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【Abstract】The Age of Innocence， published in 1920， is the most representative work of Edith Wharton. This masterpiece， setting in the upper class society of New York in the late 1870s and the early 1880s， mainly narrates the imaginary but truthful love story between the hero Newland Archer and two women May Welland and Ellen Olenska， and it has won for Edith Wharton the Pulitzer Prize. This thesis， based on the settings of The Age of Innocence and on the theory of Feminism， aims to reveal Edith Wharton’s preference to freedom， resistance to the traditional marital concepts， and her pursuit of equality through the images of the characters， Newland Archer， May Welland and Ellen Olenska， so as to arouse people’s sympathy for the modern females and their rethink of female status.
【Key words】Freedom; resistance; equality; feminine consciousness
【作者簡介】邓诗云，湖南女子学院国际经济与贸易2018 级。
1. Introduction
The late 1800s and the early 1900s was a time when American Realistic Literature witnessed its rise and flourish. Many prominent realistic novelists， such as Mark Twain， William Howells，and so on had sprung up during this period of time. And Edith Wharton was an important female writer among them.
Edith Wharton opposes such a female creative trend， and tends to concentrate on female consciousness to focus on a series of social problems， such as love， marriage， family and so on， in women’s perspective. Female consciousness， which is well illustrated in The Age of Innocence and in her other literary works.
This thesis falls into three chapters. Chapter one focuses on the preference to freedom through Ellen’s disobedience towards her husband . Chapter two concentrates on the resistance to the traditional martial concepts . And chapter three elaborates on the pursuit of equality through Ellen’s pursuit of equality in social rights and May’s pursuit of equality in love.
2. Chapter One The Preference to Freedom
The decades between the late 1870s and the early 1880s ，America is undergoing a time of intense social changes. During the decades， the American social wealth has climbed up to an unprecedented level， Meanwhile，the females are just like the accessories for the males. They do not have independent thinking or independence at all.
In the book， Ellen and Archer’s preference to freedom can be obviously seen through Ellen’s disobedience towards her husband and Archer’s persuasion for supporting Ellen’s divorce. 3. Ellen’s Disobedience towards Her Husband
Ellen， is the true love of
【Key words】Freedom; resistance; equality; feminine consciousness
【作者簡介】邓诗云，湖南女子学院国际经济与贸易2018 级。
1. Introduction
The late 1800s and the early 1900s was a time when American Realistic Literature witnessed its rise and flourish. Many prominent realistic novelists， such as Mark Twain， William Howells，and so on had sprung up during this period of time. And Edith Wharton was an important female writer among them.
Edith Wharton opposes such a female creative trend， and tends to concentrate on female consciousness to focus on a series of social problems， such as love， marriage， family and so on， in women’s perspective. Female consciousness， which is well illustrated in The Age of Innocence and in her other literary works.
This thesis falls into three chapters. Chapter one focuses on the preference to freedom through Ellen’s disobedience towards her husband . Chapter two concentrates on the resistance to the traditional martial concepts . And chapter three elaborates on the pursuit of equality through Ellen’s pursuit of equality in social rights and May’s pursuit of equality in love.
2. Chapter One The Preference to Freedom
The decades between the late 1870s and the early 1880s ，America is undergoing a time of intense social changes. During the decades， the American social wealth has climbed up to an unprecedented level， Meanwhile，the females are just like the accessories for the males. They do not have independent thinking or independence at all.
In the book， Ellen and Archer’s preference to freedom can be obviously seen through Ellen’s disobedience towards her husband and Archer’s persuasion for supporting Ellen’s divorce. 3. Ellen’s Disobedience towards Her Husband
Ellen， is the true love of