Ellen's Revolt in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence

Abstract

This study is based on the issue of female revolt in terms of getting freedom with reference to Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence. My thesis argues how females of that era were suppressed, oppressed and subjugated by patriarchal norms and values of 1870, which are patriarchal through the major character of the novel, Ellen. The patriarchal norms and values restricted females from gaining their own rights of making choices and the society was slowly getting ready to fight against such a societal unjust. While fighting against the patriarchy, some females go against their society and have to give up their comfortable family lives and loved ones. This study deals with the problems faced by the central character and the struggle she had made to get freedom from the patriarchal domination. Ellen is such a bold character in the novel who fights against patriarchal ethos and pathos. She leaves her cheating husband and revolts against the established New York norms and values by her surprising decisions.