Eleanor Barkhorn
Appearances
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
In sophomore year, we read The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton in English class. I grew up in New York. It's set in New York, and it's very interested in the different social levels and social expectations of life in New York. And it was striking to me and I remember to my classmates, too, that you could—
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
see a lot of similarities in the world that she was describing and the world that we were living in, even though those worlds were over 100 years apart from each other.
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
The central tension in the book is this love triangle between Newland Archer, who is a sort of upstanding member of New York society, and Mae Welland, the woman that he's engaged to be married to, also a member of upstanding New York society. And then Ellen Olenska, who is part of this world, but she has gone off and married a man in Europe and has come back to New York seeking a divorce.
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
And the question is, will Newland stay with his wife, do what is expected of him, even though he feels not quite as passionately about his wife as he does for Ellen? Or will he turn away from Ellen? his family and his community and obviously his marriage to go off and be with Ellen.
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
As teenagers, we were really rooting for Newland and Ellen and the whole idea that you should pursue your passion and pursue what feels right to you as an individual. And I think as I've gotten older, I have come to maybe root a little bit more for Newland and May and the idea that
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
happiness and contentedness in life is not just about pursuing your individual interests, but also thinking about, you know, how do I stay connected with my family? How do I stay connected with the society that I was born into?
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
And I wonder, you know, if Newland did follow his passions, would he be happy or would he be happier staying in the world that he knows and living out the life that's expected of him there? The dilemma that Newland is presented with is pretty universal.
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
I think we all have situations where we have to weigh, do we want to do something entirely motivated by our own desires and our own goals and hopes and ambitions, or do we want to consider how our actions would impact a broader set of people? I really love the way the book takes that dilemma seriously.
Radio Atlantic
The Books We Read in High School (Part 2)
Doesn't think that it's frivolous, but that, you know, a man's decision, is he going to stay with his wife? He's going to go off with another woman. Takes that decision seriously and, you know, unpacks all the different factors that went into it. My name is Eleanor Barkhorn, and I'm a senior editor.