Social Order Versus Personal Fulfillment In the regal, and superficial high-class New York world presented in The Age of Innocence there is one particular, unchallenged rule of social order. This rule of complete social grace has been, instead of branded in stone, been impounded deeply in the minds of every generation raised under the canopy of money and fashion. The desire for etiquette is so overwhelming that it manages to suppress the simple human yearnings …showed first 75 words of 489 total…

…showed last 75 words of 489 total…fulfillment can be summarized in the statement "The good of the many, outweighs the good of the few." Many would be hurt, and the delicate balance of the high-ranks would be disturbed if a few key characters were allowed to act on their own impulses. The main characters understand this balance and realize the futile nature of rebellion and resign themselves to abandoning their ambition and then fall in with the pattern of normal life.