2. Male Identification
Archer Newland is one of the major characters in The Age of Innocence who has the quality of an ideal man in a patriarchal society, namely male
identified. In the novel, Archer is described to be an ideal man because he is working as a lawyer and has married May who comes from a respectable family
of Old New York. Archer has reached an excellent achievement in his life as a lawyer as well as politician. As he grows old, he becomes a highly regarded
gentleman in New York. Archer has a major influence on the society. …it was in that library that the Governor of New York, coming down
from Albany one evening to dine and spend the night, had turned to his host, and said, banging his clenched fist on the table and gnashing his eye-
glasses: Hang the professional politician Youre the kind of man the country wants, Archer. If the stables ever to be cleaned out, men like you
have got to lend a hand in the cleaning Wharton 296.
As a highly regarded gentleman in New York, Archer is visited by the Governor of New York. The Governor even states that Archer is a man who is needed by
the country. This obviously emphasizes that men always take control over the field of politics. This position is only for men. Here, men are more competitive
towards politics while appropriate jobs for women are merely teachers and nurses Wharton 297.
Johnson states that men in a patriarchal society are said to be the ideal men if they have the cultural description of masculinity which includes some qualities
such as control, strength, competitiveness, toughness, coolness, under pressure, logic, forcefulness, decisiveness, rationality, autonomy, self-sufficiency, and
control over any emotion. Moreover, it usually deals with the work valued in patriarchal society such as in business, politics, war, athletics, law, and medicine
7. Not only in the society Archer has self-sufficiency as a man, but also his family life. Archer is a representative of an ideal man since whatever he says will
be conducted by all family members. It is presented in the novel how Archer is the one whose decision to spend holiday in Europe tour is obeyed by his family.
He has three children who come up with different ideas how to spend the day in Switzerland. The first child named Dallas wants to contemplate Mont Blanc while
Mary and Bill, the other children, want mountain-climbing. Yet Archer and May are always fair to their children. They make it balance between their athletic and
artistic proclivities. Archer as the family leader declares “We’ll stick together Wharton 295” as the final solution of his children various wants. The whole
family will be always together in every activity. As a result, May admires her husband decision as a good example to the first child, Dallas Wharton 295.
3. Male Centeredness
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