The Age of Innocence

While dress is a symbol of how women in old New York present themselves, the interiors they are responsible for are spheres of influence. This is especially the case for elderly, overweight Catherine Mingott, whose burdensome “flesh had long since made it impossible for her to go up and down stairs,” and so she asserts her “characteristic independence” (Location 347) by establishing her social realm on the ground floor of her home. Rather than going out to the numerous social occasions that make up Old New York social life, Mrs. Mingott makes people visit her under her own terms: An invitation to her private quarters endows the visitor with social cachet.

Interiors can also hint at hidden sides of personality: Visitors to Mrs. Mingott are treated to the “unexpected vista” (Location 350) of her huge bed, frivolously elaborate dressing table, and gilt-framed mirror. This bedroom scene, which recalls the “wicked old societies” of racy French fiction (Location 352) surprises moralistic Americans. Archer, however, takes the bedroom as evidence of Mrs. Mingott’s independence and power; he imagines that she would have had a lover if she wanted one.

To enhance her alluring foreignness, Ellen sets up a salon in an unfashionable bohemian neighborhood with a Sicilian maid who speaks no English and with whom Ellen has an un-American familiarity. The house, filled with “bits of wreckage” (Location 883) salvaged from her first marriage, including Italian pictures and a stretch of red damask, marks her European taste for culture despite not having had a formal education, like most women of her time. The term wreckage indicates that these art objects, like Ellen herself, are survivors. The darkness of the room adds a tone of intimacy, while the “slender tables of dark wood” and a “delicate Greek bronze” (Location 884) echo Ellen's body type. Ellen’s home is a seductive place—visitors are reminded of her wherever they look.