The Age of Innocence: Allusions 5 key examples

This allusion both establishes that Wharton did her research about New York in the 1870s—adding to the realism of the story—and foreshadows the drama in the story to come. Like Faust, Archer convinces a woman known for her purity (May) to be with him and then (emotionally) abandons her for a time, leaving her distraught.

Archer and May even go back to the opera near the end of the novel and see Faust again, almost as if Archer is being warned not to make the same mistake that Faust made in abandoning his lover (and the mother of his child) to die. Archer ultimately does make a different choice than Faust in deciding to stay with May. Though he never fully lets go of his feelings for and fantasies about Ellen, he chooses to prioritize his marriage and the rules of his society.

The first metaphor Archer uses here—describing May’s innocence as a bandage over her eyes—demonstrates how he views her lack of worldly experience to be akin to literal “blindness.” It is notable that he doesn’t blame May for this ignorance, but sees “the generations of women who had gone to her making” who were similarly “bandaged.” In other words, he’s arguing, May is merely continuing the legacy of female ignorance passed down to her by her family.

Archer then shifts the metaphor somewhat, comparing May to “the Kentucky cave-fish, which had ceased to develop eyes because they had no use for them.” Unlike blindness due to a removable bandage, these cave-fish are—and will always be—blind, as it is part of their very being. This metaphor frightens Archer as it means it’s possible that he and May might never be able to be true partners in their relationship.

As Archer states, he learned about the Kentucky cave-fish from “new ideas in his scientific books.” This is an allusion to the writings of Charles Darwin, an evolutionary scientist who referenced the cave-fish in his writings on natural selection.

The idea of a telephone that allows people to talk “from one town to another” leads the trio to bring up “allusions to Edgar Poe and Jules Verne.” Though best known for his macabre poems and Gothic horror fiction, Edgar Allen Poe also wrote science fiction that responded to the new technologies of his time. Jules Verne—a renowned science fiction author who penned such novels as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea—was actually deeply influenced by Poe, and even wrote a sequel to one of Poe's science fiction novels.

The fact that Archer and Ellen can discuss the development of the telephone along with referencing science fiction authors indicates that both of them are well-read and intellectually curious. This is one of the reasons that Archer is drawn to Ellen—unlike May (and most eligible women in his New York society), she has life experience and interest in the arts and has not been trained to act innocent or naive.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a 19th century English poet and artist whose work was highly lyrical and emotional. The House of Life is widely regarded as his most important literary work and contained passionate and sensual poems related to romantic love. The fact that Archer “pursue[s] through those enchanted pages the vision of a woman who had the face of Ellen Olenska” shows how quickly and intensely he is falling in love with Ellen. Though the rules of society dictate that he make the “safe” choice and marry someone like May, his deep desire is clearly to marry a more engaging and experienced woman like Ellen.

That May is associated with Diana’s “aloofness” and hunting spirit somewhat contradicts her supposedly innocent nature. Like Diana, May has layers to her that Archer does not see at first, as he judges her to be overly sheltered and ignorant. As he comes to learn, she is not just innocent but is highly perceptive—she knew about the affair he had with the married Mrs. Rushworth before they started their relationship and is also aware of the emotional affair he has with Ellen after they get married, much to Archer's shock.