Welcome to Week Two of Cool Bloggers Book Club (CBBC) for The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. This week we'll be discussing the last chapters of the novel, 27-34.
There is an Internet archive of the novel and all page numbers I use in this post will be from that edition.
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What happened in these chapters?
There's a run on the bank because of Beaufort's scheme. Mrs. Mingott had a stroke after a visit from Mrs. Beaufort. Mrs. Mingott wants to see Ellen, so they send a telegram for her. Archer will go pick her up from the train station.
He picks her up and they discuss that it was the French tutor who helped her leave her husband. Ellen straight out asks him if he wants her to be his mistress, but this scene is nonsense because he wants her, but she doesn't want to lie to May. Meanwhile, he throws a temper tantrum and exits the carriage before dropping her off.
Ellen is going to stay with Mrs. Mingott and Mrs. Mingott wants Archer to get the rest of the family on board with this plan.
Archer is bored, he wonders idly if things would be easier if May died. Archer and Ellen meet at the Met. She tells him she's staying with Mrs. Mingott because she think it will keep her away from him. At home, May says she had a long talk with Ellen (foreshadowing!).
"A really good talk," she went on, smiling with what seemed to Archer an unnatural vividness. "She was so dear — just like the old Ellen. I'm afraid I haven't been fair to her lately..." (page 317)
The next night everyone's at the van der Luydens for a pre-opera dinner. The Beauforts come up and there is shock that Ellen went to see Mrs. Beaufort. How could she! Think of her reputation! At the opera, May is wearing her wedding dress. Archer persuades her to go home with him early and we think he's going to tell her about his super dope feelings for Ellen, but instead May shocks him by telling him that Ellen is going back to Europe.
May still looked at him with transparent eyes. "Why — since she's going back to Europe so soon; since Granny approves and understands, and has arranged to make her independent of her husband — " (page 327)
Archer and May host their first big dinner party, which is a going away party for Ellen. Archer knows something's up with him and Ellen.
And then it came over him, in a vast flash made up of many broken gleams, that to all of them he and Madame Olenska were lovers, lovers in the extreme sense peculiar to "foreign" vocabularies. He guessed himself to have been, for months, the centre of countless silently observing eyes and patiently listening ears. (page 338)
The silent organisation which held his little world together was determined to put itself on record as never for a moment having questioned the propriety of Madame Olenska's conduct, or the completeness of Archer's domestic felicity. All these amiable and inexorable persons were resolutely engaged in pretending to each other that they had never heard of, suspected, or even conceived possible, the least hint to the contrary; and from this tissue of elaborate mutual dissimulation Archer once more disengaged the fact that New, York believed him to be Madame Olenska's lover. (page 342 - 343)
After the couple has seen everyone out, May announces that she is pregnant. (And I am not shocked that all the sexytimes was kept off page, but can you even imagine what their love life was like?)
Flash forward a quarter of a century. May and Archer have had three children and May died a couple years back. Archer heads to Paris with his oldest son and his son had planned for them to go see Olenska. Archer, who remains a coward to the last page, decides not to go up to Olenska's apartment.
"It's more real to me here than if I went up," he suddenly heard himself say... (page 364) - Did he really say this out loud while sitting at a bench?
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mbmom11 sent some gorgeous Gilded Age buildings for our perusal.
"Here are some pictures of building from 1870-1890 in my town. One was the county jail ( now part of the college campus), two churches, and the rest homes."
I would commit felony white collar crime to live in that blue house.
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Hat mentions (why hats?):
She laughed, and drawing out her hat pins tossed her velvet hat on the sofa. (page 317)
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Things I looked up (wherein you all learn I've never been to Paris):
Wolfe collection (page 312) - Catharine Lorillard Wolfe (1828–1887) was the first female benefactor of The Met and was said to be the richest unmarried woman in the United States
Cesnola antiquities (page 312) - The Cesnola Collection is remarkable not only for its size and diversity but also for its chronological range, stretching from the Early Bronze Age to the end of antiquity. The Cesnola Collection also did much to establish the Museum’s reputation as a major repository of classical antiquities and put it on a par with the foremost museums in Europe, whose collections had largely been formed at an earlier date.
Ilium (page 312) - Ilium is another name for the ancient city of Troy
Roman punch (page 330) - Roman Punch, or Punch à la Romaine, is a historically rich, often frozen cocktail that gained immense popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is characterized as a decadent, citrus-heavy, and heavily spiked beverage, historically served as a palate-cleansing intermezzo during elaborate multi-course banquets, including the final dinner on the Titanic. Often attributed to early cocktail writers like Jerry Thomas (1862) or "The Only William" Schmidt (1892), with origins in the Papal Palace in Rome. Here's a recipe if you want to try it!
Jacqueminot roses (page 331) - Rosa 'Général Jacqueminot', also called 'General Jack' or 'Jack Rose', is an early Hybrid Perpetual rose cultivar, developed by Roussel, an amateur from Meudon, and introduced by the gardener Rousselet in 1853. The flower was named in honor of Jean-François Jacqueminot, a French general of the Napoleonic Wars.
maidenhair (page 331) - type of fern (or moss or seaweed, but fern makes sense in context)
Maillard bonbons (page 331) - Maillard's was a popular chocolatier in New York City. That link will take you to a blog post written by a romance novel author about her research into it.
philippic (page 341) - a bitter attack or denunciation, especially a verbal one
Grand-Guignol (page 367) - (1897–1962) was a famous Parisian theater specialized in, and defining of, a genre of naturalistic horror, featuring graphic violence like mutilation, eye-gouging, and murder. Founded by Oscar Méténier and often featuring works by André de Lorde, it aimed to provoke intense fear and shock, often alternating horrifying plays with comedies.
Invalides (page 370, 371) - Les Invalides is a historic landmark in Paris, France, commissioned by Louis XIV in 1670 as a home and hospital for wounded soldiers. Today, it features the Musée de l’Armée (Army Museum) (military history), the Dome Church containing Napoleon Bonaparte’s tomb, and the Saint-Louis des Invalides Cathedral.
dome of Mansart (page 370) - The Dome of the Invalides (Dôme des Invalides), designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and completed in 1706, is a masterpiece of French Baroque architecture in Paris. Commissioned by Louis XIV as a royal chapel, its gilded dome stands over 100 meters high and houses the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Lines of notes:
If society chose to open its doors to vulgar women the harm was not great, though the gain was doubtful; but once it got in the way of tolerating men of obscure origin and tainted wealth the end was total disintegration — and at no distant date. (page 341)
Interesting to see Wharton call this out directly since she's so oblique in many other ways.
He had been, in short, what people were beginning to call "a good citizen." In New York, for many years past, every new movement, philanthropic, municipal or artistic, had taken account of his opinion and wanted his name.' People said: "Ask Archer" when there was a question of starting the first school for crippled children, reorganising the Museum of Art, founding the Grolier Club, inaugurating the new Library, or getting up a new society of chamber music. His days were full, and they were filled decently. He supposed it was all a man ought to ask. (page 349-350)
Archer is forever and ever a twat.
"And you never told each other anything. You just sat and watched each other, and guessed at what was going on underneath. A deaf-and-dumb asylum, in fact!" (page 359)
Ha! Dallas knows what's up.
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Last week's homework:
I saw hat or hats twice in this week's reading. Did you see your word?
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Questions to ponder:
"Oh, no — but probably one of the least fussy," she answered, a smile in her voice.
"Call it what you like: you look at things as they are." "Ah— I've had to. I've had to look at the Gorgon." "Well — it hasn't blinded you! You've seen that she's just an old bogey like all the others."
"She doesn't blind one; but she dries up one's tears." (page 291)
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Upcoming CBBC schedule:
I knew May understood a lot more than it seemed. Archer is the naive one. And I think him shuffling off alone is important - he chose to life in the shallow society , and he doesn't deserve to see Ellen who was not afraid to live outside of the restricted life of NY high society.
ReplyDeletePoor Mrs Mingott- her life is more restricted without Ellen around. People bow to her but they don't really appreciate her.
I love that his son married Beaumont 's bastard. You just knew Beaumont would bounce back somewhere!
May was really the wise one the whole time. A bit of a tactician, that one. I do think this book would be far more interesting from the POV of one of the women. Archer is so boring. Even his cowardly decision to shuffle off at the end is boring.
DeleteI loved the time jump. I really like thinking about long marriages and all the ups and downs they go through, and how something that feels huge can be so small later. I've missed most of the discussion about this but I really enjoyed rereading this book!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I feel about the time jump. On one hand, it sort of illustrates Wharton's point that their lives were so circumscribed that there was no way out, but on the other hand, it sort of felt anti-climactic. We read all that for that ending?
DeleteIronically, just last week, I read about a modern retelling! It’s called The Innocents and it’s set in a Jewish community in modern day London. I put it on my TBR.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Dare I read it? Maybe. Maybe I'll wait for you to read it and tell me if it's any good first.
DeleteI did not see the time jump coming! I'm still processing how I feel about the book. I liked the ending, but it was a lot of work to get there.
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of work and it turned out that I didn't really care what happened to any of them. LOL. That's definitely a me problem.
DeleteAh, I still love this book! I thought the ending was so touching. The line I loved so much on my first read, which stuck with me all these years is "...after all, that someone had guessed and pitied... And that it should have been his wife moved him indescribably." It still brought tears to my eyes on the reread.
ReplyDeleteAnother line I loved was "There were a hundred million tickets in his lottery, and there was only one prize; the chances had been too decidedly against him." Yes, there were some boring moments in this book, but overall I think it's beautiful.
It brought tears to your eyes!! TEARS! Sheesh. Sometimes I wonder if I'm reading a different book than everyone else.
DeleteI also felt pretty emotional by the ending. Overall I felt... sad. I mean, I suspect Archer and May ended up having a safe, life with regular ups and downs and the same for Ellen but none of them was truly happy. I think May is brilliant and give her full credit for being so underestimated by so many people.
ReplyDeleteI loved the time jump. I am a BIG fan of clear endings and this one was tremendously clear.
I'm with Jenny. Yup, some parts of the book are a slog (that's where my penchant for skimming comes in clutch), but it's definitely a book that will stay with me.
I always felt May was smarter than she appeared. She knew what was going on with Archer, gave him the chance to leave her for Ellen, he didn't take it, so she fought for him by telling Ellen she was pregnant to get her to leave him alone.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the time jump but I liked it a lot. I had much more empathy for Archer at the end of the book as he did stay committed to May and his children. It was interesting how a generation later the harsh restrictions he lived under no longer applied to his children and they lived much freer lives- Fanny (the bastard!!) married Dallas.
I was moved by the ending. I didn't see Archer as a coward at the end of the book. I actually felt he made the right decision not to visit Ellen. Too much time had passed and what was there to say to each other at this point?
I watched the movie with Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Rider and Daniel Day Lewis this weekend. It was excellent, very well cast, great acting and some beautiful cinematography.
Part I of my summary:
ReplyDeleteThese final chapters contain so much of the viciousness of society--bloodless coups and lopping off branches of family trees as well as the disgusting double-standard that existed for men and women, sometimes for the same behaviours (or even the thought of them).
Mrs. Mingott--the matriarch who loves to be on the outside of Society and embraces Ellen for the same--has a stroke when her relative Regina Dallas Beaufort asks to be countenanced and helped through the scandal of her husband Julius. She even sends for her outcast niece for comfort. May sends for Archer--could she want him to witness the effect of shame on a family?--who uses more dishonesty to travel to Washington to personally carry a message to Ellen as well as get some unbroken time alone with her. May sees through this poor lie, but as usual, says nothing overt.
When Archer arrives in Washington, he is like a smitten teenager. Yet, when he sees Ellen, he says that when he looks at her, it's like she "happens to [him] all over again" as if he scarcely recognized her. They do kiss, but she mentions May, which irritates Newland, and he becomes petty. He brings up M. Riviere, who Ellen confirms was the secretary who helped her escape and to whom she owes a great debt. Archer feels regretful that he ever imagined they were lovers and admires that she can be so straightforward and honest, using the Gorgon as an example of her unflinching ability to look at things as they are. She rebuffs his intimations that they could ever run away and be together without guilt or shame anywhere in the world, and in sadness and frustration, Archer abandons her in the carriage well before it arrives at Mingott's. His fantasies are just that, and now it is his turn to have his tears dried up by the Gorgon.
Archer arrives home and has broken his promise to May to meet at Granny's. She is quietly resentful, and Archer feels stifled; so much so, he opens a window into the cold winter air. May worries he will "catch his death" and Archer feels he is already dead--trapped and imprisoned. May prefers things closed up and interior; Archer fantasizes about the outside world and perhaps her death will set them both free.
Later, Mrs. Mingott send for Archer, hoping that he will enlist family support for her plan to keep Ellen in NY. He suddenly realizes that the latter has not been a topic of discussion to him for a week by anyone at all. Mrs. Mingott is obviously manipulating Archer.
At first, Archer is relieved that Ellen is staying in NY--it makes things easier. Yet, it will also make his life harder because he is a man, and men are supposed to be dutiful to their wives. Women get a pass because they fall prey to romance and can be excused as simply foolish.
Archer and Ellen meet at the Art Museum in the park, agree that a one-time liaison is really all they can expect to fulfill their desires while still preserving their love and honour for their families.
May has been looking more tired and pale than usual. She tells Archer that she and Ellen had a very good talk like in the old days and Archer is on the verge of confessing everything to her. Then, however, May falls back into petty muses about Ellen, and he changes his mind.
Part II:
ReplyDeleteIt is opera season, and the Archers attend Faust. May wears her wedding dress. After some time, Archer pleads a bad headache and asks May to come home with him. Getting out of the carriage, May stumbles and tears her dress--oh boy Symbolism. Archer has decided to come clean about his feelings regarding Ellen, but May stops him. She feels it's unnecessary to discuss her when the point is moot, now that Ellen will be returning to Europe independent of her husband, financed by Mrs. Mingott. Archer is floored by this and the fact that it was kept from him. He laughs, understanding that once again, the family have worked their machinations behind his back, cutting him out completely. May completes the coup by telling him that Ellen finalized this plan after their talk: "I wanted her to know that you and I were the same in all our feelings."
To send Ellen off with style, the Archers throw her a formal dinner party to which all of NY society is invited. In order to show that nothing is untoward, May seats Ellen right next to Archer, who proclaims he is ready to do some travelling abroad and enlists some of the guests as possible companions. We--and no doubt everyone else--know that this is a cover story to go see Ellen. Archer also knows that this party and its show of warmth to Ellen and dire conversation of Beaufort is a lesson to him: do not make any more mistakes. The trap is set.
May has a final coup as well: she springs the trap by announcing that she is pregnant.
In the final chapter--26 years later--we see that NY society has finally succumbed to the inevitable, and so has Newland Archer. His child will, indeed, grow up to marry one of Beaufort's children (although not a bastard as was direly warned), he served in public office, wrote for a news publication, and did good works in the community. May has died, unaffected by any of the changes, and Archer remained a dutiful husband. Later, when asked to accompany his son Dallas on a trip to France, he passes up a chance to see Ellen Olenska. Instead, he sits contemplating on a bench below her apartment, understanding that both of them are free--they could be together without condemnation. This is not what he really wants, however; for him, the relic of her as a memory is more precious. His inner life had always been more lively, more vivid, more of what he wanted than reality, and he wanted to preserve it.
I was a little startled when the book jumped forward in time! It struck me as a fine way to end the book, I suppose -- and I'm kind of glad that Newland didn't impose himself on Ellen; presumably, she has been living a fabulous life of her own, and he is but a figment of her memory.
ReplyDeleteI do wish that I knew more about May and perhaps about how she and Newland made their marriage work. Was he always a selfish ass who didn't see how shrewd she was? I am a little surprised that she told their son about Newland''s infatuation with Ellen -- and that she made his choosing to stay with his wife sound like a great and honorable concession he made -- but I enjoyed getting that little peek into her mind. And then when Newland said he was touched by May's seeing how much he loved Ellen, and feeling bad about his pain -- what a much-too-late-on-his-part insight into her understanding of him and fascinating glimpse of their dynamic. Not to mention Dallas's view of them as not ever talking to one another, but simply interpreting their looks -- hilarious and so accurate. I do wish that there had been a clearer realization, on Newland's part, that he had so drastically underestimated May. But oh well.
I really enjoyed this book. I think a lot of the Beaufort stuff went over my head a bit, but I did enjoy that Dallas ended up with Beaufort's illegitimate daughter.