age of innocence

Sometimes people use society as an excuse for not seeking out their dreams. At the end of The Age of Innocence, Archer is fifty-seven years old and is thinking of his life over the years. His wife, May, has died two years ago. His son Dallas has become an architect and has taught Archer all sorts of things about it. His respectability in the community is firm. He thinks of Ellen from time to time …

…nothing stopping Archer from meeting Ellen, but he has lived with his old society values for so long that he can?t even try to obtain what he has desired for so long, even though there is nothing prohibiting him from acquiring it. Archer doesn?t go to see Ellen because feels that there is good in the old ways which demand that people be true to their duties no matter how dull they appear.