Newland’s own mother has arranged his marriage to May Welland in a desperate tactic to turn him in the right direction after his affair with a married woman. May is seen by Mrs Archer as the perfect match for Newland, she comes from a background of money, and her family are of high rank in society, which will enable the Archers to rise further in the ranks of the New York society.
The narrator lets us know that Newland has no passion for his newly betrothed. Standing May side by side with Ellen, we can see the differences in them and why Newland has fallen for Ellen. Ellen is warm, passionate and romantic, while May, although portrayed as innocent and angel-like, is cold and without any passion. Wharton portrays these images through the characters clothing, Ellen in her “dark blue velvet gown” and May, “a young girl in white,” “lilies of the valley” with “white gloved fingertips”. Perhaps this comes from her lack of knowledge of the world. Newland’s love for May was one of conformity and control. “She was straightforward, loyal and brave”. But there is nothing remotely exciting or unique about her. She is not an individual, she represents a group, she has a role, and behaves in a certain way. She must live her life according to expectations. She is the sum of all women gone before her, a typical product of the gentle breeding that was encouraged in the old society of New York.
But this is not what Newland wants. As he gets to know Ellen better his affection for her grows from what was once only lust into an obsessive, undying love, a love that drives him to childish jealousy, when it comes to Julius Beaufort, and derives a pathetic childish little plan to keep her from meeting up with him at Mrs Struthers. A love so deep, so passionate, that she fills Newlands dreams and thoughts. He sends her flowers, visits her and admires the way she lives. He imagines life with May and this makes him ever more anxious to break free from this society and start a new life with Ellen.
Although Newland dreams of a life with the woman he loves, the conventions of New York prevent him from pursuing his dream. He wants to keep his reputation, his job and his family. His family ties hold him down, he is not strong enough to break free, in spite of his love for Ellen. May is aware that something is wrong with Newland. She lets us know this when she first of all questions him about his former love, and then when she states, “I couldn’t have my happiness made out of a wrong… and I want to believe that it would be the same with you” and in the same incident, when she gives him an opening and a chance to escape, “don’t give her up because of me!”
But she also catches him at the same time. Although she has given him the chance, he really cannot escape at all. She enforces on him his duty to her without actually saying anything about it. This is typical of their society which is built on the unwritten law communicated through innuendo, and implication. This leaves Newland with no escape, nowhere to turn. The author lets us see Newland’s thoughts by telling the story through his eyes, and this allows us to see the extent of his exasperation.
Ellen finally proclaims her love for Newland and they kiss, which he feels alters everything, and that now they must publicise their love, and he would not marry May. Ellen however, brings him back down to reality. “I can’t love you unless I give you up!” The kiss can not be pursued because of the fact that she was married and he was engaged, and in the eyes of society they would be outcasts, sinners. She makes him realise that he has to go through with his wedding to May or the three of them will be aliens of New York, looked down upon and sneered at. “In reality, it is too late to do anything but what we’ve both decided on”. Newland’s fantasies of a life with Ellen are brought crashing back to earth when a telegram arrives from May announcing the date of the wedding has been brought forward. Although Newland wanted this all along, he now feels trapped, in a society that is filled with hypocrisy, convention and conformity. He will have to live his life by their rules and regulations, everyday ill be planned out for him and there will be no room for passion, pleasure, or acting on impulse. But Newland realises that this is the way things must be, and that there is no way out, for he marries May. The telegram is symbolic, as the image portrayed by it is one of bad news or death, and this telegram carries news of the death of Ellen and Newland. If we look at Newland and Ellen together, we question how he could marry May when he was in love with another, but if we look at him with May we realise why he went through with it. May had done nothing wrong, and didn’t deserve to be deserted by her partner. Newland went through with the wedding to save May from the heartbreak of being abandoned for another woman, to save her family and his from the scandal that would arise from this situation. He understands that society will make them outcasts, and so he decides to go along with the wedding to save himself and those around him the embarrassment.
Although Newland has supposedly given Ellen up to pursue his life with May, we can tell that he still dreams of her and wishes it were her he married, not May. In particular, on his wedding day, when the best man whispers “Newland, I say, she’s here!” instead of thinking of his young future wife, Newland thinks of Ellen and what the day would be like if she and May switched places.
The final time he contemplates leaving May to find Ellen he is broken by the final great weight she puts on his shoulders. Telling Newland that she is with child is the final trap. Newland now has no escape. He must stay and fulfil his role within his society, his duty as a husband and as a father. He has become weak as a character, he no longer has the strength to stand up to the power of New York, a force stronger than the wind, it has the power to crush him. Watching his progress throughout the book, we watch Newland change from what appears to be a strong independent character in the eyes of New York to become very obviously frail and pathetic in our eyes. We lose any respect we might have had for Newland at the beginning of the novel. We can compare Newland’s character to that of Dimmesdale in “The Scarlet Letter”, a similar character who begins the novel strong minded and gradually weakens until he is feeble. May has a certain power over him, just as the knowledge of his sin had power over Dimmesdale in the scarlet letter. May’s power that comes from the fact that she is married to him, and he no longer has the power to fight back. The power of old New York and the family is very strong, and Newland is completely helpless to stand against it.
In the last chapters of the novel, Ellen departs for Europe. We see the hypocrisy of New York when they throw a party to thank her for conforming to their way of thinking, but ironically they are the ones who force her to leave.
Ellens departure is a blow for Newland but he does not give up. He now realises that he has married May and that he must live up to what is expected of him, but his dreams will always be filled with images of Ellen. His life, however, was by no means wasted, he became a good citizen, and the perfect group player, he lived up to his role. Society benefited from his loss of personal fulfilment. “Something he knew he had missed: the flower of life”. Newland gave Ellen up, and although he missed out on the flower of life, love of beauty, he did what he knew would make him complete, he fulfilled a satisfactory life.
This novel is a story of morality. A story of how one man gave up what he desired, his one true love, to maintain his own goodness. It is about the sacrifices people make to make sure society benefits. Knowing the difference between right and wrong in the eyes of old New York is an important factor in Newland’s life.
