabulous gay men who would wipe the floor intellectually with Newland (as Wharton herself did!). #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Hahaha absolutely. Although, did feel a bit sorry for Newland at the end, even though Ellen absolutely deserved to be living her best life!

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

telling it like it is…#bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

Great discussion, likely useful for anyone in my Good Good Girls module, we’ll be talking about this novel in a couple of weeks! https://t.co/74ERiyfJjC

— Dr Rachael McLennan (@RachMcLennan) January 24, 2019

Based on some of your thoughts on Ellen we might know the answer to this, but what do you think of Newland? Should he have “gone up” at the end of the novel?! Is he one of Wharton’s “unsatisfactory men”? #bookhour

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Almost all of Wharton's men are unsatisfactory in some way (I'm trying to think of an exception…), but then she was writing fully rounded characters and her women tend to not be perfect either! #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

It's really hard to say whether Newland should have "gone up" at the end of the novel. A lot of the novel's force comes from the fact that he doesn't – and if he did, would it spoil everything? His vision of Ellen would be destroyed, as would ours… #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

https://twitter.com/bullieob/status/1088538593423970304

Definitely an unsatisfactory ally! Still a lot of that going around these days (yeah, I said it) #bookhour

— Rachael Alexander (@Rach_Alexa) January 24, 2019

YES. AOI Definitely still relevant in that aspect! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

When I first read this book at 18, I thought Newland was a total tosser, the gutless wonder! But I find it so much more poignant now. OK, he's never in Ellen's league, but there's such a poignancy in his story, the life he's never going to have..#bookhour @atlantlitwomen

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

Think in some ways he’s the novel’s greatest ‘innocent’ – not meaning that as praise!

— Dr Rachael McLennan (@RachMcLennan) January 24, 2019

Yes! "Innocence"as a lack of courage, or imagination? #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Yes, both! So ironic because he thinks he ‘knows’ – leading to inability to understand others and even, arguably, reluctance to own his own narrative – he doesn’t go up!

— Dr Rachael McLennan (@RachMcLennan) January 24, 2019

"It's more real to me here than if I went up" . Affair of the imagination from the beginning in many ways. #bookhour @atlantlitwomen pic.twitter.com/mGtVVv3y05

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

It’s important to consider Newland’s male privilege here. He’s much less of a naturalistic victim than Lily Bart. Yes, there are things that he can’t control, but that doesn’t affect his mortality in any way. It’s certainly a sad ending, but it’s not a tragic one.

— Dr Sarah McCreedy (@SarahAEMcCreedy) January 24, 2019

One more just to wrap things up: what themes/parts of The Age of Innocence interest you most? #bookhour

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

LOVE the opening scene in the theatre when the reader realises the act in the auditorium is more elaborate, scripted than what's happening onstage. Also a court in which women esp are observed and judged. & Ellen will say later that life in US is like being onstage #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

I really enjoy all of Wharton's depictions of divorce and how women navigate society under scrutiny (shout out to my gal Undine Spragg) so the early parts of the novel were definitely a highlight! #bookhour

— Chiara Bullen (@bullieob) January 24, 2019

YES – and May does work those social structures and strictures to her advantage. Cue dinner scene and kinswoman eliminated from the tribe #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

I like to puzzle over how it relates to / comments on WW1

— Dr Rachael McLennan (@RachMcLennan) January 24, 2019

Yes! And I find it intriguing that Wharton is the same age as Newland at the end…

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

Oh I need to think about that!

— Dr Rachael McLennan (@RachMcLennan) January 24, 2019

Granny Mingott forever! Also there's surely a fabulous essay still to be written on Wharton's use of colour #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

Yes – and that's something that is so easily to overlook (I don't think I have ever really thought about colour in the novel – beyond the famous YELLOW ROSES!!) #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

& the insipid lilies of the valley! #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019

The complex social politics of the novel. Gilded Age preoccupations with spectacle and perception, signalled right from the start with the opera. With Wharton, the insignificant always becomes significant

— Dr Sarah McCreedy (@SarahAEMcCreedy) January 24, 2019

One of my favorite novels! When Newland argues for Olenska’s freedom he discloses the contradictions of class, gender, and mobility, which becomes his great lesson: he’s “old fashioned” and contained by a logic that delimits his possibilities in lieu of advocating hers.

— Jayson Baker, Ph.D. (@JaysonBakerPhD) January 25, 2019

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in today's #bookhour, and a special thanks to @atlantlitwomen, @Anna_Girling, @drlaurarattray, and @bullieob! Please feel free to continue commenting 😊📖📚

— U.S. Studies Online (@BAASUSSO) January 24, 2019

Thank you @BAASUSSO and @Rach_Alexa! We've really enjoyed it (and we're glad that we've clarified that #teamellen is the only team that is allowed!). #bookhour

— Transatlantic Literary Women (TLW) (@atlantlitwomen) January 24, 2019

Thank you USSO and Rach! @Anna_Girling's sequel The Age of Experience available from all good booksellers from 2020?! #bookhour

— Laura Rattray (@drlaurarattray) January 24, 2019