Chapter 1 Newland Archer Quotes Flashcards
‘For he had dined at seven, alone with his mother and sister’
[Page 4]
→ presents Newland as a respectful and well rounded man who values tradition
→ it’s initiated that he is a man who values family
‘The only room in the house where Mrs Archer allowed smoking’
[Page 4]
→ in this quote Wharton uses irony to show that as a grown man he lives in an environment where his freedom is controlled
‘The duty of using two silver-backed brushes with his monogram blue enamel to part his hair, and of never appearing in society without a flower (preferably a gardenia) in his buttonhole’
[Page 4]
→ use of the noun ‘duty’ portrays Newland Archer as someone who values his appearance, he is meticulous
→ the ‘duty’ connotes ideas that people in the upper classes felt as though they were tested/ judged by their appearance, it almost makes caring for their appearance and dressing fashionably a job
→ Archer is a rich and posh man
→ use of symbolism to portray Newland Archer as wealthy and as someone from the elite of New york
→ the ‘gardenia’ has symbolic undertones as it suggests that Archer is elegant/posh/upper-class as gardenia flowers are luxurious/delicate and associated with wealth and high social status
→ gardenia stands as symbol reflecting Archer’s elegance and high social status
‘It was ‘not the thing’ to arrive early at the opera; and what was or was not ‘the thing’ played a part as important in Newland Archer’s New York as the inscrutable totem terrors that had ruled the destinies of his forefathers thousands of years ago’
[Page 4]
→his world is ruled by certain societal codes he has to adhere to
→ stuck in the same traditions of those many years before
→ idea of a tribe
→ society has a cyclical pattern in regards to expectations/ rules etc
‘He contemplated her absorbed young face with a thrill of possessorship in which pride in his own masculine initiation was mingled with a tender reverence for her abysmal purity’
[Page 5/6]
→ portrays Newland Archer as someone who has patriarchal and traditional views
→ alliteration of the letter p [possessorship,pride, purity] is harsh and portrays Archer as someone who is harsh
→ ‘thrill of possessorship’ hubristic delusion that he owns her
→ the noun ‘possessorship’ has connotations of Archer being patriarchal as May is seen as an animal/object not as an equal
→ ‘abysmal purity’ - almost as if archer is mocking May for her innocence yet he craves a wife who is innocent
‘He drew a breath of satisfied vanity’
[Page 5]
→ sense of Archer’s ego
→ he’s proud of May in a possessive way
‘The masterpieces of literature which it would be his manly privilege to reveal to his bride’
→ use of the pronoun ‘his’ suggests that Archer is possessive of May, he failures to see her as an equal, there is no equality, May is seen as an object that Archer owns
→ Newland and May’s marriage is not for love; ‘his bride’ suggests that their marriage is more for social image and there is no real love nor affection between them
→ satirical
→ gender inequality in New York society
→ mocking Newland for his patronising view of his wife and his view of himself as a masculine protector
‘He did not in the least wish the future Mrs. Newland Archer to be a simpleton’
[Page 6]
→ the use of irony is used to portray Newland Archer as possessive
→ it’s ironic that Archer claims he wants a wife who is opinionated, cultured, intelligent etc but his views of women are simplistic ‘simpleton’
→ he doesn’t see women as equals, rather as objects to mold according to his desires
‘In matters intellectual and artistic Newland Archer felt himself distinctly the superior of these chosen specimens of old New York gentility’
[Page 6]
→ Archer has a sense of superiority over others
→ the hyperbole is used to show that though he believes himself to be above others ‘intellectually and artistically’ the hyperbole is an inflated view of himself
→ ‘distinctly the superior’ conveys Archer’s belief that he is higher or cultured than the society surrounding him
