纯真年代(The Age of Innocence)简介：

The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton's most famous novel, is a love story, written immediately after the end of the First World War. Its brilliant anatomization of the snobbery and hypocrisy of the wealthy elite of New York society in the 1870s made it an instant classic, and it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921. Newland Archer, Wharton's protagonist, charming, tactful, enlightened, is a thorough product of this society; he accepts its standards and abides by its rules but he also recognizes its limitations. His engagement to the impeccable May Welland assures him of a safe and conventional future, until the arrival of May's cousin Ellen Olenska. Independent, free-thinking, scandalously separated from her husband, Ellen forces Archer to question the values and assumptions of his narrow world. As their love for each other grows, Archer has to decide where his ultimate loyalty lies.
Stephen Orgel's introduction and notes set the novel in the context of the period and discusses Wharton's skilfull weaving of characters and plot, her anthropological exactitude, and the novel's autobiographical overtones. 　　《纯真年代》的主要情节发生在19世纪70年代末80年代初的纽约上流社会。那是伊迪丝度过童年与青春的地方，她在那儿长大成人，进入社交界，订婚又解除婚约，最后嫁给波士顿的爱德华·华顿，并度过了婚后的最初几年。时隔40年后，作为小说家的她回顾养育过她也束缚过她的那个社会，她的感情是复杂的，既有亲切的眷恋，又有清醒的针砭。
　　 作家把那个时代的纽约上流社会比作一个小小的金字塔，它又尖又滑，很难在上面取得立足之地。处在塔顶，真正有贵族血统的只有二三户人家:华盛顿广场的达戈内特祖上是正宗的郡中世家；范德卢顿先生是第一任荷兰总督的嫡孙，他家曾与法国和英国的几家贵族联姻；还有与德格拉斯伯爵联姻的拉宁一家。他们是上流社会的最高阶层，但显然已处于日薄西山的衰败阶段。上流社会的中坚力量是以明戈特家族、纽兰家族、奇弗斯家族为代表的名门望族，他们的祖辈都是来自英国或荷兰的富商，早年在殖民地发迹，成为有身份有地位的人物。比如纽兰·阿切尔的一位曾外祖父曾参与过独立宣言的签署，还有一位曾在华盛顿部下任将军。正如阿切尔太太所说的，“纽约从来就是个商业社会”，占支配地位的是这些殷实的富商。处于金字塔底部的是富有却不显贵的人们，他们多数是内战之后崛起的新富，凭借雄厚的财力，通过联姻而跻身上流社会。
　　 作者从亲身经历与熟悉的环境中提炼素材，塑造人物，将作品题材根置于深厚的现实土壤中。尤其通过博福特命运浮沉这一线索与主人公爱情悲剧的主线相互映衬，使一个看似寻常的爱情故事具备了深刻的社会现实意义。