An Analysis Of The Tragic Love In The Age Of Innocence From The Perspective Of Social Space

Edith Wharton is one of the female American writers in the turn of the 20 th century. Her representative work The Age of Innocence is set in the Old New York where she lives, describing the tragic love between Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska. The thesis tries to analyze the tragic love between the two main characters from the perspective of social space and illustrates how the social space participates in the development of tragic love between Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska.The thesis is divided into six parts. The introduction gives a brief account of Edith Wharton’s life and her representative work The Age of Innocence and the current research situation of the novel in China and abroad.Chapter One discusses the development of space theory and introduces Henry Lefebvre’s theory of social space and how the three concepts of social space— perceived space, conceived space and lived space are applied in the analysis.Chapter Two explains the relationship between perceived space and the tragic love. Perceived space, as perceived by senses, is shaped by the social practice and public activities. Parties and theatres in the novel form the perceived spaces. Parties and theatres are social places for social member’s gathering and communicating and contain complicated social relations. The social relations in perceived space discipline and threaten the love relation between Archer and Ellen and restrict them to relative relation, which hinders development of their love and eventually leads to the tragic love.Chapter Three analyzes the relationship between conceived space and the tragic love. Conceived space, unlike perceived space which can be sensed and described, is abstract and it exists in people mind. Constructed by the beliefs and values, conceived space is a powerful tool to discipline people’s behaviors and actions. The conceived space in the novel refers to the traditional family and marriage views and conventions of the upper class. Traditional views of family require people to sacrifice their own happiness to pursue the family honor and reputation; Marriage in the society is not based on love because it is just a commercial product. The conflicts between the traditional family and marriage views and the individual’s pursuit for love results in the tragic love.Chapter Four explores the relationship between lived space and the tragic love. Lived space is where the social members live, and in the novel it chiefly refers to the living environment Old New York and Ellen’s and Archer’s houses. The culture and customs of Old New York discourage the love between Archer and Ellen. The houses are relatively private places and represent people’s different tastes and personalities. The differences of hobbies and personalities between the two characters, to some degree, result to the tragic love.The last part is the conclusion which is drawn by the above analysis. It can be seen that the tragic love between Archer and Ellen forms under the influence of social space—— perceived space, conceived space and lived space in the novel. Individual’s desires for love and wish are finally ended by the power of the society under the influence of social space.