The Age of Innocence

Wharton’s most famous novel, The Age of Innocence, is set in New York City during the late 1800s. It tells the story of Newland Archer and his marriage to May Welland.

The novel takes place just before the Civil War, when the city was still divided by class. Archer is a member of a very wealthy family who has been raised with expectations that he will marry a woman from an equally wealthy family.

The book begins with Archer’s engagement to May Welland and follows them as they struggle to balance their love for one another with the expectations imposed on them by their families and society.