The Age of Innocence is a portrait of upper-class, East Coast American life in the 19th century. Newland Archer, a lawyer and son of one of New York City's most established families, is happily engaged to marry the beautiful and sweet May Welland, a picture-perfect product of Old New York society. Yet he begins to question his dreams of wedded life when he meets Ellen, May's beautiful but stubbornly independent cousin, who has made the scandalous decision to divorce her husband and rejects the stuffy and strict social customs of the city. As his feelings for Ellen grow, he must face the choice between following his heart and his life of privilege and security, satisfying the social code that has ruled his life since birth.

The Age of Innocence won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making Wharton the first-ever woman to win the prize.

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