“Ah, don't say that. If you knew how much I hate being different!” (Wharton 69). Ellen Olenska in Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence is, for Newland Archer, the perfect example of an exciting rebel against the mores of New York aristocratic society. He is intrigued by her mysterious past in Europe and all the scandal she brought with her to New York. Newland's wife, May Archer, is what he considers the polar opposite of Ellen Olenska. May is sweet and innocent and makes no attempt to hide the fact that she longs to be a product of that society. Newland's actions and thoughts towards the two women make them appear very different, but Newland's feelings do not always coincide with the women's true actions, but rather with what he wants them to be for him. When Ellen's behaviors, attitudes, and motivations are analyzed alongside those of May, it becomes apparent that Ellen's life would resemble May's much more if she had been accepted by upper-middle-class New York society of the 1970s. 'Nineteenth century. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first example where we can see a tendency to conform to society on Ellen's part is the way both women respond to the topic of Ellen's divorce. When Newland goes to see Ellen to convince her to give up the divorce at her family's request, Ellen mentions her married life and her husband in a "tone that almost seems to sigh for the lost delights of her married life", questioning the firmness of his sentence to divorce. Newland, perhaps, has an overly exaggerated view of the horrible conditions of Ellen's life with her husband, as he takes so much for granted (68-69). He says he wants to "give up all [his] old life, to become just like everyone else [there]" (68). In this it is evident that Ellen wishes to free herself from the stigma attached to her and simply adapt to the aristocratic society of New York. Ellen's reaction to Newland's warning about her husband publicly spreading rumors that might hurt her is indicative that she may not realize the resulting scandal – not that she doesn't care (70). She may be so eager to finalize the divorce because she believes it will allow her to better adapt to New York society by being free from her old, scandalous life. Ellen finally agrees to call off the divorce; she doesn't like it, but now she realizes how society would look at her decision and wants to be accepted. The fact that she doesn't like all the rules of that society does not imply that she is denouncing them and living independently in her own mysterious and defiant way, as Newland sees it, because she is still abiding by them in further attempts to fit in. (72). In the same way that Ellen's primary concern is avoiding scandal, May also shares this goal. May agrees with her mother and family that Newland must dissuade Ellen from doing so as her duty to her future family. May's views on this matter are made clear as she and Newland return home to Catherine after the archery competition. May says she would have liked to see Ellen, but perhaps she wouldn't because she now seems “so indifferent to her friends, I mean; giving up New York and his home and spending all his time with such strange people. May observes, "After all, I wonder if she wouldn't be happier with her husband." Then, when Archer comments on the cruelty of her statement, he replies, "It's a pity she married abroad then" (132-133). So, in the end, the bestBoth women's desire is to avoid scandal, which is very much in line with the social mores of the New York in which they live. Another similarity between the young women in Newland Archer's life is their knowledge of and reaction to the language of flowers. When Ellen receives Beaufort's bouquet, she immediately becomes very angry. In this, she acknowledges his understanding of the meaning of flowers, proclaiming, “who is so ridiculous as to send me a bouquet of flowers? Why a bouquet of flowers? And why tonight of all nights? I won't go to the dance; I'm not an engaged girl” (101). This scene is evidence of Ellen's extensive knowledge regarding flowers, as was a necessity for a young girl of the New York aristocracy at that time (342). Likewise, May is extremely well-versed in the language of flowers. The lilies that Archer gives to May every day mean “purity,” “future happiness,” and “sweetness” (Campbell). Both women understand the significance of flowers in that society and are not only very aware of the different messages flowers represent, but are also deeply influenced by these messages. Perhaps the most effective way to observe women is to observe their actions around Newland. , especially when they stray from the personality Newland sees in them. For Ellen, this would be in the carriage, when she shows him a disturbing coldness based on her past experiences. It can be seen when Newland tells Ellen about his encounter with M. Riviere that the reason Archer thinks Ellen is so "unconventional" is because of the way he acts around her, not the way she herself acts actually. When Newland tells her what happened and then asks her if it was Riviere who helped Ellen "run away" from her husband, her response simply "Yes: I owe him a great debt" is said in a tone "so natural, therefore almost indifferent” (173). Once again she had managed, with her absolute simplicity, to make him feel stupidly conventional just when he thought he was throwing convention to the wind" (173). This is most likely only due, however, to his newfound awareness of the society he has joined throughout his life - with Ellen, as good a vehicle for scandal to awaken this reality for him as anyone else would by finding out about her husband's affair, May approaches discussions of such situations with the same indifferent and forthright tone. When Newland sees May's pain, he comments that if she had expressed these words, he might have "laughed them away," but that instead she has been "trained to hide imaginary wounds under a Spartan smile" (176). This is proof that, for the ladies of the New York aristocracy of the 1870s, it was right to treat such difficult questions in the same “natural” and “indifferent” way in which the seemingly unconventional Ellen treated the discussion of the matter. In another example of this, when the couple is in May's carriage as Archer is about to pick up Ellen from the train, May presses him on the lie he told about her trip to Washington, and he gets angry that she is "trying Pretend you didn't notice." Newland is flustered when she questions further than he thought, and he "[blushes] at her unaccustomed want of all the traditional delicacies" (170). Thus it is evident that their society felt it was improper for a wife to make it too obvious that she had caught her husband in a lie, or to press too hard for details about his life, even if she knows he is having an affair. (170). At another point during Archer and Ellen's journey in May's carriage, Ellen doesreveals herself to be a woman of great experience and a mysterious past, although her view of the scandal closely resembles that of an aristocrat in New York in the 1870s – as May. Unlike the excitement that Newland associates this with, however, Ellen reveals a great deal of pain in her life, telling Archer that she "had to look at the Gorgon" and that "she [wiped away] [Ellen's] tears" (173). Ellen is more mature than the typical young woman of the New York aristocracy - simply because she has experienced more trials in her life - but this fact does not stop her from trying to become one. Ellen does not wish to transform herself into an honest image of what a young girl should be in that society and abandon those desires, but rather her intention is to not get caught doing unpleasant things. He does not wish to end the relationship, but rather to be "close to [Newland] only when [they] are away from each other" (175). If Ellen truly cared about her family as much as she claims throughout this relationship, she wouldn't prolong it as she does. In this it is clear that, no matter how noble she tries to appear, she is actually selfish because she wants to be accepted into New York society. Furthermore, Ellen knows that if she and Archer were to fall into a "dead-end romance" (174), she would have no hope of ever truly being accepted into society. She is already surrounded by too many scandals, and she knows that hurting “the people who trust [her]” (175) in this way would destroy any close ties to that aristocracy, and therefore her only hope of being part of it. . May shares Ellen's opinion on the scandal, and it's clear that both women's main goal is to avoid it at all costs. Instead of turning her world and her family upside down by bringing Newland's affair to light, May simply works behind the scenes to make sure Ellen leaves, and then continues her life with Newland. His plan is made completely clear towards the end of the book when Archer's son tells him his wife's words: "She said she knew we were safe with you, and that we always would be, for once, when you had asked, you had given do the thing you most wanted” (214). In May's plan to make Ellen leave and keep her husband, another opportunity for confrontation between the two women presents itself Newland agree to consummate their relationship. These are both points crucial in the women's relationships with Newland Upon May's return from her "long" and "really beautiful" interview with Ellen, she is "breathless," "flushed," and "shimmering with unusual animation" (188-89) - characteristics. not of a thoughtless mold of society, but rather of an intensely driven and independently thinking person This shows how one can be a passionate person and have their own thoughts but still want to be a legitimate member of the New York upper class aristocracy. This is reminiscent of Wharton's life, as she was a devout member of that same society, but she was also an opinionated free thinker. Although Wharton lived her life by most of her society's standards, she also had her own ideas and desires. For example, she believed that the layers of “window seals…[symbolize] the overlapping layers of undergarments worn by women of the period” (236). So when Wharton got a house of her own, she refused to have them in her windows. However, Wharton believed that his society, although it had some senseless rules, was of great value as it upheld the important standards of “education,” “good manners,” and “scrupulous probity in business and private affairs” (249). Therefore, the fact that Ellen occasionally showed a little passion and thought.