The entire society that Newland Archer, the main character, lives in is based on being outwardly happy. The societies ?rules? make it look like everything going on is good and if you are open about your true thoughts and feelings, you are excluded from their society. As long as things look good on the outside, they are happy, no matter what the reality is. They have taboos on things like divorce, getting caught cheating on your spouse, but not cheating in the first place, being on time, and anything else that would make them look less cool. A good example of this is Ellen?s

divorce from her husband, the family does not want her to divorce her husband, even though they have no idea of the reasons why, because it would create a scandal. This shows that reputation comes before everything, even family, in this society.

Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska are the least naive people in the book, both of them see that the entire society they live in is based on a world that is not real. Olenska rebels against the rules of society by having an extra-marital affair, talking about getting a divorce, not wearing a bonnet always? At the beginning of the book, Newland is as naive as the rest of them but, after he starts spending a lot of time with Ellen, he realizes how fake and hypocritical they all are. In the first chapter Newland becomes intrigued with Ellen, eve

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Approximate Word count = 533
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)