The Age of Innocence AO3 Flashcards
in 1921, AOI became the first novel written by a woman to win a Pulitzer. what praise did the judges give to the novel?
when it won the 1921 Pulitzer prize, the judges praised it for revealing “the wholesome atmosphere of American life and the highest standard of American manners and manhood”.
what does Wharton feel about her ancestresses
she feels that they are completely anonymous to her, her ‘A Backward Glance’ of 1934 suggests the difference between male history (visible, voluble, and accessible) and female history (invisible, silent, and buried). The muteness of AOI suggests why Wharto’s ancestresses left no verbal record
what does Janis P. Stout assert
“the woman is no expected to ‘lead’ in conversation than she is in ballroom dancing”
what does Elaine Showalter point out
“Although women are not the source of social power, they are experienced as such”. Both women and men “experience social conventions and responsibilities and obligations first in the persons of women, since women are entrusted by society with the task of rearing young children”
what designation is much quoted in relation to Wharton
labelled self as a “self-made man”
in ‘French ways and their meaning’ of 1919, what ways does Wharton contrast French and American women?
the American “disappears from sight upon marriage and withers away” while the French woman remains a free individual
what Lily Bart remark in the ‘House of Mirth’ 1905?
“What is truth? Where a woman is concerned, it’s the story that’s easiest to believe”
similar to many other male characters in American literature, what stance does Newland take
Newland opts to avoid social commitment and light out for new territory
what does Wharton point out about temptation
“in those days it was always a case of ‘the woman tempted me’”
how did Wharton’s relatives respond to her writing, as revealed in ‘A Backward Glance’?
“none of my relations ever spoke to me of my books, either to praise or blame- they simply ignored them, and among the immense tribe of my New York cousins… the subject was avoided as it were a kind of family disgrace”
what is Nancy Cott’s description of the expected role for women in the early 19th century?
“constant orientation toward the needs of others, especially men”
what did ‘Fashion’ of 1904 explore - in relation to individualisation and weaknesses
In “fashion” 1904 “ explored the weakness of [woman’s] social position… Explains her strict regard with costume, for the generally accepted improved forms of life, for all that is proper. A weak person stays clear of individualization; he avoids dependence upon self”
