Topic: The Age Of Innocence
The Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton, set in New York in the 1870's. It's not very well known, so I would imagine not many people here have read it, if any. But I would like to mention it, because it has a huge significance in my life. I have come to see this story as being about the devastating effects of the matrix on an individual who does not fully comprehend how it operates, until it is too late.
I would be thrilled if someone here is familiar with the story, if not, you can get a general idea of the plot from these pages:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguid … cence.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Innocence
The downfall for Newland Archer is that he believes so naively in the idea of his own freedom. His trust in this is implicit without ever having tested it. When he falls in love with his fiance's cousin, he suddenly finds himself far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable to his society. It is not so much that they condemn adultery, this is tolerated, so long as the pretense of marriage and commitment is maintained for public view. What is ultimately threatening, is that his feelings for Ellen motivate him to want a life outside of the society that has molded him. He is manipulated into giving up on having a real life. Eventually he understands that everyone around him has cornered him into making the only decision they will accept from him. He can't find the will to act on his own because he has no context for it. It is not in his experience, or his character, to act against what is expected of him.
My perspective on this story has changed over the years, where once I saw it as being purely about society weakening the will of the individual, now I see it as being about matrix manipulation. Same difference, maybe. But what is really striking to me now, is that May, the woman Newland marries, seems to be a classic example of an OP. She serves no purpose in his life except to keep him on track and make sure he follows the course that is expected of him. He mistakenly believes it is his role to liberate her, but later is becomes obvious that she is controlling him instead.
What if "niceness" carried to that supreme degree were only a negation, the curtain dropped before an emptiness? As he looked at May, returning flushed and calm from her final bull's eye, he had the feeling that he had never yet lifted that curtain.
Martin Scorcese's film adaptation of this novel is brilliant, totally underrated, and definitely worth seeing if you like period films. He has said it is his most violent film, although there is no physical violence as in his other films, it is emotionally devastating. Also, despite having no nudity, and no sex scenes, it holds the most intense sexual tension I have ever seen in a film. It came out in 1993, when I was 15 years old, and had recently fallen in love with an older man very much like Newland in character. What I saw portrayed in the film reflected everything I was experiencing at the time. To my regret, and overwhelming sadness, it continues to be a recurring theme in my life.
