【正文】 Ellen makes efforts to end her marriage, but after Newland?s persuasion of giving up divorce, she plans to take the advice just for her beloved. Moreover, when Newland asks her to elope with him and gets away from New York, 10 she holds the idea that “she should not break faith with the people who trusted her”(Wharton, 20xx) and does not want Newland to bear the disgrace of breaking the moral cultivation and abandoning his wife and unborn child, she refuses his demand and leaves for Europe alone. From the old Newland? eye, Ellen “had never gone back to her husband”(Wharton, 20xx), and that very year she says to Newland that “I can?t love you unless I give you up”(Wharton, 20xx) are the best evidences to prove her love to Newland. Ellen can?t take Newland off her mind, but she persuades him to get married with May and be a good father. She is a new lady with free thoughts, and she just shows her great love in her unique way. May?s attitude towards the relationship between Newland and Ellen As fiancee of Newland, she has the right to protect her marriage and not allow any affair happen between Newland and other women. May is a typical product of the New York society, regarding marriage as the only choice for a happy and stable life, so she makes the wedding day timely ahead of time when she finds Newland may have an affair with Ellen. She would like to take any measures to maintain her marriage. At first, May asks Newland to “be kind to Ellen”(Wharton, 20xx), but after she perceives the clue of the two and Newland can?t fet Ellen after they get married, May gradually gets unsatisfied with Ellen and wants her to get away from New York. She uses a sarcastic tone to judge Ellen in front of Newland, “She?s so differentat least on the surface. She takes up such odd people she seems to like to make herself conspicuous”(Wharton, 20xx), and once Newland also thinks that “she hates Ellen”(Wharton, 20xx). One day when Newland accidentally mentions Ellen what seems irritates May, she said with a slight pout of impatience “why should we talk about Ellen tonight?”(Wharton,20xx). The intimacy between the two girls has all gone. With the help of the upper class, May successfully expels Ellen out of New York city. Through the narration of Dallas, May knows the affair between her husband and Ellen from the beginning to the end, but she just smothers their affection under the disguise of smile and docility. Relatives and friends? attitudes towards the relationship between Newland 11 and Ellen Ellen?s desire for a divorce is totally contrary to the secular fashion of New York society, and it naturally causes a lot of dissatisfaction. Lovell Mingott family hold a formal banquet and invite friends to participate in to wele the return of the Countess Olenska, however, the invitations are received consistently refusal which shows the behavior of Ellen is pletely unacceptable in New York. “The upper class pay great attention to the “decent” principle of life and they are afraid of scandal than fear of disease”(Li Yinbo, 20xx). They all think that divorce will bring humiliation to the whole family and social position. Besides, if Ellen gets divorce ,she has no economic ine for her to live on. Ellen?s behavior threatens the old conventions of the New York and manifests the conservatism and hypocrisy of upper class, so almost everyone insists that Ellen is stupid and they naturally have no good impression on such a treacherous lady. The love affair between Newland and Ellen has received consistently resistance again. The relatives and friends are well thought of Newland and May?s marriage, and when they perceive that Ellen is a threat of the happy couple, they do every effort to protect the marriage from harms. Actually, the New Yorkers can not bear a person like Ellen to disturb the stereotypical way of life, and they consider Ellen as a “disaster” to the old conventions and social customs. Finally the relatives and friends successfully expel Ellen out of the New York together with May, and Ellen lives the rest of her life alone in Europe. 12 Chapter 3 Analyzing the Features of “Old New York” As one member of the upper class in New York, Wharton lets the outsiders peep into the whole picture of the Gilded Age New York. The greatest thing is that she not only showed us the upper class what they eat, what they play, but also exposed the sophisticated social skills under the elegance and the slightly paranoid persistence of social customs. By using the eloquence of irony and contrast, Wharton revealed the psychology of the characters when they were confronted with difficult choices and stripped the disguise of etiquette manners, exposing the essence that “old New Yorker” tried to hide. Here, the features of the old New York society will be stated from three aspects. The conservatism of “old New York” People39。 When May was in the act of announcing her engagement on the Beaufort?s annual ball, “A group of young men and girls were gathered about her, and there was much handclasping, laughing and pleasantry”(Wharton, 20xx). It is quite obvious to see that the upper class show great approval of the couple and wish their bination a lasting happy marriage. When Newland realizes the fact that “New York believed him to be Madame Olenska?s lover”, he feels like “a prisoner in the center of an armed camp”. May plans to hold a farewell party for Ellen which actually is a trick to eliminate Ellen from the tribe with the relatives and friends, but they “pretended to each other that they had never heard of, suspected, or imagined anything, and that occasion of the entertainment was simply May Archer?s natural desire to take an affectionate leave of her friend and cousin”(Wharton, 20xx). At th