On Darwinism In The Age Of Innocence

In 1921, two years after the end of the First World War, American novelist Edith Wharton published her best work of art: The Age of Innocence. The novel is set in the upper class of the old New York in the decade following the Civil War, 1870s. It's an era of immense social change, and conflicts between the established social elites and the newly rising socioeconomic parvenus were increasingly visible. As a penetrating insider, Wharton is able to examine the far-reaching impact of social evolution on genteel individuals.As a matter of fact, The Age of Innocence is no mere a delicate nostalgia of manners, but a masterpiece of sociology which demonstrates the richness and profundity of the writer's thoughts. The novel's brilliance lies in the fact that Wharton creates a persuasive allegory of Darwinism under the surface of realist and sentimental narration. In the novel, Wharton likens human society to a natural selection environment, where institutions, with social members'biologically-based solidarity, compete with one another for ultimate authority.This thesis intends to undertake a sociobiological approach to The Age of Innocence with its narrative manner as the cutting point. Through delicate depiction of the protagonist's emotional conflict, Wharton demonstrates the suppression of man's biological instinct by social instinct within an eroded society of the New York upper class. As individuals turn their back on the natural rules of sexual selection, they drift away from personal happiness simultaneously. Moreover, during the process of natural selection, the genteel community is becoming unfit to the changing social context for adherence to obsolete traditions and culture. As new socio-economic strata are emerging and strengthening steadily, the noble rank is crumbling to its doom soon. On the whole, how Wharton rendered these subjects into fictional world is the main goal of this study. This thesis consists of five parts. Chapter one is a brief introduction to the author and the book, the literature review and thesis statement are also presented.Chapter two explores the scientific and philosophical thoughts prevailing in the end of 19th century which has offered Wharton deep insight into society. Hence influences of those conceptions are palpable in her literary criticism and novel writing. Herein the specific theory of Darwinism which underlies the framework of The Age of Innocence will be explained in particular. Chapter three analyzes the narrative strategies by which Wharton manifests the deprivation of Archer's instincts by coercive traditions and class ideology. This issue is carried out in three aspects: Archer's restrained point of view in comparison with the wider and more objective perception of an omniscient voice, and Archer's failure to grapple the essence of the scientific and literary works he reads as well as the protagonist's linguistic deficiency by class ideology.Chapter four deals with another Darwinian concept Wharton allegorizes in the novel: the possibility of a biologically based moral sense. This section illustrates the moral potential from both positive and negative respect. With regard to the reverse side of human agency, the author cites Archer's sacrifice of personal happiness for the sake of social cohesion and collective banishment of the ideological alien Ellen to demonstrate the formidable power of family instincts, which serve to withstand unceasing social changes, though impotently. Nevertheless, Archer's recognition of vanity of the"tribe"and his efforts to move as far as possible toward Ellen, show the positive significance of ideology and reasoning.Based on the above analysis, the author comes to the conclusion that The Age of Innocence is a brilliant representative of Wharton's profound thought on the relation between nature and culture. As an excellent literary critic, Wharton contends that the mode of presentation to the reader must always be determined by the nature of the subject. She utilizes this theory in her fictional writing and thereupon bestows the novel a style which is so unique, so distinctive from any other fictional pattern of her contemporaries.