Interpreting The Age of Innocence: Unmasking Its Deception and Hypocrisy Through Zizek's Psychological Criticism

摘要

Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence displays vividly the social landscape of the upper class in Old New York and thus she is listed as a realistic writer. However, sensitive readers could recognize the characters' artificial innocence and exquisite pretense behind the realistic depiction. This paper would reveal and unmask its deception and hypocrisy through Slavoj Zizek's psychological criticism. The aim is to expose the purposes of Wharton's writing - a calling for returning to the nature, the essence of reality.