Age of Innocence

Wharton’s The Age of Innocence depicts Ellen Olenska as a perfect example of courage and strength because of her desire to go against society and the degradation of women. Through the narrative eyes of Newland Archer, the reader sees a woman “like no other woman” (102). Ellen Olenska is much like Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne in the way she exhibits courage and strength. As an outcast of a hypocritical society, Ellen is worthy of the …

…Newland Archer is captivated by Ellen’s ability to live and think outside the boundaries society imposes. “It was a part of her, either a projection of her mysterious and outlandish background or of something inherently dramatic, passionate and unusual in herself,” that excited him (100). Ellen Olenska never returned to her husband and even after thirty years “made no change in her way of living” (309). This wealthy, passionate, courageous woman found happiness as an outcast.