Real and Imagined Spaces: New York in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence
Real and Imagined Spaces: New York in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence

Summary/Abstract: Edith Wharton uses New York City in The Age of Innocence (1920) to create a multidimensional setting and a metaphorical space that enriches the narrative and provides insight into the complexities of the Gilded Age society. This paper is divided into two sections: the first, titled, “The Real Space,” which describes the Gilded Age era in NewY ork and the second section, “The Imagined Space,” which follows places and spaces in Wharton’s cartography, that turn the city into a character and the built environment into a unique map. These urban spaces play a significant role in the lives of the characters,particularly New land Archer and Ellen Olenska, as they represent places, relationships, and possibilities that exist in the characters’ minds, often in contrast to the constraints of the society and social norms of the Gilded Age.

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