Analysis of May Welland in The Age of Innocence.docVIP

Analysis of May Welland in The Age of Innocence 　　【Abstract】Although many critics hold the opinion that May Welland in the novel of The Age of Innocence is something hypocritical and the murder of killing the love between Newland and Ellen， it is she who defended Newland， his reputation and their family. Through the analysis of May from some special aspects， this paper holds the opinion that May was a stronger full of sense of modern and had the power to live in a difficult condition with limited advantages. 　　【Key words】The age of innocence；May welland；Feminine characters 　　Many people have praised the true love between Newland and Ellen and their resistance against that innocent society as well. Another character that has played a very important role in the novel， The Age of Innocence written by Edith Wharton， but usually been ignored or even criticized by readers was May Welland. However， how many of readers could understand her bearing under the pressures from betray of her loved husband and the harmony of the whole family？ In order to protect the family， she donated her passions to the trivialness in the decades of marriage life， tolerantly， mildly， but strongly. She apperceived all happened around her and acted decently. 　　1 Typical Traditional Woman 　　At the beginning， Wharton described May like this “…a warm pink mounted to the girl’s cheek， mantled her brow to the roots of her fair braids， and suffused the young slope of her breast to the line where it met a modest tulle tucker fastened with a single gardenia. She dropped her eyes to the immense bouquet of lilies-of-the-valley on her knee…（Wharton 4）”to show her purity or innocence to the society. Newland thought May’s inner heart like a piece of white paper， waiting for him to write down something and it was undoubtedly that he would play the most important role in the future marriage and guide his wife， May. However， after falling in love with Ellen， Newland took those traditional merits of May’s