Sunday, November 4, 2012
The Age of Innocence
It is clear that Archer is not sure anymore about the marriage with May but at the same time he doesn't have the courage to leave her and to stay with Countess Olenska. Explain why Archer is attracted by the Countess Olenska and what are the reasons why he doesn't have the courage to broke up with May using specific references to the text.
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Archer is intrigued by Madame Olenska because she represents everything that he wants for himself outside of his life in upper New York society; Olenska had the nerve to step outside the boundaries of that strict society and do what she thought fit, even when unintentionally doing so. She's free-spirited even when she doesn't men to be, and Archer is jealous that she can do it without even wanting to when he could never gather up the courage to do it even if it was all he had ever wanted. I think that May, to Archer, represents the pure daintiness and elegance of New York's upper class society, which Archer is still very much a part of; however, he is growing more and more curious of life outside the limits set by the "higher ups" (~pg.52-56). I just think that Archer doesn't realize what he wants yet at this specific point in the text, and because of this, he's "exploring his options" with the extremes that have presented themselves to him at that time (May and Olenska).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Serayah. Madame Olenska has all of the characteristics that Archer wants to have. She is free, interesting, and has the courage to say what she thinks. Archer wants a relationship where he can talk to his wife about worldly topics, not just things that happen and pertain to New York Society. He doesn't have the courage to leave May because we is unwilling to hurt her/himself, and doesn't want to break free from the society that he has spent his whole life working to fit into. I feel like Archer has two different sides to his personality. He has the side that wants to be a free and interesting intellectual, and the side that wants to stick to the New York society.During the last chapter of book one, Archer at one point pleads "If we do this now it will be worse afterward - worse for everyone -" (131). I think he really takes into account what would happen to his family and May's if he did go with Olenska. He ultimately ends up staying with May( as least as far as we have read).
ReplyDeleteI agree with both of you. I think that Archer is attracted by Olenska because she has characteristics that he always wanted to have, but was never courageous enough to obtain them. She liked her from the very beginning he met her, because she was different. "It was undeniably exciting to meet a lady whou found the van der Luyden´s Duke dull, and dared to utter the opinion. He longed to question her, to hear more about the life of which her careless words had given him so illuminating a glimpse..." He was afraid of marrying May, because he feared that his life would become boring. "he was out of spirits and slightly out of temper, and a haunting horror of doing the same thing every day at the same hour besieged his brain".May was pure and naive, that´s what he hated about her. "Ah, no, he did not want May to have that kind of innocence, that innocence that seals his mind against imagination and the heart against experience!", but he doesn´t have the courage to break up with the society, because he can´t imagine life living not within the society. He always was and will be part of it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a boring discussion because I have to agree with you all. Archer is conscious enough about the outcomes of crossing the line: he would have become notorious and loses all his reputation. Plus he was very much attracted to the appearance and "purity" of May. Simply put, he likes her shell but doesn't like her soul. Archer desires a wild and free woman who thinks and talks liberally. He's value of woman is against society which is why I think he eventually will break the rules.
ReplyDeleteMadame Olenska gives Archer a look into a life that he knows he cannot live. She is well-spoken and doesn't seem to have the silly innocence that many women in Archer's society possess. When Archer came to visit her home in New York, he observed all the different art from Italy and other countries that he himself did not even know of. Archer doesn't have the courage to break away from society because he has grown accustomed to his current style of life. His life with May in society is safe and boring whereas a life with Olenska would be risky but interesting.
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