Ellen and Charity Comparison After reading Summer a novel by Edith Wharton, and watching the movie Age of Innocence, a movie based Edith Wharton’s book, I found two characters from each to be very similar. Ellen from Age of Innocence and Charity from Summer are very similar in many ways, such as, they are both outsiders in the societies in which they live. Also, they are in secret romances that would be forbidden if ever caught. So throughout this paper I am going to talk about their similarities, and also the few differences they have, and how there societies shape the character they are. First, I am going to touch on the subject that Charity and Ellen both do not fit into their societies, and are considered outsiders. Ellen is in New York City in the 1870’s during this story. During this time era in New York City, the society consisted of wealthy and well respected families, who had special customs and ways of going about things. Ellen being from Europe was not aware of these customs, therefore making her an outsider, because many people looked down on her because she did not act the way that she was suspected to. An example of this would be Ellen was estranged from her husband, and although they were separated, they were still married, so Ellen ran around with a gentleman named Julius who was also married and that was unacceptable in this society. Another example would be that Ellen was talking about getting a divorce from her husband, and that was looked down upon for women to do in that time era. Charity along with Ellen was also considered an outsider. Charity grew up in a town called North Dormer, which consisted of just one road, and it laid between a mountain and miles of land, before reaching another city. The mountain that was next to North Dormer consisted of people who did not fit in with the citizens of the town, and were considered heathens. When Charity was just infant she was rescued by Mr. Royall because she was born to a criminal and a prostitute who lived up on the mountain. Being from the mountain she was considered an outsider, because even though she was raised in the city, they never knew what outcome would come of her being bore to heathens of the mountain. An example of this would be that Charity was very outspoken and didn’t really care what people thought about her, making her stand out from the rest of the citizen’s of North Dormer Although Charity and Ellen were both considered outsiders, Ellen was more of an outcast than Charity. Charity was only considered an outcast because she brings it upon herself. Knowing that she is from the mountain she acts as if everyone views her as an outsider, so therefore she is outspoken and does what she wants because she already thinks that people look down on her and also look at her differently. Whereas Ellen being from Europe which is ahead of New York in cultural customs, is rather naïve and doesn’t realize that she is not following New York’s customs correctly. Another way that Ellen and Charity are both similar is that they are both in disclosed relationships with men who are promised to other women. Ellen first becomes friends with her cousin May’s fiancé Newland. Newland is a well respected man in the New York society who very conventional and follows the customs of his society closely. Newland helps Ellen to fit in with the New York society and also tries to help her with her decision on whether to stay with her husband and go through with a divorce. All the while, through spending all this time together they become close, and eventually start a secret relationship. During this time era it would be looked down upon if they were to start a public relationship because Newland is already promised to someone else and Ellen is still married. Therefore they have a relationship that stays hidden and would be considered more of an emotional relationship than a physical relationship. Resulting in Ellen telling Newland to go ahead and go through with his marriage to May, which results in Ellen and Newland going on with their lives and only seeing each other occasionally, never really pursuing anything. Along with Ellen, Charity is also in a relationship that is also under the radar of the other people in the town. Charity starts a relationship with an outsider named Lucius Harney. Along with Newland, Lucius is from a big town and very conventional and follows the customs of society. Lucius is in the town of North Dormer visiting his cousin, where he goes to the library and meets Charity, instantly he is attracted to her because she is mysterious and different acting from the rest of the citizens of North Dormer. Instantly Charity and Lucius start spending time together traveling places and developing a relationship. Although there would not be much controversy if their relationship was public, they keep under wraps because Charity doesn’t want Mr. Royall to know. Also, once Charity and Lucius start spending more time together along with nights it would be frown upon because they are not married and that is unconventional to spend nights together when unmarried. In the end Lucius has to return back to his home town but says he will return and marry Charity, after being found out by Mr. Royall and pressured into saying he would marry her. After leaving Charity finds out that Lucius was promised to someone else and she went back with him, making Charity deep down realizing that he is not returning for her and what he is unaware of is that Charity is pregnant. After accepting the facts and being offered a marriage proposal from Mr. Royall, Charity accepts and moves on with her life living in North Dormer. Although Charity and Ellen had similar secret relationships, their relationships are different. With Ellen and Newland actually having more of a real relationship, they never act upon it and just go on with their lives with other people. Also, their relationship would never be accepted. Whereas Charity and Lucius was more of a fling in my opinion than a real relationship. Also, if they were to go public with it I think they would have been accepted by their society. Another way that their relationships were different were that Ellen already knew that Newland was promised to someone else, whereas Charity was unaware of Lucius other relationship. In conclusion Ellen and Charity are similar in many ways, and also different. They are similar in the ways that they were both considered outsiders, and that they were in secret relationships. However, they were different in that they were living in totally different societies with different customs shaping them in different ways.