英文读后感 A BOOK REVIEW OF THE AGE OF INNOCENCE_叫我第一名英文读后感
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A BOOK REVIEW OF THE AGE OF INNOCENCE
The Age of Innocence centers on a New York upper cla couple's impending marriage and tells a story of love triangle.Newland Archer, whose life has been shaped by the customs and expectations of upper cla, is happily anticipating a marriage to the beautiful May Welland who is raised to be be a perfect wife and mother and follows and obeys all of society's customs.But Newland doubts his choice of bride after the appearance of Counte Ellen Olenska, May's thirty-year-old cousin, who has been living in Europe.Ellen has returned to New York after scandalously separating herself from a bad marriage to a Polish Count.At first, Newland helps Ellen as a support to the May's family because Ellen's decision to divorce Count Olenski is a social crisis for the other members of her family.But as his love for Ellen grows, he begins questioning the values on which he was raised and struggles to balance social commitment to May with love for Ellen.Even after his society marriage with May, he still attempts to have Ellen to be his mistre.Newland resolves to tell May he is leaving her for Ellen, but it is interrupted by May's pregnancy and Ellen is returning to Europe because May had told Ellen of her pregnancy two weeks earlier, despite not being sure of it at the time.Feeling trapped,Newland decides not to follow Ellen, surrendering his love for the sake of his children, remaining in a lovele marriage to May.Twenty-six years later, after May's death, Newland surprisingly finds that May knew his love to Ellen.And he has a chance to meet Ellen again.But he declines and walks away.He realizes that only place for their love is in his memories.After reading this book, I think the story is more than a traditional love triangle.Firstly, it reveals the hypocrisy of the New York upper cla during the 1870's.Secondly, it is a portrait of the struggle between the individual and the community because of the change as a society moves from a familiar, traditional culture to one that is le formal and affords its members greater freedom.It reveals the cruel words that remain unspoken in the polite society of old New York, a hypocrite society.This society ignores reality and pretends to act innocently that physical violence doesn't exist, and a ki in public, much le sex, is scandalous.Wharton’s book points out many of the contradictions of wealthy New York society during the 1870's, showing the reader how individuals in this society acted as hypocrites by hiding these contradictions.Not only were people, particularly women, expected to be pure and innocent, pretending not to know the occasional unpleasantne of reality;they really did fulfill this expectation.For example, May pretends that she doesn't know about Newland's paionate feelings for Ellen.We learn after May’s death that she knew the entire time that Newland and Ellen loved each other and how Newland sacrificed his happine to keep everyone’s reputation intact.“In reality they all lived in a kind of hieroglyphic world, where the real thing was never said or done or even thought, but only represented by a set of arbitrary signs.”(Book 1, Chapter 6).Both men and women enforced this society's superficial values of who was socially acceptable to aociate with, how to behave, who to marry, and what were proper profeions.For example, when everyone privately disapproves of Ellen leaving her husband, her family and friends intentionally do not attend her
welcoming dinner party to send a meage of disapproval for breaking the proper codes of society.Everyone appears gentle but most are actually vicious human beings.Another type of hypocrisy was the double standards set by society.Women could not have sexual affairs, but as long as husbands kept their affairs hidden from their wives, men committing adult ery was acceptable.This is the case for Mr.Beaufort and Fanny Ring, his mistre.Everyone looks down upon her for having an affair while they at the same time ignore Mr.Beaufort’s behavior.“The affair, in short, had been of the kind that most of the young men of his age had been through, and emerged from with calm consciences and an undisturbed belief in the abysmal distinction between the woman one loved and respected and those one enjoyed--and pitied.In this view they were sedulously abetted by their mothers, aunts and other elderly female relatives, who all shared Mrs Archer's belief that when 'such things happened' it was undoubtedly foolish of the man, but somehow always criminal of the woman.”(Book 1, Chapter 11)
Besides, we can see many characters' struggle against this old-fashioned and traditional community as the society has changed.Ellen has fled her unhappy marriage to redeem her dignity and fought for her freedom which is an implication of women's changing roles and improving position.She is a free spirit who helps Newland Archer see beyond narrow New York society.She treats her maid, Nastasia, as an equal;offering the servant her own cape before sending her out on an errand.She attends parties with disreputable people such as Julius Beaufort and Mrs.Lemuel Struthers.And Newland also struggle against the society.He sees the sexual inequality of New York society and the shallowne of its customs.And he transgrees the boundaries of acceptable behavior for love of Ellen: first following her to Skuytercliff, then Boston, and finally willing to follow her to Europe.But at last, he still surrenders to the community.It could be said that May and Ellen represent two sides of Newland Archer—both are people he is afraid to become.If he is like May, he experiences death of the mind, death of the soul, death of the emotions, becoming what he is expected to be to keep the foundations of the society steady and strong.If he becomes like Ellen, he will lose everything that he has built his own foundations on.In the end, he is neither, nor is he himself.His became victim of a society he need but cannot survive.So, compared with Ellen, I think he is le courageous in love and fighting for freedom.We can notice this from the dialogue when Newland tries to diuade Ellen from divorcing.Ellen asks: “'But my freedom--is that nothing?'”(Book 1, Chapter 12)And Newland's answer is “'Well,then:is it worthwhile to risk what may be infinitely disagreeable and painful? Think of the newspapers--their vilene!It's all stupid and narrow and unjust--but one can't make over society.'”(Book 1, Chapter 12)
All in all, I feel pity for May, Newland and Ellen, for their tragedy of love.They are all victims of their society which has a strict, rigid code of social custom.But this tragedy might be inevitable in today's society when we considered the balance between paion and duty.Nowadays,many people may still think that the one they marry is not the one that they love most.Maybe it is a good thing only for great novelists and directors to produce moving stories and movies.
