ABSTRACT:Edith Wharton was one of the famous female writers of America in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. She took “Old New York” where she was born and raised as her writing background for most of her works. The Age of Innocence was regarded as the most perfect novel which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Edith Wharton. She was the first female writer who won that prize.
In The Age of Innocence, Wharton wrote about a tragic story with love as main theme in upper class of America in the nineteenth century. Scholars studied main characters, psychologies of characters and the marriage system in it. The author of this paper will analyze two different images between May Welland and Ellen Olenska. May represents an image of angel; she is meek, obedient, ignorant and selfless. Ellen is an antithetical image of May—enchantress. She rebels tradition; she is independent and adamant; she pursues freedom bravely. Through analyzing the times, social background in the nineteenth century and the reasons that caused their differences, the author of this paper will try to reveal women’s suffering and depression in traditional patriarchal society.
Keywords: angel; enchantress; patriarchal society; feminine consciousness
摘要:伊迪丝•华顿是19世纪末20世纪初美国著名的女作家之一,她的大部分作品都是以她出生、成长的“老纽约”为创作背景。《纯真年代》被视为是华顿最出色的小说，于1921年荣获普利策奖。她是第一个获得该奖的女性作家。
《纯真年代》讲述的是发生于19世纪美国上流社会的一个以爱情为主线的悲剧故事。学者们曾对其主要人物,人物的心理特征和那个时代的婚姻制度等进行过研究。本文将对故事中出现的梅•韦兰梅与爱伦•奥兰斯卡两位女主人公的女性形象进行分析。梅代表的是天使的形象，她温柔、顺从、无知、无私。爱伦是一个与梅对立的妖妇形象。她反抗传统、独立坚强、勇敢追求自由。通过对19世纪的社会背景和引起她们不同的原因进行分析,从而揭露传统的男权社会对女性的折磨与压抑。
关键词：天使；妖妇；男权社会；女性觉醒
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