The
age of innocence
|
Book
| Movie
| Discussion
questions
|
Book:
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Movie:
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Discussion
questions:
1. Wharton's title The Age of Innocence was an allusion
to a painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds depicting a five-year-old girl. What does this say about Wharton's view of the world
she is writing about in her book? Do you think the title is ironic?
2. Do you think it was difficult to make this book into a
movie? Wharton focuses in her book on the details in
interhuman relationships: glances are thrown across the
room, especially between May and Archer. In addition,
she tells everything in detail about
people's clothes and their houses, because this gives information about
the person himself. How did they solve this problem in
the movie? What do you think of the way this was done?
What do you think about the way it was done in the book?
3.
"Is New York such a labyrinth? I thought it was so straight up and down, like
Fifth Avenue, with all the cross-streets numbered and big honest labels on
everything. Everything is labeled. But everybody is not." a quote from the movie
(1993) Is this truly an age of innocence, according to Wharton? If the age itself isn't
innocent, were there certain people within New York society who were innocent?
In what ways were they innocent?
4.
Ellen feels comfortable with herself and dares to speak out and
criticize society. She says: "It seems stupid to discover America only to make it a copy of another country. Do you think Christopher Columbus would have taken all that trouble just to go to the opera with Larry Lefferts? I think if he knew Lefferts was here the Santa Maria would never have left."
Describe the differences between Newland's outlook on society and Ellen's. What do their views have in common? On what grounds do they differ?
5.
What do you think of Newland Archer: what are some of his character flaws? Do Newland Archer's character flaws ultimately prevent him from having a relationship with Ellen Olenska? Or was the relationship, weighed down by New York moral codes doomed before it even began?
6.Wharton has often been criticized for making her male protagonists into weak, spineless creatures, dominated by the values and morals of upper class women. In what ways is the New York society of the novel a woman's world?
7.
Though it was for the most part well received, at least one influential critic
thought The Age of Innocence was irrelevant to the larger issues of its day. A
recurring criticism of Wharton's work was that it was
largely concerned with the trivial concerns of trivial people. Do you agree with these criticisms? If not,
what gives Wharton's subject matter its larger significance?
8.
One of the most famous quotes by Wharton is: "Life is the saddest thing there
is, next to death", which is not exactly an example of positive thinking. Do you
think The Age of Innocence can be regarded as a tragedy? Why or why not?
Do
you want to discuss this book or
others? Join
the group.
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