The Perplexity In The "Pyramid"

Edith Wharton (1862-1937), one of the major American writers of the twentieth century, is best known for her stories and ironic novels about upper class people. As a woman writer, Edith Wharton is aware of the status and role of women at that time. She demonstrates in her works not only the experiences and fates of women but also the perplexity of men; hence she ranks top in the classic women writers in America as well as the whole world. The Pulitzer-winning The Age of Innocence is a novel which concentrates on women's fates in the strictly restrain of the Old New York society. This paper sets out to analyze the main characters in the novel as well as the social backgrounds which influence characters'fates; hence show the readers the wholesome picture of Old New York. Moreover, this paper intends to explore the women's fates and status at that time, meanwhile investigates the personal and social reasons which lie behind the phenomena, aiming at arousing the concern for women in the male chauvinist society. The whole paper intends to make a survey on Edith Wharton's concern for women's status and fates in Old New York in the end of 19th century and the social backgrounds of the story, for the purpose of showing that it is the male chauvinist society that results in the miserable fates of women.