Summary
Set in the Gilded Age of 1870s New York high society, The Age of Innocence follows Newland Archer, a young, idealistic lawyer engaged to the beautiful and proper May Welland.
He lives in a world obsessed with appearances, tradition, and social codes.
But everything changes when May’s cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska, returns from Europe, fleeing a scandalous and unhappy marriage.
Ellen is independent, intelligent, and unconventional—everything that Newland's world tries to suppress.
As Newland falls deeply in love with Ellen, he’s forced to grapple with an impossible choice: follow his passion and defy society—or fulfill his duty and conform to the expectations of his class.
Torn between desire and decorum, Newland’s internal struggle reveals the hypocrisy, rigidity, and moral pretensions of upper-class New York.