Exploring the Irony of The Age of Innocence Title In the aftermath of the First World War‚ Edith Wharton wrote the timeless novel The Age of Innocence‚ serving as a flashback to the period in which Wharton herself was raised. The Age of Innocence story takes place in upper-class New York society during the 1870s and highlights the distinctive social codes of the aristocratic class. Choosing the title The Age of Innocence to represent Wharton’s story is highly ironic due to the sinister characters
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Innocently Wicked Comparative Essay All things truly wicked start from an innocence; the innocence of children‚ the innocence of the hopeful and the innocence of the naive. Comparing the two main characters from Golding’s Lord of the Flies‚ Jack and Ralph‚ we try to understand the true sense of Ralph’s innocence which was stifled on the island‚ and the innocence within Jack which had been lost way before his arrival on the island. Golding introduces the truly innocent character of Ralph
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SUNWAY COLLEGE JOHOR BAHRU VICTORIA UNIVERSITY—ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS ASSIGNMENT 2 ：EXONERATION Group Members : 1. Sim Mao Sheng 11076627 2. Woong Cheun Loy 12014452 3. Gue Seng Wai 12010781 Lecturer : Ms. Vimala Devi Submitted On : 29 May 2012 CONTENT 1. QUESTION 1 2. TABLE OF CONTENT 2 3. INTRODUCTION TO EXONERATION 3 4. CASE ( 1 ) : JIMMY RAY BROMGARD 4 5. CASE ( 1 ) : GROUP OPINION 5 6. CASE ( 2 ) : CHRISTOPHER OCHOA 6
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The Age of Innocence major theme is based around a battle of the individual’s desire and the monotonous life‚ rules and duties that control New York during the eighteen seventies. The conflict is between freedom and society. It was a society “intent on maintaining its own rigid stability”. Each man and woman had its own duties and people were forced to maintain this social code that existed‚ even if they wanted to put their happiness into their own hands. Big decisions were made by group choice not
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The Relevance of Flowers in The Age of Innocence In the book The Age of Innocence‚ Edith Wharton shows the struggles of a man to choose between the safety that following social rules provides‚ and the adventurous dangers of choosing what is regarded as "morally incorrect." The purity and security of social conventions is represented by the lilies-of-the-valley. In the language of flowers these lilies are the embodiment of the "[r]eturn of happiness" (354)‚ and therefore serve as a symbol for the
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“ The Age of Innocence”‚ illustrates a young wealthy lawyer who degress from his life plans to marry May Welland by becoming infatuated with Countess Ellen Olenska‚ who has separated from her European husband. Eventually‚ Archer Newland and lady Olenska become devotedly in love with one another. The forbidden love is displayed as “innocence”; this so called innocence can be portrayed as young girl with lovely little pigtails that can not fulfill any harm‚ but in reality that innocence is a gordian
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systematic destruction of his childhood innocence is a direct result of the cruel actions and betrayals by the people around him. With each action and betrayal more damaging than the last. It is not until the final moments that whatever remains of Michele’s innocence is finally destroyed by the cruelty of his very own father. The one person he trusted and loved the most‚ the man he believed "Was the boss of Acqua Traverse." (p.84) Michele’s innocence is present with the certain thought that
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It is evident that Newland Archer goes through a series of events that define his personality and from which we can deduct the truth. Archer finds redemption in his sons‚ love and pity coming from May. The biggest constant motif of The Age of Innocence is mortality and immortality. When Wharton first describes the characters of New York Society‚ they are always conceived of as immortal in some way. By saying this meaning that she portrays them as being like the mythological Greek antiquity‚ or
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Edith Wharton’s Use of Irony in the Age of Innocence Irony‚ in which meaning is inverted to suggest the opposite of what is written‚ is used throughout “The Age of Innocence” to highlight and gently mock the superficiality of the New York elite. The very title of Wharton’s novel establishes a profound sense of irony in its nostalgic yet satirical tone. It is unclear whether Wharton sees New York’s 19th century “innocence” as an endearing feature of a society still free from modernism‚ or as a
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Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence is set during the Golden Age of old New York (1945-1965).One has to wonder if the title of “The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton is‚ in itself‚ an ironic statement as the reader is forced to repeatedly question how innocent of a time this is and if innocence is merely an appearance and not a reality. Although the society in “The Age of Innocence" is highly organized and nuanced‚ it is merely that way so that indiscretions and actions that are anything
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