Change and Progress Theme Analysis

As Wharton is writing about a period approximately fifty years before her own time, her retrospective view of the 1870s lays bare all of the changes that have come about since then—even the very title, The Age of Innocence, suggests that the story takes place during a definable period that’s now over. This sense of change over time is magnified by the central conflict of the novel: Archer and Ellen chafing against the social rules of their era, trying to change them, and failing to do so quickly enough that they can benefit from the results. Ultimately, Wharton gives a complex judgment on the value of change; while she seems to advocate caution in seeking change too quickly (it’s important, she suggests, to first discern which aspects of society are good and should be kept and which are harmful), Wharton’s novel emphatically argues that change is inevitable and progress is to be lauded.

In The Age of Innocence, New York society is naturally resistant to change, as its cornerstone is tradition; in the eyes of the strictest adherents to society’s rules, change can only ever mean destruction. Mrs. Archer, in particular, is known for lamenting the ways in which she sees society changing around her, believing that all changes are for the worse. The changes she abhors most often involve people being accepted into society whom she thinks are not refined enough or don’t have the family heritage to justify their inclusion, such as Mrs. Struthers. Mrs. Archer perceives these people to be dangerous to the fundamental values of high society, but in reality, their different perspectives often lead to progress. Wharton suggests, then, that the future will perceive social change as positive, even though high society perceives it as negative in the moment.

Throughout the bulk of the novel, Wharton portrays changes both in individual characters and in society as a whole, suggesting that the former will eventually cause the latter. The most notable change is Archer’s gradual broadening of mind under Ellen’s influence, but events such as Beaufort’s bank failure also modify the dynamic of society, forcing new perspectives on conservative people. For much of the book, however, society’s rules are so stifling that even the major changes exert great influence on only one or two people—for example, the Beauforts are the only ones whose lives are entirely transformed by their bank failure, while everyone else grapples with the fallout only as much as their closed-mindedness allows. The last chapter of the book, however, presents a very different situation. Because this final chapter takes place twenty-six years after the bulk of the novel, Wharton is able to show how all of the small stirrings of change, which seemed to have little momentum, have actually gathered strength over time to transform society in a larger way. For example, in his youth Archer lamented the lack of artistic life in New York and the lack of diversity in career options, but in the last chapter, the Metropolitan Museum of Art is filling with treasures and the young men can do as they please with their careers.

In this final chapter, many of the rules that made Archer and Ellen so miserable have slackened; people have real pursuits to focus on and don’t care so much about policing their neighbors’ lives. This softens Wharton’s criticism of society by implying that society always had in it whatever was necessary for this change to gradually occur. She seems to suggest that not only change, but progress—change for the better—is inevitable given enough time. Though this knowledge can’t lessen the pain of Archer and Ellen’s thwarted love, it can provide hope that their tragedy doesn’t have to be repeated.

Wharton also conveys a sense of changes not limited to New York high society, particularly in terms of technological advances. Technologies such as the telephone and electric lighting seem unimaginable to Archer in the 1870s, but they’re perfectly normal both in the later setting of the last chapter, as well as to Wharton’s readers. These technological changes that affect the entire world help Wharton show that societal changes, too, aren’t confined to New York high society—humanity as a whole inevitably progresses over time, no matter how hard short-sighted people fight to stop it.